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.

Integration of ICT into Teaching of Mathematics, English and Integrated Science (MEIS) Workshop

I was part of the two-man team from Keta Senior High Technical School that participated in the fifth batch of the "Integration of ICT into Teaching of Mathematics, English and Integrated Science" (MEIS) workshop. The training was held at the Ghana Education Staff Development Institute (GESDI), Saltpond, Central Region from 6th to 10th May 2013. This workshop comes after the digital media training for teachers we hosted in Keta last year.

Concept maps are simple, yet powerful, tools

Background

The “Integration of ICT into the Teaching of Mathematics, English and Integrated Science” workshop, part of the Ghana SHS Connectivity project, is aimed at training 800 teachers (from 400 schools) to lead the integration of ICT into teaching and learning in their schools and beyond. Through funding from USAID, the Ghana SHS Connectivity project is employing a phased approach to ICT Integration in teacher development. The main activities include: Installation of Internet services in 400 Senior High Schools, development of ICT curriculum and framework for integration, identification of ICT competency framework, development of digital content evaluation framework and identification of digital resources. The overall objective is to improve the quality of teaching and learning in Ghanaian schools, triggering improved student performance in the specified subjects. Partners for the project include the Ministry of Education (MoE), Ghana Education Service (GES), Global E-Schools and Communities Initiative (GESCI), United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Vodafone.

Course Structure

The course facilitators employed discussions and group activities to engage participants, amplying demonstrating what teachers are expected to do after the training. The main topics covered were:

• Day 1: Introduction, Review of Computer Networks and Techniques of Presentations 
• Day 2: Concept Mapping, ICT Policy and TPACK 
• Day 3: Didactic Lesson Plans and Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) 
• Day 4: Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and Learning Objects 
• Day 5: Micro Teaching and Closing Ceremony

Impressions and Recommendations 

• The workshop is a step in the right direction as it equips teachers with the right skills, techniques and attitudes in the information age to nurture 21st century scholars 
• The facilitators did an excellent job. It was important and admirable to have fellow teachers coordinate such an important activity as they are better suited to relate to Ghanaian education contexts
• It would have been very helpful if stress was placed more on digital content creation (by teachers to meet peculiar needs of Ghanaian curriculum) rather than just content consumption. 
• More focus should be placed on mobile learning as current trends show that it is the future 
• It was commendable that a discussion-focused model was used throughout the workshop, but it would have been more worthwhile if more time was created to enable teachers share their experiences and ideas with regards to the use of tech in education 
• Reliable access to Internet must be ensured for future workshops of this nature
• Schools must endeavour to send representatives who already have some basic knowledge of ICT since the workshop is focused on integrating ICT into education and not teaching ICT skills from the scratch. 
• Teachers trained should transfer knowledge and skills back to their schools and communities. 
• Future workshops be held to address pertinent topics not covered in the first iteration

Read the full report of the programme

Find teaching resources on the MEIS Ghana website

It was refreshing to find more Ghanaian teachers who are actively using ICTs to make learning more effective and fun for students, like members of the Ghana Educators Network!

Ghana Social Media Awards Finalists List Out

The BlogCamp team recently released the list of finalists for Ghana's maiden Social Media Awards. The Social Media Awards is part of BlogCamp 2013, and is aimed at encouraging the development of more quality local content. This reinforces BloggingGhana's overarching goal of increasing the relevance of the Internet in Ghana.

After a very grueling selection process, the following blogs made the final cut for "Best Blog":

• ganyobinaa.com
• efodela.blogspot.com
• thejrshow.wordpress.com
• accradotalttours.wordpress.com
• africaphotographer.blogspot.com
• adventuresfrom.com
• mightyafrican.blogspot.com
• antirhythm.blogspot.com 

Also, nominations were made in twelve other categories, and these are  "Best Original Content", "Best Creative, Literary Short Stories, Poetry Blog", "Best Organisational Blog", "Best Technology Blog", "Best Citizen Journalism Blog", "Organisation with Best Social Media Presence", "Personality with Best Social Media Presence", "Best Business & Commerce Blog", "Best Showbiz and Entertainment Blog", "Best Lifestyle Blog", "Best Activist Blog" and "Best Photo Blog".

