Office of Education Quality Assurance (OEQA) under the Lagos State Ministry of Education has begun the sharing of the successful results of the OEQA Pilot Literacy Innovation Programme using L’explore Technology to boost the literacy levels of young students who have reading challenges.
Director General, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Mrs. Abiola Seriki-Ayeni, therefore, said the use of such technology underscored Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu’s resolve to make Lagos State a 21st Century technology hub as it aligns to the education sector.
Seriki-Ayeni said, “400 students at the primary 3 level from six public and private schools have participated in the pilot scheme of this laudable initiative. The pilot scheme, which took place last month, was conducted by the OEQA and Mirai Partners using the L’explore application.
“A complete assessment involves the use of Artificial Intelligence through an eye tracker, and a computer to record student eye movements.”
The director-general added that this initiative would offer not only valuable insights into the complex cognitive and linguistic processes behind reading, but also state-wide literacy levels.
“Using the latest AI in eye-tracking technology to measure when, where, and how children’s eyes move in relation to the words they are reading, we can detect minor differences in the way the brain processes text. The data is analysed using Artificial Intelligence in a secure cloud-based platform. It achieves more accuracy compared to currently used tests that take much longer time and requires far more resources,” she said.
Managing Partner of MIRAI Partners, Mrs. Christine Nasserghodsi, in her remarks, stressed the importance of this initiative towards data gathering, analysis and recommendations.
“Children’s reading levels have the potential to skyrocket in a matter of months; and this is transformative during the era of learning loss as a result of Covid-19,” she added.