A Round-up of a Very Eventful 2012

The year 2012 is just under two hours of receding into history. Since it's been a loaded year, it would be improper to let it pass without a recap of notable events or activities undertaken. In no particular order, here are some highlights of my 2012:

Vodafone Broadband in Keta

The year started on a good note. It was finally possible for individuals and organisations in my town to sign up for Vodafone's broadband Internet service. I quickly applied and by February, I started surfing to my heart's delight. My joy's been cut off twice due to the theft of the copper cables that delivered last-mile connectivity. As I blog, the service has not be restored after the second interruption. Oh! :(.

Diplo Internet Governance Capacity Building Programme

I got a scholarship from Diplo Foundation to pursue an online course in Introduction to Internet Governance, as part of their Capacity Building Programme for citizens of developing countries. Through the course, I got a better appreciation of the power of the Internet as a tool for social change and the different positions on how the global platform should be managed. It was also a great opportunity to experience online education first hand and to network with other emerging African leaders in field. My appreciation goes to Godfred Ahuma, who encouraged me to apply, Stephen Nii Adjei Sowah, one of my Ghanaian coursemates, Marsha Guthrie, my tutor, Stephanie Psaila and Ginger Paque for making the experience worthwhile for me. It was unfortunate though that we could not organise Ghana Internet Governance Forum in 2012. I hope that changes next year

Ghana Decides

If you've been following this blog closely, you'd notice that a lot has been said about BloggingGhana's Ghana Decides project and its drive to engender youth engagement in Ghana's civic affairs. Through various campaigns, workshops and discussions, we captured the diverse needs of youth groups, disability self-help groups, women candidates and other voices often drowned out in our politics. One beautiful thing about Ghana Decides project is that aside the core team, Ghana's online community contributed actively and this crystallised its success. Today, we have a machine that could morph into an accountability and community mobilisation initiative. Whatever, it becomes it's all back to the community! 

BlogCamp Ghana

BloggingGhana finally moved the BlogCamp talk to action, and the result was the biggest and most interesting social media event held in Ghana to date. Edward Tagoe and the BlogCamp team's vim was the main propelling force behind this astounding success, as many young Ghanaians for the first time found out how they could make their voices heard through social media. Watch out for BlogCamp 2013.

BarCamp Ghana

GhanaThink Foundation has been organising barcamps in Ghana since 2008, but in 2012 there was a record. Eight barcamps in seven regions. Unprecedented! I attended six of those- Takoradi, Sunyani, Cape Coast, Ho, Tema and Accra. This makes 2012 my most 'barcamped' year. Also, I had the opportunity of introducing some of my students from the Writers and Debaters Club of Keta Senior High Technical School to barcamps, showcasing how the unconference model can inspire learning and encourage creativity among youngsters. Guess what? They got hooked and are now busy planning their own "Junior Camp" as part of their 60th Anniversary SRC week celebration. More Vim!

ICT, Digital Literacy and Education

There were many opportunities to further efforts in this space as ICTs have become increasingly crucial tools for education, business and development. Due to their growing ubiquity, there's no excuse, really, not to take advantage of what they have to offer. Like I've been saying around: "we must use the tools we have to solve the problems we face." And where we don't have these tools, we have to strive to make them. Here are a few programmes that I was involved in, one way or the other:

• Coders4Africa/PAT Ghana Python in Action Demo
• AITI-KACE Innovation Week Discussion on Open Learning
• ICT4D.at In-Service Training for Teachers in Digital Literacy
• Ghana Educators Network
• Global Lab Ghana
• Ghana Makers
• UNESCO Education For All Global Monitoring Report Ghana Launch

To sum, 2012 has been packed and productive. Let's look forward to the new year, with faith and hope that our plans and dreams will be brought to life. I'm looking forward to a great 2013 and wish the same for you. Happy New Year, Happy New You!

Give a Little of Yourself this Christmas: Give Blood, Save Lives

Give someone the gift of life this Christmas by donating a little bit of your blood

BloggingGhana has joined health NGO St. Andrew's Clinics for Children, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) and the Korle-Bu blood bank to organise a blood donation drive this Christmas season. This is in response to the limited supply of blood at the blood centre and increased demand at this time of the year. It is revealing to know that there are only 80 units of blood available, compared to the 200 units needed, forcing officials to contemplate closing down the bank.

