MISE Mathematics Tournament 2014

MISE Foundation is currently accepting application from 11-17 year old students in Ghana for their 2014 mathematics tournament.

The tournament is an international mathematics contest designed to challenge students beyond the normal school curriculum and to help identify gifted young mathematicians for further development... Ultimately the best students will represent Ghana at the international event the following year.

Unlike other competitions, this contest comes with training opportunities for the participants. MISE also has an international mathematics summer camp that gives the opportunity for motivated students to engage world class mathematicians and technologists from diverse backgrounds.

According to Joel Dogoe of MISE:

any student interested in math can apply but our selection programme will look for the best out of all applicants. We de-emphasise the competition bit of the programme when we identify students for the training programme. So far our alumni are a testimony of the programme's success and we are still working hard to identify more of such talents here in Ghana.

I think the MISE initiative is a brilliant way to engage young students in mathematics. Any student passionate about developing a career in the mathematical sciences or merely intent on building their analytical skills should give this a shot!

In Memoriam: Professor Marian Ewurama Addy

RIP Prof Marian Ewurama Addy. (Pic taken from ghanaweb.com)

I first learnt of Professor Ewurama Addy's passing on through a friend's wall on Facebook. I quickly googled around to find the news, and was totally disheartened to find that she was indeed gone.

Most Ghanaians, especially those interested in the sciences, will remember her as the quiz mistress of the popular National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ) programme on TV. In fact, my first encounter with her was through that medium back in the day. I would say NSMQ was likely one of the factors that swayed me to take the scientific path, as I was interested in so many different subjects in Junior Secondary School. 

In the biochemistry department at University of Ghana, Legon, she was highly respected by both staff and students. I was always curious to have a taste of the substance behind the aura. I got to know Prof Addy better in my final year when she taught us BCHM 409, "biochemistry of hormones." The class was interesting and engaging and she always drew on her wide experiences in teaching and research to illustrate key points (stuff about cyclic AMP, G-proteins and cholesterol). I dozed off a few times during her early morning lectures, and thought she didn't notice.Well on the last but one day of the course, she finally asked why I was often sleepy and promised giving me a special T-shirt if I don't sleep off in her last class!

She encouraged her students to pursue graduate studies, especially if we wanted to become biochemists. She was right. You can't really call yourself a biochemistry without at least a masters degree in the field. Since I left university I've been involved in research, technology and education. Although I'm not centrally located in biochemistry any more, the training received from the department, from people like Prof, is helping me to hold my own in the world.

The last time I met her was back in 2009 at a public forum for Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the worldwide web at AITI-KACE. During that time, she was working on the Anglican University of Technology project. She will always be remembered as a great scientist, teacher, science champion, quiz mistress and role model.

Also read this beautiful tribute to her at Levers in Heels, celebrating what she means for women in science. What do you think is Prof Addy's greatest legacy and what should be done to remember her?

Nelson Mandela is a Great Example for World Leaders

As the world joins South Africa to mourn and celebrate former president and anti-apartheid hero, Nelson Mandela, it is necessary to reflect on what he stood for, what he achieved and what he can teach us. Madiba passed on last Thursday 5th December 2013 at his residence in Johannesburg. The father of the rainbow nation showed that Africa can have inspiring leaders too. He's bigger than any leader of our time in the world.

Mandela as a leader had a clear goal and was focused on doing what was necessary to achieve it. His life's mission was to see the end of apartheid in South Africa, and to establish a non-racial society. To achieve this objective, Mandela was strategic and flexible in his approach. He was not fixated on following a particular course of action when that would not achieve the results needed. In short, he was prepared to fight for the liberation of his country. Madiba, or Tata as some preferred to call him, was also reconciliatory and forgiving. As a great leader he was ready to overlook the mistakes of the past and chart a new course for South Africa, rather than insist on punishing all the wrongs of the dark years. A final attribute of Mandela that is admirable is his sense of naturalness and deep reflection. The man was always himself; he did not seek to be considered as a superhuman or an angel. Similarly, his reflective practice helped him to address personal mistakes in later years. Through writing, he gave all of the us the opportunity to walk through the mind of a great world leader and to learn how to arrive at complex decisions that have far-reaching consequences.

Tributes for Madiba have been pouring in from all over the world, including the Ghanaian blogging community.

A funeral service held at the FNB stadium in Soweto today attracted many former and sitting heads of states, including leaders from Ghana, Nigeria, USA, UK, Brazil and Cuba. Those given the opportunity to speak were unanimous and unequivocal in their praise of Mandela's virtues, what he achieved for South Africa and what he taught the world. US president Barrack Obama was at his lyrical best as he weaved strands between the civil rights experience of the US, the anti-apartheid movement, and the continuous struggle for justice, opportunity and equality in the world.

 Mandela is a towering figure of global leadership. His charm, resolve, wit and thoughtfulness were powerful assets that helped him to achieve his goals. Upcoming leaders can pick a few lessons from his book.