See the full list of nominees at blogcampghana.com. Many bloggers whose blogs made it through expressed joy and appreciation for the outcome. Some who could not make the final list were obviously disappointed.

BlogCamp 2013 will be an all-day event held on 23rd March at the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT. Registration is still ongoing for the biggest social media event of the year, with roughly 57 tickets left. The event is organised by BloggingGhana, Ghana's biggest social media association, and supported by Intel, Fiesta, US Embassy in Accra, Google and Voltic.

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!

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

Ghanaian Team Emerges Tops in Google Online Marketing Challenge

CLAK Impressions. Ghana's digital media whizz kids.

CLAK impressions, from the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology, have emerged as one of the best teams worldwide in this year's Google Online Marketing Challenge. In the annual student online marketing competition that tests the ability of competitors to maximise a given amount of Google Adwords advertising budget, Kwasi Owusu Achiaw, Lenny Wosornu, Seth Adinkra, Charles Mensah and Maria Meir (lecturer) have chalked the following accolades based on their work for the Golden Baobab Foundation: 

• 1st in Ghana
• 1st in Africa
• 2nd in Africa-Middle East Region
• Global Finalist (Top 20 team)

CLAK Impressions with Golden Baobab team

Their exploit puts them in the running for a Social Impact Award, which will potentially send Golden Baobab to the bank laughing with between $5000 to $15000. News in town is that they achieved more than 100% success rate on their campaigns for Golden Baobab. This is another refreshing news, reinforcing the role of various youth-led initiatives in Africa's digital revolution. Well done, CLAK Impressions!

Biometric Voter Registration in Keta, Ghana: How I Registered

Ghana will be going to the polls this December to elect a new president and members of parliament. As part of preparations for the election the electoral commission (EC) is undertaking a fresh voter registration exercise using biometric technology. The adoption of a Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) system has become crucial in order to minimise electoral fraud, and to ensure that whoever emerges victor is the true choice of the people.

What is biometric registration and how will it be done? I believe the video below explains the process quite well:

I registered on Easter Sunday at the Abidjan station polling station at Tegbi near Keta. Contrary to reports of a tedious registration process, characterised by long queues, from some parts of Ghana, my experience was pretty smooth. In fact, one woman who was almost done with penning down her name was the only other registrant at the centre when I got there. It took no more than ten minutes to get my brand new voters ID card.

Going through the Biometric Voter Registration exercise at Tegbi-Keta in the Volta Region

 The staff of the EC were professional and friendly. They took the trouble to answer all my curious and probing questions. From them, I got to know that I was the thirty-second person to register on that day. They're not facing any major technical glitches. Hopefully, as the Easter festivities have ended, more people would go to register in order to participate in the national elections.

Which card is better? The old one or the new one? #iRegistered

 So, I have my voters ID card, and the power to elect our next leaders, in my hands now. There are many issues to weigh before casting that vote, before determining the direction that Ghana should go in the next four years. The conversations have began. Ghana Decides, a BloggingGhana Election project seeks to promote these important conversations on social media channels. Starting with the iRegistered campaign,  their Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google + and Flickr pages reveal the amazing efforts being made to engage the youth ahead of this year's elections. Hopefully the often ignored voices of youth, women, physically-challenged and other socially-excluded groups will count during the elections through their efforts.  Refreshingly, the likes of Mashable, AJstream, GlobalVoices, Ghana News Agency and the government portal are following keenly what the youth of Ghana are trying to achieve using social media.

For now, I will keep a keen eye on events as they unfold and make my choices based on the real issues, the issues that I and others around me face. Just like every other Ghanaian would do. Go and register if you have not done so yet. Like the cliche goes, "your vote is your power!"

How Many African Women are Online?

African women given the impetus can put technolpgy to good use. Source: ris.lib.unc.edu

I pose this simple question to ICT4D researchers on International Women's Day 2012. My orignal intention for this post was to highlight the limited access that African women, and those in other parts of the developing world, have to the Internet and other vital information sources. But where could I find comprehensive statistics to back my claim?