According to one of the organisers, the enterprising Maame Aba Daisie:

This period is the most tasking for the blood bank. Having them close down means families with emergencies are going to have to look within themselves for eligible donors. 

I encourage everyone to support this laudable initiative by donating  blood. The dates are 22nd and 24th December at the Korle-Bu Blood Centre and 27th and 28th December at NMIMR, located on the University of Ghana campus. 

You can also support the campaign by sharing the information widely on social media especially Facebook and Twitter. Use the hashtags #GiveBlood and #savealife on Twitter.

Turning Failure into Success at BarCamp Accra 2012

The BarCamp movement in Ghana gathered steam this year, with seven events spread over Takoradi, Kumasi, Sunyani, Tamale, Cape Coast, Ho and Tema. The year's inspiring mix of one-on-one mentoring interactions, breakout sessions, panels and demos will be climaxed this Saturday, 22nd December, 2012 at the Dansoman Campus of Methodist University College of Ghana (MUCG).

Administration block of MUCG. Source: ghanaschoolsnet.com

BarCamp Accra 2012 focuses on "removing fear of failure as a start of success." The notion of failure in business and personal life will be explored and measures needed to bounce back onto the road of success will be shared by selected mentors and resource persons. According to the official press release,

The Accra event will take a national stature with a large number of attendees also expected to be Ghanaians who live abroad. We hope to assemble Accra stakeholders to network, build a supportive enterprising community and partner to build together. We will start with the popular speed mentoring sessions with various young Ghanaian achievers. Selected resource personnel will be sharing and leading discussions on failure, removing the fear of failure and how we can fail our way to success in our newly introduced success sessions. We will have breakout sessions on topics of your choice as usual.  

By all means, head to the BarCamp Accra eventbrite registration page and register now to attend this awesome event.

BarCamp Accra 2012 is organised by GhanaThink Foundation, with support from Methodist University College Ghana, Google Ghana, Ghana Decides, BloggingGhana, MUCG-GDG, Hatua Solutions, Nandimobile, Leti Games, Fienipa,SpyGhana, Ghana News Agency, Modern Ghana, Joy 99.7 FM and CITI FM.

See you on Saturday!

Ghana Election 2012: A Digital Walk-through

Tomorrow is election day in Ghana, my country. A lot has been going on on the Internet and social media this year with regards to campaigning and civic activism. The main goal is to whip up the enthusiasm of the youth for the elections and in matters of governance. Today's been very quiet, compared to previous days, when we were inundated incessantly with campaign messages. I've been through different towns- Accra, Ho, Keta, Aflao and Tema. Politics is heavy everywhere! A lot has been written about social media's relevance in the elections too.

Issues 

Kwesi Acquah put together the wordle below to capture some of the key things Ghanaians have been discussing leading to the elections:

Ghana Elections 2012 Wordle. Credit: Kwesi Acquah (@kwesiacquah)

I created this other one using content from ghanadecides.com at worditout.com:

Ghana Elections 2012 Wordle created using content from ghanadecides.com

Obviously, personality and party issues are intertwined with the real issues of the people.

Civic Activism

BloggingGhana, through its Ghana Decides project, has been at the helm of using the Internet and social media to engender more discussions and actions around the elections. Aljazeera recently hosted the team on its renowned social media show, Stream. Ghana Decides' latest campaign, Our Vote, Our Voice, seeks to get Ghanains to pledge to vote in December.

African Elections Project has also deployed new media tools to collect citizen reports, via Ushahidi, to ensure that the elections are credible. They're also providing social media training and coverage on election issues.

Google Student Ambassadors also recently run My Voice GH series to express their views on various issues that affect their day-to-day lives.

There are other groups doing some work in their own right.

Software Tools

It is always heartwarming to see the developer community invent tools that address the direct needs of the community. This syncs well with a personal mantra: "we must use the tools we have to solve the problems we face." Here are a few of them.

VoteKast Afrika: Collates results and Displays them in graphical format as they come in.

Ghana Vote Compass: An interesting tool that tries to predict your political leanings based on your inputs. This tool might be handy for those who haven't made up their minds yet.

