Lisa Bu: How books can open your mind

What happens when a dream you've held since childhood … doesn't come true? As Lisa Bu adjusted to a new life in the United States, she turned to books to expand her mind and create a new path for herself. She shares her unique approach to reading in this lovely, personal talk about the magic of books.
Lisa Bu has built a career helping people find great stories to listen to. Now she tells her own story: http://youtu.be/6ibCtsHgz3Y

Ken Robinson: How to escape education's death valley

Sir Ken Robinson outlines 3 principles crucial for the human mind to flourish -- and how current education culture works against them. In a funny, stirring talk he tells us how to get out of the educational "death valley" we now face, and how to nurture our youngest generations with a climate of possibility.

See video at: http://youtu.be/wX78iKhInsc

How IICD supports healthcare in Africa by using ICT

IICD supports doctors and other health workers such as community workers in Africa and Latin America to use computers, mobile phones and other Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to improve healthcare. This video tells the story of doctor Bon in Tanzania. This doctor works at a health clinic in Nyakato that is now using a Health Management Information System (HMIS) that reduces waiting time for patients and improves the overall efficiency of the clinic. The video also includes other examples and facts and figures about of IICD's effective work in 'ICT for health' in Africa.
 
Video at: http://youtu.be/3bblK35NbGU

Imagine a World Without Hate

Join ADL in our Centennial Year as we Imagine a World Without Hate™, one where the hate crimes against Martin Luther King, Anne Frank, Matthew Shepard and others did not take place.
Support us in the fight against bigotry and extremism by sharing this inspirational video and taking the pledge to create a world without hate at http://www.adl.org/imagine.

See it on Scoop.it, via ICT for Education and Development

Kakenya Ntaiya: A girl who demanded school

Kakenya Ntaiya made a deal with her father: She would undergo the traditional Maasai rite of passage of female circumcision if he would let her go to high school. Ntaiya tells the fearless story of continuing on to college, and of working with her village elders to build a school for girls in her community. It's the educational journey of one that altered the destiny of 125 young women. (Filmed at TEDxMidAtlantic.)

See it on Scoop.it, via ICT for Education and Development

Market information test starts in Burkina Faso

The Burkinabe farming organisation Aprossa-Afrique Verte is testing a platform in various parts of the country that will give farmers access to vital market information via mobile phones and computers. After a thorough testing phase, the farmer system will launch in April 2013. This system is a result of the work of Dutch ICT for development organisation IICD, development organisation ICCO via the Connect4Change consortium together with local software development company BAMIG and Text To Change.
Report: Olivier Nyirubugara.

Watch the video on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skqZZDdwLMo
  

Social media In Indian Pharma & Healthcare

'Social Media In Indian Pharma' is an awareness video covering local and global insights on how the pharmaceutical industry in India can use emerging media and technology. This video is the 1st in the series of 4 videos that will cover newer trends in terms of technology, social media, and the overall paradigm shift happening within the pharma industry.



Read more at: ICT for Education and Development

Studying Teaching and Learning - latest updates on Scoop.it

More details at Studying Teaching and Learning

Ushahidi: Bearing witness to a remarkable idea

Just recently I came across this remarkable example of the power of social software and open source - Ushahidi.

The Ushahidi Engine is a platform that allows anyone to gather distributed data via SMS, email or web and visualize it on a map or timeline. The result is a simple website mashup, using user-generated reports and Google Maps.

It's a simple - but powerful idea. Here is a video with more details: What is Ushahidi? from Ushahidi on Vimeo.



"Ushahidi" means testimony or witness in Swahili. It is a free and open source project with developers hailing from Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Malawi, Netherlands and the USA working on it. The goal is to create the simplest way of aggregating information from the public for use in crisis response.

This volunteer group of open source developers have overcome some significant technological challenges and are always looking for help.

Facebook Project Subtitles

It's been a long time since the last blog. This signifies how busy I've been on other things.

I feel that this age of electronic communication has enabled us all to do things quicker, which instead of saving us time, actually gives us more to do because everyone else is sending us stuff quicker as well. The paradox of the increasing speed of electronic communications.

This is a neat mashup I was recently sent. I like it not only because it represents how I feel about so much of my school education, but also because it includes one of my favourite songs by one of my favourite groups - Pink Floyd.

Take a Virtual Tour of World Heritage Sites

Thanks to an alliance between Google and UNESCO, you can now take a virtual walk around some of the world's most remarkable natural and cultural landmarks using Google Maps, Google Earth and Street View.

