Monday, CBC carried a story that the UN wants "access to the Internet" to be declared a Human Right. Before I am accused of anything, I self-identify as an "ICT-huger". I however don't believe technologies should be a Human Right.
Just think of Radio or TV, they are both only as good as what we do with them. They don't constitute a Right but access to information - through these tools and others - is. Same way that water pipes in communities should not be a Right.
Look, what will be done to the countries that violent their citizens' Right to the Internet?...well, to the UN Right body I say, never been good to ask a question whose answer you can't handle.
Take a Listen: http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Radio/The_Current/1450068094/ID=1984355208
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
New approaches to measure poverty
I have always thought that the Human Development Report doesn't measure poverty fairy. Yes, because it masks the plight of the most vulnerable and gloss over economic gains and indices. How about a tool that gives communities a tool to self-identify on the poverty scale - using day-to-day benchmarks such as happiness, how they cook their food etc
Check out this article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/may/24/talkpoint-measuring-development-progress
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Telling a students’ story, raising writers in Sierra Leone
Students in 10 schools in Sierra Leone are taking writing to a new level. With support from Sentinel English Language Institute based in Freetown, students have organized clubs in which they write stories, receive peer review and teachers’ support to improve their work. Sentinel has published the first collection of students’ essays.
I met with the Director of Sentinel Institute, Jacqueline Leigh, to discuss her experiences with this initiative. Jackie told how students have been excited by the challenge of writing and peer reviewing their pieces. Through the editing process, students took turns reading their pieces aloud to the club members. “Students are very excited to see their essays published, this will also likely motivate them to continue on the path of reading and writing” observed Jackie.
Sentinel’s initiative has encountered a couple of challenges. Teachers’ skills in the teaching of reading in writing are generally weak in most Sierra Leone schools and students do not have access to books. For the most part, reading skills are very limited – a deficiency manifested by the limited vocabulary expressed in the essays the students write –copies of which I received during our discussion. “If students had access to a variety of reading materials it would have improved the project’s work” Jackie observed.
Sentinel is a member of the newly created steering committee for Le Wi Ol Lan (a Krio name for Opportunity Schools Project) and Books Sierra Leone. The goal of the two projects is to improve reading and writing skills among primary students in Kenema district – Eastern Sierra Leone. The projects will therefore train teachers in reading and writing instruction. Schools will also receive books that support classroom instructions and stimulate students’ interest to read. A number of books will be imported by November 2011 and at least eight titles will be written by local writers and illustrators. With Sentinel’s experience, students’ stories may also be published. This would really help the students’ effort to learn reading and writing.
I met with the Director of Sentinel Institute, Jacqueline Leigh, to discuss her experiences with this initiative. Jackie told how students have been excited by the challenge of writing and peer reviewing their pieces. Through the editing process, students took turns reading their pieces aloud to the club members. “Students are very excited to see their essays published, this will also likely motivate them to continue on the path of reading and writing” observed Jackie.
Sentinel’s initiative has encountered a couple of challenges. Teachers’ skills in the teaching of reading in writing are generally weak in most Sierra Leone schools and students do not have access to books. For the most part, reading skills are very limited – a deficiency manifested by the limited vocabulary expressed in the essays the students write –copies of which I received during our discussion. “If students had access to a variety of reading materials it would have improved the project’s work” Jackie observed.
Sentinel is a member of the newly created steering committee for Le Wi Ol Lan (a Krio name for Opportunity Schools Project) and Books Sierra Leone. The goal of the two projects is to improve reading and writing skills among primary students in Kenema district – Eastern Sierra Leone. The projects will therefore train teachers in reading and writing instruction. Schools will also receive books that support classroom instructions and stimulate students’ interest to read. A number of books will be imported by November 2011 and at least eight titles will be written by local writers and illustrators. With Sentinel’s experience, students’ stories may also be published. This would really help the students’ effort to learn reading and writing.
The missing piece in Reading and Writing puzzle - Sierra Leone
“…While the country has officially committed to increasing literacy, primary school teachers are unable to teach pupils to read and write. The teachers themselves are generally untrained and don’t have the books they need to help pupils.” - A Sierra Leonean educator
This comment was made at the opening of the training workshop of enumerators for the Le Wi Ol lan project - which means “let us learn” in Krio. Formerly called Opportunity Schools Program, the Le Wi Ol lan project includes CODE’s new Reading Sierra Leone initiative designed to improve students’ learning achievements in Kenema district in Sierra Leone. It will train teachers in reading and writing instruction and supply books to support teachers in the classrooms and stimulate student’s reading habits.
The baseline survey will guide teacher training and books acquisition and development and will assess 353 students in grades 1-3 between May 9th and 13th. The survey is coordinated by IRC field office in Kenema and CODE.
This project could not have been launched at a better time. There is clearly a lot of enthusiasm in Sierra Leone to increase reading and writing performance. During the training, I sensed that a number of educators on the team had been engaged in discussions about the sorry state of languages and literacy. I learned that they have been investigating ways to support classroom teachers at lower primary levels – the foundation of literacy acquisition. Literacy champions face limited resources and very little awareness about what work remains to be done.