The 2012 elections in Ghana will be closely fought. It is interesting to see the Internet and social media play a significant role in it for the first time.

Are there any campaigns or apps that you know pertaining to the elections? Please don't hesitate to share!

Ghana, Get Out the Vote! Our Vote is Our Voice in Election 2012

#GhanaDecides, #LetsVote, #OurVoteOurVoice

The 2012 general elections in Ghana is a week away, and the stakes are really high this time around. Candidates are tackling issues and policies in an unprecedented fashion, a sitting president joined the IEA presidential debates for the first time and social media is abuzz with election talk. It seems like the country can't wait for 7th December. Even though all indications point to the continuation of the traditional NDC-NPP duopoly, smaller parties like CPP and the newly-formed PPP are holding their own admirably- perhaps they will see a spike in their fortunes. It seems to many, though, that the PNC is on a downward trajectory.

The elections is not all about political parties and politicians. Ghana Decides, the foremost social media initiative around Elections 2012, recently launched Our Vote Our Voice, a campaign to get all Ghanaians to execute their civic duty in a peaceful manner.

"The purpose of the campaign is to promote communal voting... We believe peer-to-peer influence is still high and people could call up friends to vote or post updates to say #iVoted which may encourage others to vote.”

“Ghanaians must know that they have to vote because it is the in the interest of their children, their sisters and all of us. If you refuse to vote, it is like saying you don’t care about the people you love.”

Our Vote, Our Voice comes after many other  initiatives undertaken by this group of civic activists from BloggingGhana namely iRegistered, social media workshops, community engagements, Ghana Decides Tag, Speak Ghana, online discussions and event coverage.

Read the full press release on ghanadecides.com.

Online and offline forms have been created to to receive pledges from registered voters. Ghana Decides volunteers will follow-up pledges with emails and phone calls to encourage all those who pledged to go out and vote in the election. 

PLEDGE NOW TO VOTE IN THE 2012 ELECTIONS.

Join the conversation by following @ghanadecides on Twitter, liking the Ghana Decides Facebook page and subscribing to the YouTube Channel. #LetsVote!

Putting Education to Work: The Role of ICT in Skills Development

The Ghana launch of the tenth UNESCO Education for All Global Monitoring Report was held at the British Council, Accra, last Wednesday 14th November. It was put together by the Accra office of UNESCO in collaboration with DFID, World Bank, Ministry of Education and the GhanaThink Foundation. The report's theme, "Youth and Skills: Putting Education to Work", is both interesting and very relevant to the times. 

Hiplife star and CEO of Lynx Entertaiment, Richie in a musical performance

A presentation by Prof Kwame Akyeampong, one of the report's authors, brought to the fore many failings of Ghana's educational system including inability of some basic school graduates to read, inaccessibility of education to the poorest, continuous low-enrollment of girls, late entry of pupils into education and lack of second-chance opportunities for school dropouts.While we thrive fairly well compared to most African countries, we're way off the mark considering our lofty developmental aspirations.

Prof Akyeampong: Investing in education and skills is good business. Every dollar invested gives ten-fold reward.

As part of the programme, six tables were set up to discuss different topics connected to the report. These were ICT and technology, The role of the private sector, An education for the world of work, Informal education and out-of-school children, Education/skills development for rural/disadvantaged women and Entrepreneurship. Each session had an expert and two or more youth leaders to coordinate  deliberations.

During the ICT and Technology session, a clear distinction was made between ICT as a school subject and ICT as a teaching and learning tool. It was noted that technology’s usefulness should not end after ICT classes but must permeate every aspect of the school curriculum.

The following challenges were noted as barriers to adoption of ICT in Education: 

• Lack of basic infrastructure, including electricity and Internet 
• Expensive equipment eg computers 
• Reluctance of older teachers to embrace ICTs 
• Distraction suffered by students (as they abuse the use of technology)

 To overcome the challenges, some proposals were made: 

• Put more attention on mobiles due to their ubiquity
• Create synergies as different people on the table were involved in one project on the other  
• Be more encouraging to people’s efforts. Part of OLPC’s challenges stems from lack of support  
• Enforce the curriculum 
• Set up rules/policy to moderate usage of technology by students

 We don’t have to try to get everything right from go since critical mass creates demand (for the resources) hence supply (by government or private sector) comes in. 

