Ugandans in the Nordics to celebrate the 50th Independence in Stockholm 1-7 October

peter — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 08:11:00 +0000

The Ugandan Community in Finland in partnership with the Uganda Diaspora in Sweden take the honor to invite you to Sweden to participate in the UGANDA AT 50 NORDICS WEEK of activities celebrating Uganda’s Golden Jubilee that will take place in Stockholm from 1ST – 7TH October 2012. To access the programmes of the event visit http://ugandaat50nordics.com/

Make effort to join in the celebration that will mix pleasure with work. It is the only place you will network with all kinds of people who have influence in the Ugandan economy. The event has numerous activities that will accommodate almost every area of interest such as business seminars, lectures, the rich Ugandan music and cultural extravaganza that include Uganda’s best local band (Afrigo Band), young and talented dances and singers, sports gala and much more.

Don’t miss it. See you in Stockholm!!!

Teaching mathematics using African Kitengi the Ghanaian Kente style

peter — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:43:48 +0000

The challenge with most of the education systems almost all over the world is the task of relating what we teach in classes with the activities we do in real life. It is for such reasons that it is easy for students to think that some subjects are harder and difficult or even irrelevant.

Nowadays many scholars are coming up with numerous solutions to the problem of making most subjects cool for example creating games, role plays, and interactive softwares that ease the learning experience.

This morning, ICT works – an online publisher on information communication technologies for development (ICT4D) yet again published an interesting story on how a research group is studying and relating mathematics and making patterns in the famous Ghanaian Kente fabric. Kente fabric is a quality beautiful multi colored cloth fabric that is made and sold in Ghana but has now caught up on many fashion lines in Africa. In East Africa these kind of clothes are called Kitengi or Bitengi

This story tells how research is examining ways to integrate the process of designing and developing Kente fabrics with a software that will teach mathematical algorithm to students. This will not only relate math with the most common aspect of life but also explain the relevance of such a subject in daily activity. Fascinated? Read more on this story from:

http://www.ictworks.org/news/2012/05/21/teaching-algorithms-through-kente-cloth-case-culturally-situated-educational-softwar?utm_source=ICTworks+Subscribers&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=48df1ed035-ICTworks_RSS_EMAIL2

Fourth Annual Mobile Africa Research Report

peter — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:33:58 +0000

ICT Works-an online publication has posted an interesting research report on mobile innovation African practices that was released during the Annual Innovation Digital Africa Summit. For details visit: http://www.ictworks.org/news/2012/05/07/mobile-monday-fourth-annual-mobile-africa-research-report?utm_source=ICTworks

How Finland becomes a role model to Korea in language teaching

peter — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:23:13 +0000

The change has come! One would say. In fact Finland is a not an English speaking country but that has not stopped it from fielding it’s expertise and know-how. Actually, a country you would expect not to consult Finland because according to the recent PISA report, Korea performed better than Finland has just done.

So, what makes Finland a country to learn from. Could it be their successful models of teaching and their performance on the PISA survey of the past few years? South Korea is now looking at Finland to learn the best ways to teach English of all languages. One would have thought that the natural choice would have been English speaking countries. Here is what Finland’s YLE News site has reported on this story:
http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2012/04/south_korea_models_language_education_on_finland_3417383.html

The top technologies to watch

peter — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 17:10:22 +0000

A business journal McKinsey Quarterly that convers management and organisational theory published an interesting article that predicts the money making businesses of the future. Did you know that grid scale storage and biofuels will be a business hit in the future? Read more by registering on

https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Energy_Resources_Materials/Strategy_Analysis/Five_technologies_to_watch_2902

Education Model The Finnish Style

peter — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:41:22 +0000

Recently, Americans where treated to a revelation of an education model that is unique and gives wonderful results. Reports show that Finns have mastered a trick or two in making education cool. Yes, this was reported in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), OECD reports on Education (Education at a Glance) etc.

One report sited that Finland is one of the few nations with a high turn up of youth who choose engineering and technology over social humanity courses at tertiary level. To entertain you more on the what goes on in this cold country is the overwhelming love for teaching as a career. Yeah, that is how cool things get in this small country. For more on this subject visit the New York Times link below. However, you may need to register for a free online subscription to be able to access the information. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/education/from-finland-an-intriguing-school-reform-model.html?_r=1

Ugandans to get together during Easter Festive on a boat cruise

peter — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:13:57 +0000

Fellow countrymen/women and friends of Uganda,

It is party time on a boat cruise!!!!

An opportunity for you to:
- Network,
- Seek jobs
- Form business partnerships and ventures
- Make friends and indeed have fun during the Easter period from 6th to 8th April.

The Uganda Convention Nordics (UCN) invites you to participate in a convention that brings together the Ugandan Diaspora, Nordic business entities interested in investing in Africa, Uganda in particular and indigenous Ugandan business people interested in joint ventures or expanding their business into the Nordic countries. This does not mean that you should have a business to join the event. In fact it will be of benefit for you to join and experience how you too can benefit in getting exposed with many people with different interest.

There will be prominent business speakers, policy makers and diplomats to grace the occasion.

