Edunity Volume 2 Number 4, April 2023 p- ISSN 2963-3648- e-ISSN 2964-8653 Doi: https://edunity.publikasikupublisher.com/index.php/Edunity/index

Technological Innovations In The Humanities:  A Study Of Its Impact On Nigeria’s Developmental Strides And Emerging Security Challenges

Innocent Nasuk Dajang¹*, Mandong Mathias Ayuba², Samuel Mahanan³

¹University of Jos, Nigeria

^2,3Plateau State Polytechnic Barkin-Ladi, Nigeria
Email: [email protected]¹, [email protected]², [email protected]³

ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received March 12, 2023 Revised April 10, 2023 Accepted April 25, 2023

ABSTRACT Abstract: The development of any society to a large extent depends on the degree of the security of lives and property of the citizens. A secure environment encourages intellectuals who are the drivers of nation-building; it also ensures national development. In recent years, Nigeria has been witnessing serious security threats that seem to have overwhelmed the nation’s security network and this has slowed down development in the country. This paper in light if these present realities, examined how technological innovations such as the integration of proper Information Communication Technology (ICT) resolve the emerging security threats bedeviling the country.  Integrating ICT in the humanities can help increase the rate of development in the country and also help resolve the emerging security threats bedeviling the country. Data for the paper was derived from a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) conducted via WhatsApp with fifteen selected academic staff who are in the humanities at the University of Jos. The data collected formed the basis of the discussion in the paper. The theoretical framework adopted is Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) because it explains how technology can be utilized in language learning and evidently in the humanities to resolve challenging issues. The paper discovered that the humanities have not been fully integrated with ICT and have also not been effectively utilized in the quest for advancing development in Nigeria and resolving security challenges. The paper recommended amongst others the full integration of ICT in the humanities to expand the scope of the field to be utilized in resolving security challenges in the country. Keywords: Development; Humanities; ICT; Innovations; Security Threats

Introduction

The humanity is a general name for several disciplines that include philosophy, the arts, and languages and deal with human fields of Interest (Cassirer, 2021), unlike disciplines that deal with the study of processes, nature (physics and chemistry), and social relations (sociology and economics). The humanities investigate the various displays of the human spirit as well as the products of human creativity throughout history. It examines human actions regarding the unique reality in a certain time and place, as affecting the universal essence of life and its meanings in various cultures. Scholars in the humanities explore various dimensions of human life throughout human history and culture. The humanities deal with unique skills that involve cultivating intellectual inquisitiveness, hidden creativity, the history of science, formulating new problems, and asking new questions. In addition, they have a unique value-based contribution to imparting and advancing knowledge, truth, and justice, liberty and equality, morals and benevolence, and justice and peace (Jia & Zhang, 2020).

Given the place of humanities in the life of humans, it becomes pertinent that it has a role to play in the development and in addressing security challenges of Nigeria particularly with the incorporation of technological innovations into the field. Development is a process that creates growth, progress, positive change, or the addition of physical, economic, environmental, social, and demographic components.  The purpose of development is to ensure a rise in the level and quality of life of the population, and the creation or expansion of local regional income and employment opportunities, without damaging the resources of the environment.  Development is visible and useful, not necessarily immediately, and includes an aspect of quality change and the creation of conditions for a continuation of that change. Considering how development has been viewed here, it makes it plausible that the field of humanities can fit into the role of improving the quality of lives of people and advancing the course of national development, and contributing towards the security of the nation. To achieve this more effectively and efficiently, introducing technological innovations into humanities becomes a welcome idea.

The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the provision of a solution to human, social, and industrial challenges have proven successful in many nations and Nigeria should not be an exception. According to Brewer and Tierney innovation is generally understood as “the successful introduction of a new thing or method” (Čvorović & Coe, 2022). A national education system is commonly the product of a distinctive set of historical, political, social, cultural, and economic effects. As it is a complete system, its different areas are not only interrelated and interdependent but act together. Subsequently, any change in one of them may generate a change in others. Some innovations in different areas made a drastic influence on the educational system. They include changes, for example, in the cultural field (multiculturalism, bilingual education); in pedagogical one (competence-based education); in the technological area (computer-based learning), etc.