Participants shared their contacts so as to continue with the discussions and collaborate on projects they’re working on.The following projects and resources were mentioned:

•  DreamOval ICT training workshops (iTeach 2012)
• Mobile Learning Project for Ghanaianstudents/teachers
• Ghana Educators Network
• Global Lab Group
• Passco Africa
• British Council Digital Hubs
• Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC).

Driving Excellence at BarCamp Tema 2012

Central University College will host the very first BarCamp Ghana event outside a regional capital this Saturday 27th October. At BarCamp Tema 2012, the GhanaThink Foundation will introduce more innovations into the programme and speaker line up. Read more...

BarCamp Tema 2012 is a free networking forum bringing people together for a day of discussion, demos and dialogue on Tema, Ghana and beyond. It will take place on October 27, 2012 at the Johnson Kanda block, Central University Campus in Miotso near Tema. The theme for this year is “Vertical mentoring and horizontal inspiration, driving excellence”. This Barcamp hopes to assemble stakeholders to network, build a supportive enterprising community and partner to build together.

The GhanaThink Foundation has successfully organized 17 BarCamps in Ghana. BarCamp Tema 2012 is being organized in conjunction with the Google Group at Central University College. The event will be a showcase of how Ghana’s youth are taking charge of its development and how they can be spurred on to do more. The spotlight will be on demonstrating the power of mentoring and role models and how youth can inspire other youth to drive excellence. There will be a focus on channeling the present energies around entertainment into positive developments and progress for Tema and surrounding areas as well.

The Barcamp will feature multiple user-generated breakout sessions about business, social entrepreneurship, technology and development, alongside topics relevant to the Greater Accra Region and beyond. There will be a speed mentoring session where mentors will give insights and answers to questions from attendees. We are also organizing a start-up bazaar  where young entrepreneurs and innovators can showcase their products and services. Some confirmed mentors and speakers are Linda Quartey, Sheila Bartels-Sam, Fesu Antonia, and DK Osseo-Asare. There will also be a keynote interview with popular Tema-based musicians, D Cryme n Chemphe.

Register/RSVP at the BarCamp Tema eventbrite website (barcamptema12.eventbrite.com) or text "Barcamp Tema [name] [email address] to 1945 through any mobile network. You may also contact the BarCamp Tema team through the eventbrite page for sponsorship opportunities. If you are interested in organizing a breakout session, let us know, especially if you have special needs.

BarCamp Tema 2012 is sponsored by Central University College, GhanaThink Foundation, Google Ghana, Nandimobile, Fienipa Group, Hatua Solutions, Samsung Ghana etc. Our media partners are Spy Ghana, Modern Ghana, TNG, and the Ghana News Agency. Join us to move the Greater Accra Region and Ghana forward.

BarCamp Ho Breakout Session: Reversing the Declining Trend of BECE Performance

BarCamp Ho 2012 featured five user-generated breakout sessions, namely, reversing the trend of poor Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) performance, environmental sanitation, risk management in entrepreneurship, using technology to solve problems and drama as an educational tool. In the "BECE session" led by Joel Degue, I was privileged to confer with Anne Amuzu, Maximus Ametorgoh, Edward Tagoe, Elvis Bomasah, Kwabena Akuamoah-Boateng, among others, on why BECE performance is at such a low ebb and what we can do about it.

Discussing the declining rate of BECE performance at #bcho

Joel previously digested the declining academic performance at the basic level in the Volta region on modernghana.com. In his piece, he noted that "According to some records, the last decade alone saw over 3,669,138 BECE candidates sitting for that exam. Out of that figure 1,562,270 of them failed to make the required grades for progression to any of the secondary, technical and vocational schools."  With such an damning statistic staring us at the face we proceeded to dig at the issue.

So, what are the causes of poor academic performance at the BECE level? 

Poor school infrastucure contributes to poor BECE performance. Source: one.org

• Lack of dedicated teachers- most teachers are not qualified or do not have passion for the job
• There is a big question mark over content. There is a disconnect between what's in the syllabus and the realities of the 21st century.
• Presentation styles are not engaging. There is too much of instruction rather than discussion. Other formats of presenting information eg. audiovisual are missing. There is also lack of practicality in school work.
• Parental apathy- some parents do little to ensure that their children stay in school and monitor their performance .
• Lack of quality school infrastructure
• Lack of motivation to study as other endeavours seem to be more rewarding and societal values keep changing.

