Hello beautiful readers and welcome to our latest addition to the EdTech Superhero series.

Our recent Edtech Superhero is Faith Olawale. In day-to-day life, she works as the Executive Director of Think Educational Consult, a growing educational company based in Nigeria working to connect students with tutors and offering international education consulting, teachers training, curriculum development, school evaluation and executive coaching.

Faith is an EdTech enthusiast, researcher and youth development coach based in Lagos Nigeria. She holds a qualification in International Relations with a Master’s in History Education, granting her insight and extensive first hand experience in the world of education.

She has previously worked as an English and History teacher for K-12 students and currently works as a School Director at a family-owned Nigerian school.

Faith Olawale is passionate about incorporating technology into the classroom to improve learning and raise awareness of social media among teenagers through teaching them how they can positively maximize their impact on the digital space.

Let’s get into it!

Faith Olawale’s voice on EdTech in the Developing World

1. What’s the first thing you do to get your day going?

My days are usually quite hectic with all the things I need to manage. I start my day off with prayer, to give my week over to God's hands. I always tell myself a motivational message to give myself a boost and keep me energised throughout the week.

I also check my To-Do list to see what goals I have set for myself to achieve and to add any additional ones I have decided to add. I then go straight into my work as a school director and manage my company to ensure I hit all my targets.

2. What’s your go-to meal for breakfast and tea or coffee?

I am definitely a coffee person. I drink coffee every day! My go-to breakfast is sausages with toast. I love how it's quick and easy to make.

3. Which is your favourite song of all time?

My favourite song is God by Joann Rosario. I just have this belief that God is the orchestrator of my life. He knows my journey and he knows my path so everything I do surrounds him and the first few lyrics of the song really resonate with my faith.

4. Can you tell us a bit about yourself and where your interest in education began initially?

I’m an Edtech enthusiast and an educational consultant. I come from an educational background. My family owns a big private school in Nigeria. It was actually something I was trying to run away from as I became a historian.

I tried applying for a job at one of the national universities, but I, unfortunately, didn’t get it. I then moved away and started working at schools as a volunteer. I loved working with the children but at this stage, I still didn’t realise this was my passion.

“I loved working with the children but at this stage, I still didn’t realise this was my passion”

When I left I cried because of the children’s affection toward me. I realised I’d had an impact on their lives. I felt like life had taken me to these children and towards education.

Everything I did ended up being in the sphere of education. I realised there was no way I could go back to being a historian as education was my calling and my strength. I am presently doing my PhD in education.

5. What do you think about the Edtech space in your country?

In Nigeria and Africa as a whole, we are trying to adapt to the Edtech shift.

It’s growing but I feel we need more influential leaders to push the importance of Edtech and that is what I am passionate about and want to do.

6. What do you think educators can take away from the past 2 years in their dealings with the challenges that have arisen through the pandemic?

Having grown up in a family of educators myself, I have witnessed the shortcomings and failings of the education system firsthand. The COVID pandemic opened our eyes to new ways of learning and ways in which we can make learning more fun and engaging for students.

“The way children bring out their creativity when it comes to technology is really amazing”

The way children bring out their creativity when it comes to technology is really amazing. I’ve found that with the presence of Edtech, students who previously found school boring are now interested in coming to school and enthusiastic about learning with the new technology.

That really inspired me to pursue Edtech. I realise there are a lot of things for me to learn and bring to the table in Africa that can help students have access to technology which will fuel their creativity.

7. What is your Mantra for the year?

“If you can think it you can do it”

My mantra for the year is: “If you can think it you can do it”. I think since I’ve adopted this mantra I’ve been climbing ladders.

8. Are there any other people in the industry you would like to nominate for this series?

I would like to give a shout-out to Dr Abimbola Ogundere. She is the founder of Learning As I Teach (LAIT) Foundation Africa. I believe she’s doing a great job in the Education space and is an inspiration to many aspiring EdTech Female leaders.

She recently won an award for SME Leadership in the Education sector across the Middle East and Africa.

More about Faith Olawale

Thank you very much Faith for your time and for all the amazing work that you do in the Edtech space. I hope other people read this and are motivated by your work and your journey in education. It was an absolute pleasure talking with you.

If you’d like to find out more about Faith Olawale visit her LinkedIn profile.

Our EdTech SuperHero series was inspired by International Women’s month, you can read more about the incredible work of educators around the world here.

In our EdTech SuperHero series, I’m exploring the themes in the lives of educators to draw attention to the role that we all play in creating a better and safer world for our students to learn and grow in.

If you or someone you know would like to chat with me about the state of Education in your region or globally, or would simply like to share some tools and tips with other educators, please visit our Edtech Superheros page and fill in all necessary information. I’d love to have a conversation with you.

Onwards,

Panashe Goteka

Team Mobile Guardian