The luxurious Pearl of Scandinavia Cruise has a Capacity of 2000 people, it is stacked with big buffets for breakfast and dinner, gourmet restaurants, kids’ activities, Indoor and outdoor pools, saunas, nightclubs, casinos, Wi-Fi, satellite phone, tax-free shopping and a Conference Centre. For Entertainment top Ugandan Musicians among others Sophia Nantongo, Aziz Azion and Bosimic Otim will join other international bands in the several clubs to entertain the delegates.
The conference will take place
Aboard: Pearl of Scandinavia Cruise
Day 1- 6/04/2012 – Cruise starts from Copenhagen Harbour through Sweden to Norway
Day 2- 7/0472012 – Full day conference and exhibition
Venue: Oslo (Norway). Time 09.00- 17:00.
Day 3- 8/04/2012 – Arrival in Copenhagen Denmark
For Further information, registration prices, Schengen visa processes and deadlines check the event website http://www.ugandaconventionnordics.com

Contacts:
Peter Kalanzi: email: kalanzi.peter@gmail.com Tel: +358 45 235 1455
Stella Kagwa: email: kagwa_estella@yahoo.com Tel: +358 40 484 8966
Peter Ntende: e-mail: chairman@ugandaconventionnordics.com Tel: +45 20811697
Pamela Mary Kasembo Louis: e-mail: plc@p-louis.dk Tel: +45 5122 1812.
Embassy of Uganda in Denmark: e-mail: info@ugandaembassy.dk Tel: +45 3962 0966
PLEASE DO NOT MISS THIS PROSPECT

ICT in Primary Schools are Learning Tools, Not Tools to be Learned

peter — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:07:15 +0000

This story was written by lindsaypoirier|Feb 03, 2012 03:09 am (adopted from ICT Works)

As teachers at a primary school in the Kisongo district of Arusha, Tanzania huddled into their computer lab, they quietly scoffed at me. What can a twenty-something American girl have to say in a meeting with all of us? I tried to remain upbeat and ignore the fact that I couldn’t understand what was being discussed in Swahili amongst the group. To read more visit

http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=84e9f392a668e74df589375c7&id=09c1b584a4&e=57c7c76909

Our teacher Lilian reports from Nigeria

peter — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:35:01 +0000

Damage on our car caused as a result of road blockage by the protesters in Lokoja Kogi State

“I want to let you know that I came back to Enugu yesterday with two police security men because there was road blocks and burning of cars along the roads, I had to hire security in order to be safe. We crossed 4 states before we came in to Enugu and I dont think I could have made it without the security I hired.
It has not been easy but I am happy that I am still safe now.
I contacted air france and they said they will work if they call off the strike before sunday.
Here nothing is moving because of the strike.
No market, people traveling abroad are highly strandard, no market, no movement, high cost of fuel. I hope that the strike will be over before sunday. “

Lilian

EducationFinder (EF) has evidence of learning successes from 15 years of eLearning practice. eLearning has made it possible for everyone to take part in quality education wherever they live and whenever they want to. EF has been a pioneer in developing and practicing distance education and received the 2008 Boldic Award for implementation of eLearning methods.

The basis of the success has been: governmental support, approval and appreciation from the management of the schools and committed teachers.

The Rise of the Voluntary Humanitarian Technologist in Disaster Response

adminug — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:09:32 +0000

Nov 18, 2011 10:00 am | Guest Writer/Story reported by ICT works

Excerpt from Volunteer Technology Communities: Open Development

2010 redefined the role of volunteers during humanitarian emergencies and disaster risk management. Traditionally, civil society organizations ranging in size from small community organizations to the international Federation of Red Cross mobilized volunteers to perform a wide range of actions, in order to: manage logistics, provide medical care, and perform community based risk assessments in addition to other forms of direct action.

During 2010, a new form of volunteer emerged from the background: the humanitarian technologist. These experts – who are most often technical professionals with deep expertise in geographic information systems, database management, social media, and/or online campaigns – applied their skills to some of the hardest elements of the disaster risk management process.

Working inside communities like OpenStreetMap and Ushahidi, thousands of technologists responded to earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and flooding in Pakistan. Volunteers processed imagery, created detailed maps, and geolocated posts made by the affected population to a myriad of channels in social media.

Some deployed under the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC), The World Bank, and International Organization of Migration (IOM), trained Haitians how to use simple tools for remapping their communities. Others provided reachback support to the United Nations (UN), the European Union, United States and across the globe, making their supercomputers and large storage arrays available for processing imagery, managing translation workflows, and serving large data sets.

The rise of the Volunteer Technology Communities (VTC) brought a new set of organizational designs to problems that have often become snagged in bureaucracy. Instead of working in hierarchies, VTCs used flattened, decentralized structures with decision-making and conflict resolution mechanisms that were adapted from online communities like Wikipedia and open source software development projects.

“The use of Volunteer Technology Communities (VTCs) made possible by new Web 2.0 technologies present a fundamental shift in how we can support Disaster Risk Management programs and intervene in disaster situations. We are only at the beginning of this story. The seeds planted through initiatives like the Crisis Commons and Random Hacks of Kindness hold great promise for the future.” – Saroj Kumar Jha, GFDRR Manager

As a result, the VTCs moved far faster than larger players in nearly all circumstances – and perhaps faster than established protocols will allow. It is here – in the politics and tempo of this new volunteer capability – that the bottom-up, grassroots structures need protocols to work with the top-down systems within large organizations.

Volunteer Technology Communities: Open Development provides an introduction to some of the Volunteer Technology Communities (VTC) that made their mark during 2010. It is meant to provide a starting point for discussions of how UN agencies, The World Bank and other organizations might better integrate/use the best parts of these VTCs going forward.

Critical to their evolution will be for these communities to move beyond the situation of immediate response and early recovery towards the full disaster risk management cycle including; reconstruction, risk reduction and preparedness.