How can the situation be improved?

• Review school content to meet the realities of immediate environment of students
• Incorporate games into teaching and learning
• Use pictures and videos and not just text to communicate to learners.
• Promote use of local languages especially in lower primary
• Pressurise leaders to overhaul the system

Learning mathematics with a mobile device. Source: textually.org

We resolved to pressure the Ghana Education Service (GES), through the mass media, to take a look at restructuring basic school education in light of the poor outcomes and impracticability of the knowledge obtained. That said, I personally think the time is right to take a look at alternative modes of learning, such as use of mobile devices (m-learning) to bring the spark back into basic education and improve BECE performance.

Social Media Awards for Ghana's Online Community

BloggingGhana is introducing another first into Ghana's online world, the first ever Blog and Social Media Award! The event slated for March 2013 is generating buzz in the local web ecosystem, as this is the first time bloggers, vloggers, tweeps and facebookers will be officially recognised. Find the full press release below.

“BLOG And Social Media Awards 2013!”

Ghana’s 1st Blogging And Social Media Awards Night

We’ve all fantasized about being world-popular writers; had long conversations with ourselves in the shower; wowed the lawyer in us with the sheer wit of our arguments in the isolation of our bedrooms; calmed the storms and tsunamis of the world with Dalai Lama and Paulo Coelho. We’ve even changed policies and agenda with our very own mass followings, photoblogs, and online networks. In reality, this might not be the case, but in the world of the blogger, tweep, facebooker, everything is possible.

It’s a closed world, personal and sometimes defiant, but it has influenced, shaped, and motivated many. And here at BloggingGhana, we firmly believe it’s about time we appreciate, honour, and award some of the personalities behind the blogs, tweets, and pages that have so motivated, informed, and affected many of us.

So join us, in March 2013, to show special honour to our silent, unknown, sometimes faceless cyber and social media motivators. Yes, you, me, and she/him, at the first-ever in Ghana “Blog & Social Media Awards 2013”. If you are a blogger, tweep, facebooker, and you believe you have touched the world – really, it’s okay if you/person are not so up there, you should still make your nomination – locate yourself in the following categories:

• Best Technology Blog
• Best Business & Commerce Blog
• Best Citizen Journalism Blog
• Best Creative, Literary Short Stories, Poetry Blog
• Best Showbiz and Entertainment Blog
• Best Lifestyle Blog
• Best Activist Blog
• Best Photo Blog
• Best Organisational Blog
• Best Blog
  

Other Social Media Categories

• Personality with Best Social Media Presence
• Organisation with Best Social Media Presence
• Best Original Content
  

Nomination Process
BloggingGhana will open up Nominations for the above listed categories in November 2012 after which an Academy and the Public will vote for the best in each category. Voting will close in February 2013 and presentation of awards will be at the BlogCamp Ghana 2013 event scheduled for March 2013.

Visit http://blogcampghana.com/social-media-awards/ then follow @BloggingGhana on Twitter, and stay locked on for updates on “the road to Blog & Social Media Awards! 2013”. There will be daily riddles, blog quotes, personality bloggers of the week, ‘Vim Series’, and other events alongside the nomination period activities. Most importantly, there might be an award here with your name on it!

ABOUT
This event is brought to you by BloGH – BloggingGhana, Ghana’s biggest organization of bloggers and social media enthusiasts. BloggingGhana (BloGh) is a group of bloggers and social media users, writing out of Ghana or the Ghanaian experience. It is also an aggregator website that collects the latest posts and tweets from our members. Since June 2011 we are a registered non-profit organization with a executive council working towards the following objectives:

1. Serving as a forum for bloggers in Ghana to network and exchange ideas
2. Building capacity among bloggers in Ghana
3. Accessing new audiences for our blogs through a mutual website (aggregator) and other activities
4. Promoting citizen journalism in Ghana
5. Educating the general public in Ghana on the opportunities of social media
   