Innovations in humanities are of particular importance because it plays a crucial role in creating a sustainable future. However, the term innovation has often been used in the higher education literature without a clear definition. It is generally perceived as radical changes or reforms in various domains of higher education, such as academic work, curriculum, teaching, learning, and technology, etc. (Macduff et al., 2020)

The education system today must be both effective and efficient, or in other words, to reach the goals set for them while making the best use of available resources (Serdyukov, 2017). In the scientific literature, innovative technologies are understood as innovations aimed at Introducing or applying something new to improve the activity's effectiveness.

Innovative technologies are those that involve both the development of a discipline or module and active and interactive teaching methods application. Such technologies include for example, information and communication technologies, person-centered technologies (developing learner’s inborn traits, and communication skills), didactic methods (application of new techniques in the training process), etc. The peculiarity of humanities teaching consists of on the one hand, a small number of classroom instruction hours, and on the other hand, the necessity to develop both knowledge and skills on the subjects, and the creation of a certain educative moment to form a harmoniously developed personality of the student.(Hadzhikolev et al., 2021)

As one tries to investigate science, technology, engineering, and math education as the baseline or mainline for our relevance in the future economy, one is overlooking the fact that we need both humans and technology to keep a balance. As technology touches more of our lives, this is the very time when the humanities help us to contextualize why we build, for whom we build, and with what aims. This, therefore, affirms the position of this paper that technological innovations in humanities can help promote development and help tackle security threats in Nigeria.

Research Method

The development of any society to a large extent depends on the extent of the security of the lives and property of the citizens. A secure atmosphere will encourage intellectual minds who will be a great asset to nation-building; it will also guarantee an environment for the growth of infrastructural development.

The field of humanities has the basic tasks of preserving, reconstructing, transmitting, and interpreting human records (Hou et al., 2022). Humanities scholars use physical and digital information differently than scientific scholars, as they require a greater range of information in terms of publication date and type, and do not expect to solve a research question, but to reinterpret the sources and revise the findings of others by finding correlations and establishing a framework (Given & Willson, 2018). This led to the emergence of digital humanities, where humanities researchers are welcoming the benefits of online publication and the search capacity of primary text archives. Any record of human experience is a source of data for a humanities scholar with sources available publicly via libraries, archives, museums, or privately – accessible or not (Drucker, 2021)

In most libraries, some form of digitization is now taking place; digitization is the foundation of digital humanities research (Lucky & Harkema, 2018). Digital humanities have become associated with libraries due to their service-oriented culture and their involvement in the support of digital resources, although the relationship has yet to be fully explored (Currier et al., 2020). This is a natural association since librarianship as a profession embraces new technologies; the default of the academic discipline of information studies is technology in today’s information environment (Ibid).

With regards to the intellectual property rights of sources for humanities research, scholars have less control, as compared to the sciences that create their data, as they often need permission to reproduce them placing more constraints on publishing digital humanities research than other disciplines (Organisciak & Downie, 2021)

This short review expressed the relevance of humanities in human endeavors but the review did not relate humanities with development, security, and technological innovations.

Data for the paper was derived from a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) conducted via WhatsApp with fifteen selected academic staff who are in the humanities in the University of Jos. The data collected formed the basis of the discussion in the paper.

Result And Discussion

The humanities, including philosophy, literature, film studies, psychology, social theory, anthropology, history, music, and art theory, are the disciplines where this kind of enlightening reflection and exploration of technology and its consequences for human existence are encountered. Technology - notably artificial intelligence in the shape of computers - is incapable of this kind of reflection. At best, it can serve as a tool for humans to engage in such reflection. The sooner the planners and ‘managers’ of higher education realize this, the better, otherwise, humanity would run the very real risk of becoming increasingly less able to understand itself (Montagnino, 2018).

