AI in Education: JournoTECH Trains Zimbabwean University Lecturers on Classroom Technology
Lecturers also learnt how to use NewsAssist AI to generate course content, grade and analyse students’ work, and help students learn how to write news stories.

Lecturers from two prominent Zimbabwean universities recently participated in JournoTECH training programme on AI technology applications, focusing on the various AI tools for classroom use, including NewsAssist AI.
The training, led by Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi, founder of NewsAssist AI, equipped lecturers from the Media and Journalism Department at the National University of Science and Technology and the Department of Languages, Media, and Communication Studies at Lupane State University with practical skills.
The programme began with participants sharing their prior experiences with AI. While many haven’t had prior AI usage in their workflows, those who had shared their experiences.
Kevin-Alerechi emphasised the benefits and limitations of AI in education. “While AI technology is good for the classroom,” she noted, “it has its disadvantages with excessive use. When using AI to do anything, it is very important that we still cross-check what AI has produced before publishing or using it in classrooms.”
She highlighted AI’s role in reducing lecturers’ workloads: “It can be used to create lesson notes, research, check plagiarism, and grade students; however, these tools are there to support you and not to replace lecturers in class activities.”
The training included practical sessions on various AI tools, including NewsAssist AI, Gemini, Diffit AI, EdCafe AI, and Classpoint. Kevin-Alerechi distinguished NewsAssist AI by its reliance on content input to generate results, making it suitable for both teachers and students.
NewsAssist AI’s features—transcription, editing, summarisation, document analysis, and translation—were showcased as valuable classroom tools. Lecturers learnt to use NewsAssist AI for transcribing and summarising lectures, analysing student projects, preparing course materials, supporting student research, and training students on real-world AI tools.
Regarding student applications, Kevin-Alerechi advised, “Students can use it to learn how to write reports, especially those just starting in media and struggling to write news stories, opinion pieces, or feature articles.
However, when students are using it to learn, they shouldn’t dwell 100% on it but use it to learn and produce their original articles while comparing their work to NewsAssist AI’s output. With this pattern, they will learn fast in addition to what their lecturers have taught them. They can share their work with lecturers and mentors for improvement.”
The training concluded with practical sessions demonstrating NewsAssist AI’s capabilities for lecturers at both universities.