Olivia Odileke, born and raised in the United States of America, is a virtual teaching specialist who is on a mission to help create fearless educators who use simple technical tools to transform learning and teaching. As of current, Odileke has committed herself to sharing and expanding her mission to the Commonwealth of Dominica.
According to her, she did not choose Dominica but Dominica chose her. A few years back she visited Dominica as part of an undergraduate program in College. At that time, she was pursuing a minor in African studies. In view of that, it was no surprise that she was immediately intrigued when her professor brought up the idea of visiting four Caribbean islands to broaden their scope on African studies. Interestingly, Dominica stood out to her and she made a decision that she had to go back there to move forward. “There was something magical about this place,” she stated.
So today, Odileke hosts a Monday night radio program on Kairi FM affectionately known as “Live your life with Olivia” which focuses on mindset changes and personal growth. Nevertheless, Odileke’s mission extends way beyond mindset changes as she is inspired by transformative learning. “I am all about transformation. I am on a mission of transforming education one teacher at a time,” she expressed. In addition, she expounded that the mission came about by her simply wanted to go deep and do something good. “I don’t like to just put my foot in the water. I believe in jumping right in. I’ve always been the person to think deep and go hard,” she articulated.
Moreover, Odileke explained that the only way teachers will be able to motivate students is if they themselves are inspired. “I look at classrooms every day and I touch the lives of at least 200 teachers a week. I see the difference between the effective and non-effective classrooms,” she stated. She believes that the key to enhancing a student’s learning experience is to make sessions more engaging and interactive.
Approximately twelve years ago, she founded a virtual training program called Kampus Insights which seeks to provide virtual training to schools. This has been growing since the emergence of Covid-19 given the new virtual environment. She also hosts quarterly virtual events, conferences, forums and other online sessions regularly. She noted, “Teachers have the greatest struggle to me. I am putting myself in their shoes every day. I simply want to help make teaching easier for all teachers.”
Furthermore, Odileke indicated that she is open to be used by the Ministry of Education and schools around Dominica. “As a teacher, when you are exposed that’s when you think differently of yourself and what you can do with yourself. I am trying to create a community of like-minded people,” she voiced.
While things have been progressing smoothly generally, Odileke notes that there are personal and organizational challenges that she has faced. It is a challenge to determine who to reach out to in Dominica as some persons, including the authorities are not receptive or open to her initiative. Consequently, this triggers her inner voice, which questions whether or not she is doing the right thing or making the right moves. However, she seeks to overcome these challenges by creating a game plan. “I sit down and I have a vision plan of my goals and I just keep believing in those things,” she stated.
Additionally, she confirmed that at present she has been able to target mostly the United States and Dominica. However, it is her goal to expand by reaching out to various teachers association internationally and regionally. “One thing I envision for Dominica is having a virtual school with live lessons as well as an online curriculum that students can access. The pandemic is a great opportunity to start thinking about that,” she opined.
She concluded by advising teachers to try new things, specifically with technology. “Our kids are using technology but we are afraid of taking a risk. Take the risk and see how this may affect some children in your classroom,” she advised.
For persons interested in getting training or tips on virtual teaching and enhancing the teaching experience, they could visit her pages at https://kampusinsights.com/, https://oliviaodileke.com/, tinyurl.com/lifewitholivia or via Tik Tok at @fearlesseducator. According to Odileke, there is no better job than touching the lives of teachers and students worldwide. It is an experience and a journey destined to continue.
