Joint DAAD Workshop in Nigeria

How can digitalization in teaching but also in alumni work be developed and accelerated? That was the topic of a two-day workshop hosted by the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), the International Office of the University of Bremen, and the alumni association at the end of February. Due to Covid-19, only about 25 participants were allowed to be present in the Nigerian metropolis Lagos; another 15 people, mainly from Germany, joined the exciting exchange online.

Digital teaching is increasingly gaining in importance as explained by Professor Uchenna Udeani, director of the Distance Learning Institute at the University of Lagos, in her introduction. Even more so, digitalization is vital for a modern Nigeria. In the territorial state (which is three times the size of Germany), the population of far more than 200 million people grows as fast as in hardly any other country.

Almost 200 Nigerians currently study at the University of Bremen, which has become one of the biggest groups of students from abroad there. They want to utilize the experiences in digitalization they are making here also in their home country, as two students showed in their vivid presentations – among others by the example of the State and University Library Bremen. Increased online activities give the alumni association the chance to further develop the connection between the Nigerian alumni community and the University of Bremen as well as the economy and civic initiatives in Bremen, says our alumnus Dr. Ignatius Adeh. This workshop provided a strong stimulus to our Nigeria chapter for further development.