By Tatiana Mhararira
Great Zimbabwe University Vice Chancellor Professor Rungano Jonas Zvobgo officially launched the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics boot camp that was hosted by GZU at its Mashava Campus on August 04, 2024.
The boot camp was organized by GZU in collaboration with Girls in Stem Trust.
In his welcome speech, Prof. Zvobgo said the boot camp was important as it empowers educators and learners equipping them with skills necessary for a world full of technology.
“The boot camp is important as it seeks to empower educators, students, and learners by equipping them with technological skills that will help them to tackle real-world challenges.
“The bootcamp will help in providing networking and collaboration through connecting industry professionals, peers and learners and forging lasting relationships scheduling ideas and inviting innovations. We want you to create a platform to produce commercially viable products by focusing on practical aspects of AI & Robotics,” said Prof Zvobgo.
Prof Zvobgo said the bootcamp is not there to deepen the understanding of the attendees but rather introduce exposure to them.
“The camp is designed not to just deepen your understanding of AI & Robotics but to provide tools and insights needed to inspire and engage students in these cut-edging themes. Our goal is to offer you practical knowledge that you will take to your classrooms after this training,” said Prof Zvobgo.
Masvingo Christian College Head Dr Edson Muresherwa who was among the guests said the event fulfilled education 5.0 where students and learners from different levels of learning gathered to acquire skills from professional experts to move with what is happening in the digital age.
“When we talk about education 5.0, this is the personification of education 5.0 and community engagement where primary and high schools will be interacting with universities and technical colleges at such a stage,” said Dr Muresherwa.
Addressing the bootcamp participants Ministry Of Primary and Secondary Provincial Director of Education Services Petronella Nyangwe said AI was now embedded in people’s lives so the younger generation was supposed to be exposed to it to promote the well-being of people in the society.
“Artificial Intelligence and data processing is now embedded in our lives so it is only logical to expose our young generations to all these areas that is what education 5.0 is all about and we are promoting this in all our education sectors in Zimbabwe.
“This week of learning will assist the participants to link the digital technological world to human social and emotional skills to promote the well-being of all the people in our communities,” said Nyangwe.
Girls in Stem Trust representative Victoria Nxumalo said the five-day training session will look at five different aspects with each day focusing on a different aspect.
“The practical week of training will focus on the ethical use of AI, machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision and image recognition as well as fundamentals of robotics before having our award ceremony on Friday.
In an interview with TellZim News one of the participants from Helen Mghie Primary School Mazvita Machengere said she was eager to learn and by the end of the week she expected to have acquired several skills in the robotics field.
“I am looking forward to learning a lot and by the end of the week I expect to have acquired knowledge and skills in the AI & Robotics field,” said Machengere.
The AI & Robotics bootcamp is a follow-up of the World Robot Olympiad held in Bulawayo early July where Zimuto High emerged victorious and is set to represent the country at international level in Turkey.