Tweeting at BarCamp Takoradi, Ghana: Men dominate the show

 Or, perhaps am I just tasking myself to bring a non-issue into the limelight? I don't think so. Cursory observation and scanty data available show just how grave the situation is:

• Women’s participation in Internet usage in Africa ranged from 12% (Senegal) to 38% (Zambia), according to this 2003 study. This is notwithstanding the fact that women constitute the majority in most African countries.
• According to socialbakers.com, far more men than women use the social networking site, Facebook in Ghana.

Male/Female ratio of Ghana's Facebook Users

Studies showthat women naturally tend to use the Internet and mobiles for personal and intimate encounters, like what persists on social networks, more than men. So why the huge disparities?

• In Uganda, women's awareness and usage of ICTs is nearly three times less that that of men (ResearctICTAfrica, 2006). There, women tend to acquire basic ICT skills in order to be able to get employment in gender-stereotyped roles, it was noted.

These sad developments defeat the objectives of women empowerment as captured by the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) in 2003:

We are committed to ensuring that the Information Society enables women’s empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of society and in all decision-making processes. To this end, we should mainstream a gender equality perspective and use ICTs as a tool to that end.

Team Azma coming out of the Kuyu Project Digital Camp in Kenya show the way forward for African girls and women

Not only that. Granted that ICTs have been identified as development tools and women are at the heart of development in our communities, the situation is worrying. Knowledge is power. The inability of women to drink from the knowledge well of the world-wide web is disempowering; this is the inimical to the advancement of development in Africa and elsewhere. Their lack of avenues to express themselves through the emerging digital frontiers choke their voices in the arena of public discourse. This cannot be!

Firstly, we need to be able to place a figure on the actual number of active female Internet users. Next, we should figure out the factors that inhibit women's use of the web and finally put in measures to reverse this trend. Many women are leading the way when it comes to technology in Africa, but we must support many more to bring change to our communities. Bring the women online!

Digital Literacy Training for Keta Senior High Technical School Students

The twenty first century comes with its own challenges and opportunities for the modern learner. With the proliferation of the Internet and associated technologies, learning and collaboration are taking new digital twists. The requirement list for today's student has one new subject: Digital Literacy. While other parts of the world have taken leaps and bounds in this area, Africa is picking up rather slowly. Luckily, there are a few initiatives aimed at helping African students to cross the technological chasm. One of them is the Kuyu Project, originally coming out of Kenya.

The Kuyu Project is an African Digital Literacy initiative aimed at teaching African high school students how to use social media and allied tools for social change. I am collaborating with Ghanaian blogger Mac-Jordan Degadjor and digital consultant/strategist Jo Webber to organise a digital literacy camp for Keta Senior High Technical School students. This is is the first Kuyu Digital Literacy Camp to be held outside Kenya, where the project originated from.

The objective of the Keta camp is to introduce students to a wide array of social media tools to:

• boost civic activism
• boost how well they can collaborate with students from abroad and within Ghana
• research more effectively using online tools
• build future careers using their newly acquired knowledge
• increase knowledge about safety and wisely using social media

Students of Keta Senior High Technical School are bracing themselves to be part of the making of a digital revolution in their school and community, and are keen to incorporate the skills they gain from the camp in their various school activities.

Eldad Nutakor, president of the Writers and Debaters Club (WDC) expects that the programme will make students realise the opportunities that the digital world offers. He is of the view that most students think using the Internet and its associated tools is a waste of time, given the academic structure. He hopes that the massive transformation that will be seen in the lives of participants will make the others to see the light. The leader of a group of socially conscious students, Sarah Wutsikah, is looking forward to use her newly acquired digital skills to lead her group to set up an NGO right after school. She expects the programme to be interesting and hopefully get more students to be interested in ICT-related careers. Finally, ICT Club president, Lesley Commey, hopes the camp will enable them to use videos effectively to cover school events. He is also upbeat about meeting up with camp trainers and expanding his network in the digital space. 