The fact that local champions exist is special. It presents a unique opportunity for CODE to carry out teacher development and book development support. Indeed at the end of the training, I promised the enumerators that project schools will demonstrate a change in reading and writing abilities within 5 years.
This project was launched in Febrary 2011 and has initial funding from an anonomious foundation with strong interests in education and human rights in Sierra Leone. Together, CODE and IRC look forward to making a lasting change in the literacy and education of children in Sierra Leone.
This comment was made at the opening of the training workshop of enumerators for the Le Wi Ol lan project - which means “let us learn” in Krio. Formerly called Opportunity Schools Program, the Le Wi Ol lan project includes CODE’s new Reading Sierra Leone initiative designed to improve students’ learning achievements in Kenema district in Sierra Leone. It will train teachers in reading and writing instruction and supply books to support teachers in the classrooms and stimulate student’s reading habits.
The baseline survey will guide teacher training and books acquisition and development and will assess 353 students in grades 1-3 between May 9th and 13th. The survey is coordinated by IRC field office in Kenema and CODE.
This project could not have been launched at a better time. There is clearly a lot of enthusiasm in Sierra Leone to increase reading and writing performance. During the training, I sensed that a number of educators on the team had been engaged in discussions about the sorry state of languages and literacy. I learned that they have been investigating ways to support classroom teachers at lower primary levels – the foundation of literacy acquisition. Literacy champions face limited resources and very little awareness about what work remains to be done.
The fact that local champions exist is special. It presents a unique opportunity for CODE to carry out teacher development and book development support. Indeed at the end of the training, I promised the enumerators that project schools will demonstrate a change in reading and writing abilities within 5 years.
This project was launched in Febrary 2011 and has initial funding from an anonomious foundation with strong interests in education and human rights in Sierra Leone. Together, CODE and IRC look forward to making a lasting change in the literacy and education of children in Sierra Leone.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Impact of English world on global innovation
As native languages continue to struggle for survival, the influence of French in Africa is fast fading. Models have emerge of possible impact of a mono-lingual civilization especially with regard to innovation and global competitiveness. We now know that emphasis on English language is indeed killing other languages and constraining us to tap into the creativity of non-English speakers?
You’ve probably heard about TOEFL. Yes, me too. Patricia Ryan asks if a computer programmer needs as much score as a doctor on the TOEFL. Good question. Fact is that the score will always be the same regardless. People are therefore screened on the basis of how they can communicate in English in total disregard of what they know or can contribute to global issues. How health is that?
In this piece, Patricia Ryan paints a simple, yet effective case for preservation of native languages (multi-lingualism). She claims that 1 language dies every 14 days. check out her remarks here: http://www.ted.com/talks/patricia_ryan_ideas_in_all_languages_not_just_english.html
You’ve probably heard about TOEFL. Yes, me too. Patricia Ryan asks if a computer programmer needs as much score as a doctor on the TOEFL. Good question. Fact is that the score will always be the same regardless. People are therefore screened on the basis of how they can communicate in English in total disregard of what they know or can contribute to global issues. How health is that?
In this piece, Patricia Ryan paints a simple, yet effective case for preservation of native languages (multi-lingualism). She claims that 1 language dies every 14 days. check out her remarks here: http://www.ted.com/talks/patricia_ryan_ideas_in_all_languages_not_just_english.html
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Make Technologies work for you
Got more proof for you that ICTs matter yesterday. My 7 yr-old daughter, asked me why her school is collecting money for Japan. She believes that Japan is a rich country already. "Does Japan want to get even richer at the expense of us in Canada?" she wondered. Look, I told her. you are right to say that Japan is a rich country. But about a month ago, Japan suffered a massive earthquake and tsunami. The country lost a lot. It needs all our support to rebuild.
We then went on-line with her and her little brother to search for videos and articles about the incidents. Turned out to be an effective way to teach the young minds. They took lead picking clips with interesting detail. In a couple of minutes, they both understood the earth quake and tsunami. They understood how a country can be destroyed by these natural events.
"I get it dad". the girl declared. She quickly decided to stage a demo of how earthquake can cause a tsunami. She put water in bowl, placed it on a table and went on to agitate the table. The water poured out of the bowl. Was truely interesting couple of hours.
What if I didn't have access to the internet? Alright. I would have answered the question but most likely would have been shot on details. The kids wouldn't have understood these events the way they did. Yes, I positive about that.
Some of the interesting links on Japan earthquake and tsunami we saw:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-zfCBCq-8I&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3AdFjklR50
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ikus_TEaGI&feature=related
We then went on-line with her and her little brother to search for videos and articles about the incidents. Turned out to be an effective way to teach the young minds. They took lead picking clips with interesting detail. In a couple of minutes, they both understood the earth quake and tsunami. They understood how a country can be destroyed by these natural events.
"I get it dad". the girl declared. She quickly decided to stage a demo of how earthquake can cause a tsunami. She put water in bowl, placed it on a table and went on to agitate the table. The water poured out of the bowl. Was truely interesting couple of hours.
What if I didn't have access to the internet? Alright. I would have answered the question but most likely would have been shot on details. The kids wouldn't have understood these events the way they did. Yes, I positive about that.
Some of the interesting links on Japan earthquake and tsunami we saw:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-zfCBCq-8I&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3AdFjklR50
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ikus_TEaGI&feature=related
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