MAK to use robots
Makerere University has secured about USD$100,000 (about UGX380 billion) for robots for lectures and artificial intelligence (AI).
AI involves stimulating human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think and act like human beings. AI is also used to play games, operate independent vehicles, process language, and so much more.
The new System of learning will see the university set up the first smart classroom at the College of Computing and Information Technology Science.
Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, the university’s vice chancellor says the project with guidance from the government is largely funded by China under their Taxpayer and Education Technology Companies, International Centre for Higher Education Innovation (ICHEI) and China’s International Institute of Online Education under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
“It is expensive to run a smart classroom, but the cost shouldn’t deter us. We are going to work with government to get more of these smart classrooms in all our colleges.”
Nawangwe says lecturers will also use the smart classroom to record lectures and share them with students online or physically and that the university would continue embracing online education.
MAK to use robots
Prof Tonny Oyana, the College of Computing and Information Science principal, told the Daily Monitor that lecturers using the smart classroom can also broadcast to a phone or computer elsewhere.
Provided the gadgets of the target audience are connected to the Internet, they can tune in and listen to the audio.
“It is like having a radio station in Kampala, but listeners can tune in from any part of the country,” Prof Oyana said, adding that the process of installing a smart classroom at the university was delayed partly due to the Covid-19-induced lockdown having first mooted the idea in 1998.
Several countries have adopted the use of robots in teaching subjects like Biology, Chemistry, English and Literature.
