Speaker
Description
Samuel, O. O. O.
DR. B. U. NZERIBE STATE POLYTECHNIC, AWO-OMAMA , IMO STATE, NIGERIA.
obasa.oluremi@imopoly.edu.ng
Track: Digital Pedagogy and Teaching Innovation
Africa’s construction industry is rapidly adopting Building Information Modelling (BIM), Virtual Reality (VR), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve design coordination, safety training, and productivity. However, Nigerian polytechnics, which produce middle-level manpower for the sector, still rely heavily on analogue teaching methods. This mismatch has created a widening digital skills gap, contributing to poor enforcement of professional standards by the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON) and recurrent building collapse incidents. The challenge is worsened by Africa’s digital divide characterized by erratic power supply, poor internet, high cost of software, and low digital literacy among lecturers and students.
This study investigated how Nigerian polytechnics can digitalize Building Education using adapted BIM, VR, and AI tools to bridge the digital divide and close the skills gap. A descriptive survey design was adopted. Data were collected from 248 HND II Building Technology students and lecturers in 3 federal polytechnics in the South-South zone using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, mean, and standard deviation were used for analysis at a criterion mean of 2.50.
Findings revealed that digital infrastructure in polytechnics is grossly inadequate, with a grand mean of 1.83. Digital literacy among students and lecturers is also low, grand mean 2.18. However, respondents showed strong positive perception toward low-bandwidth, mobile-based BIM, VR, and AI tools, grand mean 3.44. Major barriers identified were inadequate funding 91.9%, poor electricity 86.7%, and lack of trained lecturers 81.0%.
The study concludes that digitalizing Building Education is feasible in Nigeria if low-bandwidth, mobile-first strategies are adopted. A 4-layer “Low-Bandwidth Digital Framework” is proposed, anchored on solar power, BYOD, offline servers, mobile BIM/VR/AI apps, TPACK-based pedagogy, and CORBON-led policy advocacy. The study recommends curriculum review by NBTE, targeted TETFund intervention, industry-academia partnerships, and mandatory digital competency for CORBON registration. This approach will reimagine future-ready higher education ecosystems in Africa and produce CORBON-registered builders capable of ensuring quality and safety in housing delivery.