Deputy Speaker, J. Fonati Koffa says it is hard time that tertiary institutions infuse Information Communication Technology (ICT) into their business education modules or curriculums.
“The world is advancing with massive speed technologically and we think incumbent upon our institutions of higher education in the country to begin to develop modules that will accommodate the new technological wave in the business,” Cllr. Koffa stated.
The Deputy Speaker stated that business colleges need to redesign their education and teaching in order to facilitate a new generation of business students, while at the same time, several powerful tools such as online assessments or virtual classroom tools are made available for business teachers to enrich the learning experience of their students.
Speaking on Sunday to over 150,000 viewers as one of the keynote speakers at the just ended virtual conference of the World Business Angels Investors Week, Cllr. Koffa said in Liberia, they will continue to push that universities and other schools of higher education begin to develop curriculum in which the business modules accommodate advances in technology so that when they come to the table with investors and financiers, they will understand the uniformed approach.
“We will continue to advocate for a curriculum in higher education that accommodates business leaders with a good technology background.”
“No longer will a MBA or Business degree be sufficient; all of our business leaders must have some fundamental understanding of technology — they must have some understanding; and the infusion of technology into the course curriculum of business management,” he noted.
However, in order to provide a rich learning experience for a new generation of business students, it is important that content, technology and pedagogy are equally balanced, experts say.
Business Education is a program of instruction that consists of two parts, office education, a program of vocation for office careers, and general Business Education – a program which provides the recipients with competencies and skills needed in managing personal business affairs and using the services of the business world.
ICT, as applied to Business Education, involves the use of networks, expert systems, and artificial intelligence in what is now known as electronic commerce (e-commerce) or electronic business (e-communication business).
E-commerce helps to facilitate the exchange of information, goods and services between companies and their customers. Business operations are much dependent on ICT. This is because the impact of communication and information technology is felt in all aspects of an organization’s life from manufacturing to the service sector, particularly marketing.
“This is why we need to start teaching our business students the importance of technology in their field,” Koffa says. “We hope the NCHE and the administrators of our universities will start to look at our proposal and begin to act now. We don’t have time.”
Also, the Deputy Speaker has called on world business leaders to focus on the advancements of new business modules arguing that the traditional modules growing and developing businesses have been left behind.
The Deputy Speaker intoned that it is Incumbent upon higher education to begin to develop modules that says to those in higher education, that the concept of how businesses have developed have drastically changed; and without the ingenuity that technology has infused in the business modules, only few businesses will survive.
Cllr. Koffa challenged investors to approach programs and training that will be in line with the current wave of technological advancements in the business world.
“We have just learned that the artificial intelligence technology is rapidly advancing and those involved in the AI movement are indeed the new captains of industry; businesses must now take that approach, ” the Deputy Speaker explained.
He furthered: “We have all seen that businesses with advanced technology are the ones which proceeded to be topnotch and fortified companies; therefore the higher education leaders should be able to incorporate existing technologies in existing business curriculum to ensure that all those, including inventors and those involved in the bottle line chain of productivity are people who are well knowledgeable of the new business revolution.
