Oluwashina Dedenuola on Why Exclusive Classroom Learning Might Be Fading Out

“The old way of having students sit within an environment or a classroom and lecture might not be the only way anymore. Technology is as important as education itself, education itself has brought about advancements in technology and I believe they work hand in hand so we can’t put one aside and take the other. It’s what we just need to keep pushing forward so we need technology in education, and we need education in technology”

Oluwashina Dedenuola’s journey into tech was one full of twists and turns, but the world is better for now that he has found his way into the industry and he is just getting started. Dedenuola while procuring a bachelor’s degree in Geology from the University of Ibadan, found areas of opportunity in his field’s relationship with new development and changing technologies, particularly by applying analytical techniques in solving geological problems. He then sought out acquiring industry knowledge in the field, from intensive courses at Udemy and WorldQuant University.

His love for geology is still thriving as he recently completed his Master’s degree in Applied Geochemistry at the University of Ibadan where successfully worked on his thesis in petrology geochemical characterization of basement rocks here in southwestern Nigeria. He also intends to pursue a doctorate in the field tilted to seeing how he can apply tech solutions and eventually ridding the system of norms like going to the field to take samples, sending them for analysis, getting the result, and being done. 

According to him, the seed for the love of sciences was planted at his secondary school, Wesley College, Ibadan, although that interest was towards architecture and building sciences at the time. Oluwashina finally settled for geology as his avenue to channel his love for science and engineering upon influences from his immediate environment that presented the oil and gas industry as a lucrative endeavor. He also credits his friend, John Analoh, for exposing him to the world of data analytics. 

His heart for the next generation is that they seek knowledge early and eagerly as that empowers them to have a full and rich life in all aspects.  

While he acknowledges that power, both political and infrastructural, is a bane in the Nigerian system, he is hopeful that discovering one’s talent early and mining it to the fullest is a trusted path out of the tunnel of darkness those problems represent.

“My top skills to have in 2021 are leadership, analytical, project management and programming skills”

For him, his talent in music fostered interaction with other musical talents unearthing his management and negotiation skills which he then applied to secure deals and gigs for them. “I believe, you need to focus on two major things, your talents, and that thing that you’ve seen that is of relevance to the environment, but you don’t have it, but you can learn it,” he says. “During my undergraduate, I discovered that I was actually very good and I had listening ears for music, and I ended up picking a couple of talented artists that come to the school to record music and I can tell you that I was able to get one of those artistes’s a recording contract and that was when I discovered my management skills, so to speak.”

Dedenuola has had a robust experience in the field and industry of data analytics owing to time spent at Spark Foundation as an intern implementing unsupervised machine learning codes to interpret data using python and regression analysis. He is currently working as a machine learning analyst and annotator at Hugo Nigeria.

Dedenuola doesn’t want his adventure in tech to end with him.  He looks to pass the baton by impacting and inspiring the next generation to move beyond traditional and conventional processes and methods and move them into relevancy with solutions for present needs and future demands.

Combining his interests in geology and tech, he aspires to move his industry past just taking samples by creating a safe space for breeding the future to start applying innovation and invention to interpret data to make meaningful decisions from them. Dedenuola advises that young people today take on leadership, analytical, and project management skills.

Dedenuola on his thoughts on education and technology in Nigeria positions, “I don’t even think it’s something that that should be in the debate because the COVID-19 pandemic itself has shown us how relevant technology is”. “The old way of having students sit within an environment or a classroom and lecture might not be the only way anymore. Technology is as important as education itself, education itself has brought about advancements in technology and I believe they work hand in hand so we can’t put one aside and take the other. It’s what we just need to keep pushing forward so we need technology in education, and we need education in technology”, he concluded.