Climate change and knowledge from Peru’s indigenous roots

From 1 to 12 December, Peru will host the 20th Conference of Parties (COP 20) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change — the latest in a series of meetings by the UN’s decision-making body on climate action.

The event is promoting the participation of indigenous peoples, who are set to voice their views and discuss solutions at the meeting. And Peru’senvironment minister, who has spoken about the role of science, technology and traditional knowledge in tackling climate change.
Through images and interviews, this feature probes how science and traditional knowledge are combined at the Potato Park — an area in the Cusco region of Peru where indigenous Quechua communities live and work to systematically preserve hundreds of varieties of the native potato as well as other Andean root vegetables and tubers.
 

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Net Neutrality: President Obama's Plan for a Free and Open Internet | The White House

More than any other invention of our time, the Internet has unlocked possibilities we could just barely imagine a generation ago. And here’s a big reason we’ve seen such incredible growth and innovation: Most Internet providers have treated Internet traffic equally. That’s a principle known as “net neutrality” — and it says that an entrepreneur’s fledgling company should have the same chance to succeed as established corporations, and that access to a high school student’s blog shouldn’t be unfairly slowed down to make way for advertisers with more money.

That’s what President Obama believes, and what he means when he says there should be no gatekeepers between you and your favorite online sites and services.

 

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How ICTs Will Transform Agriculture - Masters and PhDs

We are all too familiar with the challenges that face agriculture. The average age of a farmer in the developing world is 55-60 years. Young people are less attracted to agriculture, which they perceive as backward and unrewarding, often looking to other sectors for their careers. However, ICTs are proving to be a good avenue when it comes to enticing the youth into agriculture, not only to work as young farmers, but also to help modernise the sector with the use of new technologies.

 

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Open Educational Resources (OER) - Advantages, Implications and Lists

Open educational resources (OER) are digitized materials that are available for use and re-use in teaching, learning, and research, very often under a Creative Commons license.  In this page you can find out more about the many benefits – and some challenges – in using these valuable resources …

 

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Get ready for the $30 smartphone from TECNO

It has been reported by Biztech Africa that TECNO, a device manufacturer that has a strong focus on the the African mobile space is set to introduce a smartphone priced at a under $30 next year.

The company is out to lower the barriers to smartphone ownership in Africa with this move.

Although the TECNO brand is hardly visible in Zimbabwe it would definitely be a welcome entrant in a market that has a very low smartphone penetration rate (just 15% which is low relative to the 106.4% mobile phone penetration rate).

In Africa the prospects for internet based opportunities that follow any exponential increase in smartphone penetration are remarkable seeing that internet access is largely through the phone.

Currently the local market is dominated by the now waning Nokia brand which has a strong following through Series 40 and S60 feature phones.

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TEDxHarare 2014 : Some of the important lessons for startups

Last Saturday, Zimbabwe took part in the global TED movement once again as we witnessed TEDxHarare 2014 which was held at local tech hub Hypercube Hub.

Several perspectives on a proactive Zimbabwean thought process were raised through very inspiring talks and insights shared by the different speakers that took to the stage.

While there were countless takeaways from the different talks given by the eight speakers and from the inspiring TED videos shown on the day, there are some insights that had direct and immediate relevance to startups.

 

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Offline Access to Khan Academy Videos and Exercises

KA LITE is an offline version of Khan Academy offering high-quality education by bringing the online learning accessible to the offline users. This open-source software runs on the local server and users can watch Khan Academy videos and do exercises as well as track student’s progress, etc, everything without Internet connectivity.

 

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Education in Adult Education Programs

As the name suggests, adult education programs prepare you to work with adult learners. The programs are based on adult learning philosophy, known as andragogy. In andragogy, learners are assumed to be self-motivated, self-directed, and have accumulated life experiences that need to be accounted for in course design and delivery.  Adult learners are also goal-oriented and so the course goals and objectives must be established early in the course.  They are relevancy-oriented, and so must see a reason for learning something, and the practical applications of what is being taught need to be clear.  Also, adult learners need to be treated with respect  – with valuable experience and knowledge. All these considerations impact on course development and delivery, so as to result in a totally different learning experience to that which many of the adults might have experienced during their earlier years in secondary education.

This page provides information on what is studied in these programs, where you can study them, what the prospects are after completion, and more.

 

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Microsoft's 3D audio system for blind navigation great example of user-centered design - About Health Degrees

A 3D audio system developed by a team of Microsoft engineers and designers led by visually impaired engineer Amos Miller could make a huge difference in helping give visually impaired people greater confidence to move beyond their homes and neighborhoods.

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Open Access, Open Source and Open Educational Resources - Online And Distance Learning

Open access (OA), open source software (OSS) and open educational resources (OER) share a common heritage and philosophy – they are about giving everyone access and permission to use, change and re-use material.

OA, OSS and OER share the same benefits:

Low or no cost to users, as products are generally free to access and download;Shorter development cycle due to the collaborative, parallel efforts of developers;Adaptability to suit own conditions.

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Map: The Africa without Ebola

Despite clear geographical limits to the Ebola outbreak, many Americans seem confused. How else could you explain the recent Ebola scare that kept two children who had moved from Rwanda to New Jersey from attending school, despite the fact the East African country is Ebola-free (and further from West Africa than New Jersey is to Texas)? Or the resignation of a teacher in Kentucky due to a backlash to her traveling to Kenya? Or the significant cancellation of tourist trips to places like Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa?

 

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Designing the classrooms of the future

The results of the project have been published in a form of a magazine "Designing the future classroom" Nº2, available in five languages. The articles include stories from teachers and project partners, as well as a preview to the iTEC school pilot results and training activities, including the Future Classroom Scenarios course.

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ALISON ABC IT - Computer Training Suite - Online And Distance Learning

ALISON ABC IT is free online self-certifiable IT course which comprehensively introduces the beginner and near beginner to IT literacy. ABC IT introduces the learner to the basic concepts of computing and teaches how computing can be an everyday feature of life and work. 

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The education effect: Global population to plateau by 2070 - Online And Distance Learning

Demographers from the United Nations Population Division and several universities published a paper in Science last week that argues the world population is unlikely to stop growing this century. They calculate that there is an 80% probability that world population, now 7.2 billion, will increase to between 9.6 and 12.3 billion in 2100, with the median at 10.9 billion.

Contrary to the UN projections, the IIASA medium (most likely) scenario indicates that world population will increase to 9.2 billion by 2050, peak at 9.4 billion around 2070 and start a slow decline to 9.0 billion by the end of the century.

 

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"Getting Ahead with OER" - OER Commons

Open Education Resources (OER) are digitized materials offered freely and openly to use and adapt for teaching, learning and research.

The OER movement is part of a global effort to make knowledge available to all. In fact it is the best way to take advantage of widely available, digital material on the Internet for teaching and learning. It can dramatically improve the access to education, enhance the quality of education and reduce the cost of education. Teachers can craft richer and engaging learning experiences for their students by using OER, leading to better learning outcomes and reduced dropout rates.

This course (and the accompanying workshop) is for students, teachers, managers and policy makers of Education Institutes.

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