The idea of starting BloGh came out of a meet-up of bloggers on 24 July 2008.  To that first meeting, organized by bloggers Sandra Crabbe and Kajsa Hallberg Adu, eight bloggers were invited. We wrote: “we would like to bring the Ghanaian blog community together in real life! There is so much to say…about our green homeland, if Blogger is better than  WordPress, if labels are useful, how best to boost and count traffic,  what Internet cafés are fast, and of course how blogging changes your life…”

END

Media Contact:
Naa Adaku (Golda) Addo
Blog & Social Media Awards Lead – BloGH
+233(0)244828322
@GHANAmomoni
goldaaddo@gmail.com

Youth Taking Charge of Development at BarCamp Ho 2012

We welcome the GhanaThink Foundation back to the Volta Region for BarCamp Ho 2012. Organised in collaboration with the Centre for Creative Youth, BarCamp Ho seeks to challenge the youth to take charge of development, to be innovative and to play active roles in national life.

BarCamp Ho will be held tomorrow, 21st September (Founder's Day) at Ho Polytechnic under the theme "Youth Taking Charge of Development". From 8: 00 am to 5 pm, the event will feature many young achievers who have carved niches for themselves in their own fields. They will in turn inspire their colleagues to make a difference in their various fields of endeavour. There will be keynote speeches, mentoring sessions, start-up bazaar, demos, breakout sessions, networking, among others. We will take advantage of Founder's Day to reflect on the life of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana.

I can only be grateful to the following personalities for quickly responding to our call to inspire Ghanaian youth in the Volta Region: Francis Asong (VOICE Ghana), Makafui Nyamadi (GCOM Pre-University), Tsonam Akpeloo (Techcom Visions), Florence Toffa (Mobile Web Ghana), Anne Amuzu (Nandimobile), Penelope Sheila Bartels-Sam (inCharge Global), Nehemiah Attigah (Hatua Solutions), Regina Agyare (Soronko Solutions), Alloysius Attah (Farmerline), Maximus Ametorgoh (PopOut) and Eyram Tawia (Leti Games).

BarCamp Ho 2012 follows the 2011 event, themed "Harnessing Local Competencies and Opportunities for Global Impact", held at the Centre for National Culture (CNC), Ho last December. Discussions on that day was focused on developing the strengths of the Volta Region, notably tourism as a means of developing the region.

Join us at Ho Polytechnic by picking your free ticket at the BarCamp Ho Eventbrite registration page. You can also tell your friends to text "BarCamp Ho [Name] [Email Address] to 1945 on any network to register.

Come and let's celebrate inspiring Ghanaian projects like Nandimobile, Farmerline, Leti Games, Sandlanders, inCharge, VOICE Ghana, Ghana Decides, among others. Join us to move Ghana and the Volta Region forward. Follow @BarCampHo on Twitter and "like" BarCamp Ho Facebook page. We'll be posting with #bcho on Twitter and G+.

BarCamp Ho 2012 is sponsored by the Ho Polytechnic, GhanaThink Foundation, Google Ghana, CCY Ghana, VOICE Ghana, Nandimobile, Fienipa Group, etc. Our media partners are US FM, Spy Ghana, Modern Ghana, TNG, myjoyonline and the Ghana News Agency.

Gedeme! Miawoe zɔ!

BarCamp Cape Coast 2012: Widening the Frontiers of Innovation in Education

BarCamp Cape Coast 2012 comes off at the New Lecture Theatre (NLT) of the University of Cape Coast. Its theme, “Revolutionizing Education through Arts & Technology”, is very apt and relevant to our times.

Barcamp will focus on creating more awareness about the uses of technology and build knowledge on how to foster innovation in and around Cape Coast and increase visibility through arts and online content creation. It will also investigate how to incorporate technology into teaching and education. 

Register now on the BarCamp Cape Coast Eventbrite page or text “Barcamp Cape Coast, Your_Name Your_Number” to 1945, using any network.

BarCamp Cape Coast is organised by the GhanaThink Foundation and sponsored by the University of Cape Coast, GhanaDecides (a BloGh project), Google Ghana, UCC-GDG, GhanaThink Foundation, Fienipa Group, Nandimobile, etc. Our media partners are Cranchon, ATL fm(100.5), etc.

For more information, follow @bcCapeCoast on Twitter and like BarCamp Cape Coast on Facebook as well.