Harnessing the Power of Digital Technology for Education in Ghana

Ghanaian high school teachers undergoing ICT4E training in Saltpond, Central Region

Information Communication Technology (ICT) can be a great enabler of learning when used rightly. For this to happen, both teachers and students must be adept at handling all kinds of gadgets and software. Ghana has a lot of promise in the digital education space, but a lot remains to be done to bring our level up to speed with global standards. My post explores five ways through which technology can be applied to enhance learning in Ghana.

Use of Tech in Classroom

A skilled teacher can apply technology in her classroom in many ways. She can run her lessons using PowerPoint or an open source alternative. This automatically allows for the integration of pictures, videos and other multimedia. Use of multimedia content increases the attention of students as their senses are fully engaged. The chalk or marker board would still be used for sketches, annotations and other classroom activities. Of course teachers in a typical Ghanaian school may not have access to a projector but it is possible in this age of proliferation of mobile devices to take initiative to get relevant images and videos on a smartphone and tablet that students can watch to enhance their understanding. A student may have the challenge of understanding the chemical principles behind the cleansing action of a detergent, but would easily pick up the concepts when shown a YouTube video of the process. I used this method to great effect.

Content Creation

There is no gainsaying that access to the Internet opens up a wealth of information for the Ghanaian learner. That said, it is often asked whether the kind of content currently online is relevant to our students and pupils. I would say not always. Inability of students to relate to the information they come across on the Internet is a barrier to their full understanding of concepts. Also, there is almost zero content available for certain subjects like Ghanaian languages. Teams of teachers and students can work together to address the dearth in local educational content problem. This creates a collaborative learning atmosphere that fosters development of critical skills such as creativity, teamwork, leadership and communication. 

App Development

The Ghanaian developer community must play their part in improving educational standards in the country. Advancements in computing and software development has resulted in the abundance of many easily accessible yet powerful open source platforms, that can be used to create educational web and mobile applications relevant to Ghanaian school children. Therefore, technologists need to work with teachers to digitize notes and test questions, and repackage them into stimulating content that students can easily interact with and learn from. Growth in the use of educational technologies in Ghana would in the long run profit software developers. However, their involvement in the sector should not be seen with purely as a business opportunity but as a social crusade as well. We need to see more projects like Paasco Africa spring up and make a difference to learners.

Student Learning Activities

The effectiveness of ICT in education is enhanced when use of relevant tools is integrated into student learning activities. Students can explore topics such as Body Mass Index (BMI) and graphs with spreadsheet software, allowing them to develop computing skills alongside subject-specific knowledge. Tasking students to deliver assignments through presentations and email enable them to pick up key work-study-life communication skills needed to thrive in the 21st century. One may think my point is basic, but a student once scanned a handwritten assignment and sent it to my inbox when I asked them to submit a group work electronically. While such a behaviour is excusable at the pre-tertiary level, the reaction would have been totally different at an institution of higher learning. My point is that we need to create the platform for the young ones to make all the mistakes now, rather than later, when much is at stake.

Creating a Web of Learning

Social media has become a reality of our modern existence as a species. Many students are distracted from their studies when they spend endless hours online connecting with their friends on Twitter or Facebook. But, this situation can be turned around through well thought out strategy. We can capitalise on the students’ interest and engagement on these platforms to serve them with educational content. This ties in with some of the points raised above. Imagine the level of excitement and the amount of learning students will experience if they were working on a YouTube video project for class assignment. Further teachers can use Facebook groups (such as Global Lab Ghana, Google + hangouts and Twitter hashtags to take class discussions beyond the classroom. This way students benefit from the insights of their colleagues and other experts from across the world. They also get to analyse issues in a more relaxed environment as compared to the traditional Ghanaian classroom setting. This hopefully will deepen their understanding and engender application.

Conclusion

We cannot hide our heads under the sand like ostriches in the information age. Ghanaian teachers need to embrace digital tools for teaching and content creation. App developers need to pay more attention to the needs of the educational sector and students must be encouraged to harness ICT to aid their learning. The steps we take today, through policy formulation and effective implementation, will inform how well our educational sector will work some few years down the line.

This post is part of Blu’s LiveBlu Forum, a social commentary on work-life balance in Ghana. Join the discussion at: http://blughana.wordpress.com/ #LiveBlu #BeLieveUme or sign up here to try turbo-charged internet powered by Blu.

BarCamp Ho 2013: Transforming Our Communities

BarCamp Ho 2013 will be held this Saturday 26th October at Ho Polytechnic SRC auditorium. The aim of the event is to network young technologists, professionals, students and entrepreneurs (Change makers), and engage them through learning and sharing. You're encouraged to register and participate in this barcamp, the third organised by GhanaThink Foundation in the Volta region since 2011. Register at http://barcampho13.eventbrite.com.