In a developing country like Nigeria, the humanities are essential for self-knowledge on the part of people who are easy prey to unscrupulous purveyors of materialistic and functionalistic values embodied in the latest, most desirable machines and gadgets. Little do most of them realize that their desire for these things has been constructed by the technologically mediated advertising imagery bombarding them daily, cultivating in them the unexamined belief that, somehow, their happiness, perhaps even their very lives, depend on owning (and being seen by others as owning) these latest technological devices. It is in the humanities that critical resources are available for self-understanding and subsequent emancipation from the alienating effects of identifying with images where humans and technological devices are conjoined. Technology by itself is not conducive to knowing how its use affects its users. By itself, it fascinates with all its glitz and ‘cool’ look, in this way alienating people from the more encompassing richness of their own humanity (EZE, 2019).

Innovative methods in teaching humanities should gradually take a leading place in the general system of education as they demonstrate significant qualitative (such factors as better knowledge, more effective skills, important competencies, and character development) and quantitative (improved learning parameters such as tests results, the volume of information learned, number of skills or competencies developed) benefits. An important role is played by information technologies, which increase the role of humanitarian knowledge and education quality among students of technical specialties related to the time reduction of the subject study. Visuals brought reality and liveliness into the classrooms.

With the present challenges of development and the more pressing security threats in the country, it is necessary to encourage people with humanities background to join the cyber security field, as that will not only be driving key skills towards the industry, it will also be doing more to promote inclusivity and equality. This is because every facet of the humanities can imbue future cyber security experts with critically desired soft skills.

The world in this 21st century has gone digital with the application of technology in supporting human activities. It appears that it is specifically philosophy which is an arm of humanities has begun to attract attention. This is an effect of the development of artificial intelligence, which requires deep and abstract thinking and differs from the needs of the natural sciences. Engaging in the humanities fosters a broad, critical, and creative ability for reasoning.

With the innovations brought about by artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, etc., developing creativity in teaching the humanities, creative and challenging teaching methods that will differ from monotonous studies that adhere to constant revision, might reinvigorate the humanities, and increase the demand for these programs in tackling developmental and security challenges of the nation. The integration of humanistic studies may have a unique value for science-based education, particularly in the era of robotics and technology, and may be an encouraging trend for humanistic studies.

The relevance of humanities in addressing concerns can visibly be seen in several courses - courses such as Mass Communication and Theatre Arts, and Literature and English can be used to inform and draw attention to the developmental needs of the people as well as expose security concerns. Forensic Linguistics can help in the investigation and addressing security concerns.

There is a need to deploy online/technological tools in teaching to enhance capacity and make the application of humanities in addressing social ills and developmental issues easy and timely. Using technology can ensure collaboration between humanities and other fields and security agencies.

Despite the positives of which technology brings to the humanities, academics in the humanities still need to be fully trained on how to use ICT tools in teaching and learning. Besides, there is poor utilization of technology in the humanities in most Nigerian institutions and this is mostly a result of poor or underfunding. In any case, unless the experts know how to utilize available technology in teaching and research, the impact of the field will not be adequately felt.

Information and computer technology offered more ways to retrieve information and develop skills. Today we are excited about online learning, social networking learning, virtual reality, etc. However, can we say that all this is helping to produce better learning? The problem of humanities is the low efficiency of the educational technologies' effectiveness determination about their implementation into practice. Moreover, overestimating the power of technology, regrettably, leads to the deterioration of the human element in technology-based and, particularly, online teaching and learning. In this regard, the introduction of such innovations to the humanitarian field requires caution and thoughtfulness, since the humanitarian knowledge acquirement and the humanitarian disciplines teaching have their specific character. Otherwise, we can get a negative result from the technical and technological means application in the teaching process in terms of educational effect.

Conclusion

Innovations in humanities give a good opportunity to understand how innovation can help humanity. It will be a step where innovation will not only help in theoretical knowledge but will also give practical skills to study humanities through the assimilation of both historical and cultural heritage. Innovation should be done on regular basis to make our everyday work easy, appealing, more effective, and efficient and to make it less stressful and thus more enjoyable. Great interest in the problems of modern education in general and innovative teaching methods gives hope for an effective update of educational goals, content, forms, and techniques in the nearest future. An understanding of effective innovative technologies has undoubtedly resulted in a rethinking of approaches to create a healthy classroom environment leading to high educational quality and learning outcomes. Thus, innovation will be a great support for humanities.

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