The World Heritage List includes 890 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value. These irreplaceable treasures will now be captured on video for all to see without actually having to travel to the location. Clearly this project is of considerable value educationally, culturally and historically.

Free and Open Source Software in Africa

Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) - software that any developer can modify and improve - is an obvious way to go for developing countries - and the idea and its use are certainly gaining ground in Africa. One of the interviewees in this video captures the spirit nicely. As a child he would take his new toys apart to see how they worked - he never could accept the principle that things were closed to prevent understanding and improvement.

But there are obstacles - and they are within the very institutions that stand to gain so much. As another interviewee so rightly says - there is resistance within the administration of universities (even within the IT divisions) to adopt open source software. Watch the video - it's good.



The two projects profiled here, AVOIR and POLLES, are providing both the software to encourage eLearning and university administration in sub-Saharan and North Africa respectively, along with providing a platform for post secondary institutions to get applied training in software development. Connectivity Africa has been supporting these initiatives since 2004.

For more information:
http://avoir.uwc.ac.za
http://www.sakaiquebec.org/en/projets/polles.html
http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-87736-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

Did you know ? Human Capital Edition - 2009

How technology influences and is influenced - this video presents amazing research on the development and evolution from the industrial age to the information age and globalization. The figures will, of course, be out of date by the time you view this video.



This movie was intended to answer some of the questions left by the original shift happens production of "Did you know?"

Movie developed and researched by Lyle Potgieter, Mark Middleton, Fabrice Ho Fi and Renee Thorn. Enquire at http://www.PeopleStreme.com for a Facts Sheet.

Shift happens - Did you know?

Shift Happens: Education 3.0 - a newly revised edition for 2009 of the video originally created by Karl Fisch, modified by XPLANE and Campus Management. It answers the question, "What are we doing about the shift?" and covers innovations by Ashford University, Bridgepoint Education, Huntington Junior College, Jones International University, Mercer University, University of the Rockies, and The University System of Georgia.



This video gives an interesting perspective on how fast developments are taking place and emphasises how important it is for us to ensure that no country or community is further disadvantaged by being left behind.

The Chawama Youth Project

Chawama Township in Zambia is like so many other urban centres in Africa and the Caribbean - it is facing major problems with the young people, especially males. It has a population of 37,500 of which 65% is 25 years old or younger. Most of the youths (between 15 and 25 years old) are unemployed and lack skills to generate their own sustainable livelihoods. One of the main factors is the low level of education. Many youths do not finish their school, and most of these school drop outs are unskilled and unproductive, which in turn negatively affects their self-esteem and leads to increased levels of loitering, alcohol abuse and criminal activity. The story is a familiar one.

But Chawama Township has tackled the problem in a way that deserves attention.

“We realized that there is a rampant employment among youth of Chawama Township. So we decided to come up with a skills training centre to give them life skills. This would help them to get employment or be self employed” said Rodgers Mulenga (Secretary General of the Chawama Youth Project).

Here is a video about the award-winning Project.



The Chawama Youth Project (CYP) is a community-based non-governmental organisation established in 2001 and registered with the Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training Authority (TEVETA). It offers ‘life skills’ courses in subjects such as Auto Mechanics, Tailoring, Carpentry, and ICT, to improve the young people’s chances of finding work. Teachers are using the internet to enhance content (e.g. by accessing diagrams of engines using Google Images instead of drawing on the blackboard); hand-outs are being produced quickly; existing lesson plans are now being stored and re-used.

You can download an IICD briefing on the project here.

Project Masiluleke: Using mobiles to tackle HIV/AIDS

South Africa has more HIV positive citizens than any country in the world. In some provinces, more than 40% of the population is infected. Yet only 2% of South Africans have ever been tested for HIV. Testing and anti-retrovirals are now available in all parts of the country. And yet, of those who are HIV positive, a mere 10% are receiving anti-retroviral therapy – leaving 90% untreated, infectious and likely to die.

HIV/AIDS carries a huge social stigma in South Africa, preventing many from getting tested or pursuing treatment, and there is wide-spread misinformation about how the disease is contracted.

Project Masiluleke seeks to harnesses the power of mobile technology to address these issues. Here is a video about the Project.



Meaning ‘hope’ and ‘warm counsel’ in Zulu, Project Masiluleke brings together a coalition of world-class partners – including iTeach, the Praekelt Foundation, frog design, Nokia Siemens Networks and the National Geographic Society. The first phase was launched on October 1, 2008, when a text message was sent to 1 million phones – the largest-ever use of mobile messaging to address HIV.

The key elements and stages of Project Masiluleke include:

“Please Call Me” x 1 Million x 365 - messages broadcast in the unused space of “Please Call Me” (PCM) text messages – a special, free form of SMS text widely used in South Africa and across the continent. Trained operators provide callers with accurate healthcare information, counseling and referrals to local testing clinics.

TxtAlert - a system of text messaging to remind patients of scheduled clinic visits to help ensure they adhere to ARV regimens.

HIV Self-Testing with Mobile Support - The project partners are actively exploring a low cost HIV self-testing with mobile counseling support. Analogous to a pregnancy test, these distributed diagnostics would provide a free, private and reliable way for anyone to take the critical first step of knowing his or her status, with high-quality information provided via mobile device.

JISC Web2Practice Guides

This blog constantly refers to Web2.0 software and tools, and how important they are for sharing, publishing, collaborating and communicating. If you are thinking of using Web2.0 software and tools. JISC provides a quick start with their JISC Web2Practice Guides.

Each guide consists of a short animated video explaining the key concepts, supported by a more in-depth printable overview of the topic, covering the potential uses, risks and how to get started.

The guides and the resources used to create them can be downloaded, modified and shared for teaching, staff development or other purposes permitted by the creative commons licence. More details are on the downloads page.

The web2practice project aims to help people enhance their working practice by understanding the potential of web2.0 tools. Rather than providing a HowTo guide to using these tools, the project seeks to motivate people to explore the tools for themselves.

Web2practice guides have been created for the following topics:

• Social Media
• RSS
• Collaborative Writing
• Podcasting
• Microblogging

Further topics are planned, including Social Bookmarking and Digital Identity.

Here is a slidecast that introduces the web2practice project. It was originally presented at the "JISC conference 09: Opening Digital Doors".

OASIS: A sourcebook on Open Access

With the growing interest in Open Access (OA) worldwide comes the increasing demand for training, knowledge development, and skills for the implementing of OA repositories and OA journals, the twin routes for making research results openly accessible.

OASIS aims to provide an authoritative ‘sourcebook’ on Open Access, covering the concept, principles, advantages, approaches and means to achieving it. The site highlights developments and initiatives from around the world, with links to diverse additional resources and case studies. As such, it is a community-building as much as a resource-building exercise. Users are encouraged to share and download the resources provided, and to modify and customize them for local use.

The concept of an OA resource arose because much ‘spreading the word’ activity (currently at least) is carried out by a core set of individuals who are invited to travel to address audiences or carry out training activities on all continents. This is reasonably effective on the local level at which it operates, but is costly for both trainers/speakers and participants, and the one-size-fits-all approach that necessarily has to be adopted is not the most effective way of educating and informing. Thus the current model for disseminating reliable and authoritative information about Open Access is unsustainable, is not effective on the large scale and is overly-onerous on the individuals concerned. The information needs of the scholarly community worldwide can better be addressed by the provision of an authoritative and informative resource on Open Access, delivered in various formats that accommodate the needs of all constituencies.

Objectives

The online content is intended to provide training and resources for anyone or institutions who wish to provide open access to their research publications. The objectives are:
• to increase the number of trainers and centres of expertise worldwide
• to expand the knowledge base of open access implementation
• to share resources and best practices
• to demonstrate and record successful outcomes of OA around the world


Key Characteristics of OASIS
• Open to any users
• Open to contributions from diverse practitioners
• Modular approach for content development to enable additions
• International cooperation
• Expert coordination and editorial team

The WWW Explained in Plain English

As an educator, I often need to be able to point people to good, clear explanations of new ICTs. Here's another excellent resource from CommonCraft. In the following video, Lee LeFever gives a short explanation of what makes the World Wide Web work: browsers, packets, servers and links.

Unveiling the "Sixth Sense"

At the MIT Media Lab's new Fluid Interfaces Group, Pattie Maes researches the tools we use to work with information and connect with one another. This demo -- of research work spearheaded by Pranav Mistry -- was the buzz of TED**. It's a wearable device with a projector that paves the way for profound interaction with our environment. Although it is not much to do with community development yet, I wanted to include it in my blog because I am sure there will be development applications in the future - and anyway - it is fun.



More details at http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/481

** TED -- stands for "Technology, Entertainment, Design". It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader. The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).