We hope the camp will contribute to raising digital champions in this part of Ghana, and contribute positively to the lives of its participants.

Kenya Hosts Sixth Internet Governance Forum

Thought leaders in the Internet Governance (IG) community will converge in Nairobi, Kenya from 27th September to 1st October to deliberate on the present and future of the Internet. Dubbed Internet Governance Forum (IGF), the meeting is convened by the United Nations and will be held at their offices in Gigiri.

The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is an annual event; it is a multi-stakeholder platform for discussions into all aspects of the Internet Governance debate. Internet Governance itself, simply, is the coming together of different interest parties to figure out how the Internet should operate and what laws or principles should be applied in its use. IGF brings together all key actors in the Internet space: governments, the technical community, academics, civil society and corporate organisations, on an equal basis. IGF was birthed through the World Summit for Information Society (WSIS) that was held in Tunis in 2005. Considering that the Internet has become a useful tool in all aspects of human endeavour and that there are over 1.5 billion of us using the global platform, there is no doubt that the IG debate is crucial. IGF has become so important that its organisation has been diffused to regional and national levels. At the first Ghana IGF, I took part in the discussion on Youth and Internet Governance Issues.

The main theme for IGF 2011 is "Internet as a catalyst for change: access, development, freedoms and innovation". It has further been broken down into the following sub-themes:

• IG4D / Internet governance for development (IG4D) [also a cross cutting theme]
• Emerging Issues
• Managing critical Internet resources
• Security, openness and privacy
• Access and diversity
• Taking stock and the way forward 

Various workshops, coordinated by different stakeholders, have been organised to raise discussion points under each sub-theme. For example, under security, openness and privancy, one of the workshops has been titled "Protecting the Most Vulnerable Users in Society: The Roles of Different Actors in Helping the New User Survive in an On-Line World", and under IG4D, we have "Can Digital Citizenship Scale into the Emerging and Developing Countries Effectivly? Should It?".  Also, the dynamic coalitions would be having their own sessions to explore issues pertinent to their causes.

If you want to take part in the IGF but you can't make it to Nairobi, don't worry. You can make your voice heard by participating remotely. You can also share your views on Twitter (#IGF) and Facebook. To learn more about Internet Governance, you can join the Diplo community. See you in Nairobi!

What if Kwame Nkrumah Used Social Media?

The story of Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, continues to draw many passions years after his overthrow and death. Ghana is celebrating a holiday in his honour today and members of the Blogging Ghana community, which I belong to, are writing series of posts in his memory. Last two years, my post was on what Nkrumah's vision would have been if he was still alive, today I'm wondering how Kwame Nkrumah would use social media if he had access to these tools in his time.Would he have used these tools at all?

Kwame Nkrumah, a true African visionary, progressive and political organiser, would have easily identified the networking capabilities of social networks and deployed them in his day-to-day communications. In his day Kwame Nkrumah always found time to meditate and write. Perhaps he would have been glad to share his thoughts with the whole world through blogs. In addition, I think the president would have equally be won over by the 140-character awesomeness of Twitter to send short snippets of his everyday life to the whole world. Twitter might therefore be his social media of choice.

His possible handles might be @KwameNkrumah, @Osagyefo @Nkrumah. I can't imagine a geeky Nkrumah, so he'd probably use one of the foregoing.

Some of Nkrumah's coveted quotes likely could have emerged first as tweets, with some carefully selected hashtags in attendance:

The independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of the African continent #Freedom #AfricaMustUnite #Africa

We cannot afford to sit still and be submissive onlookers of technological change #Sci4D #Technology

We face neither east nor west, we face forward #NonAlignment #SelfDeterminism #TotalIndependece

Nkrumah's work was known to have been inspired by the likes of Marcus Garvey, Nnamdi Azikwe, Mahatma Ghandi and W.E.B Du Bois. He'd probably have retweeted them copiously:

RT @Garvey There shall be no solution to this race problem until you, yourselves, strike the blow for liberty.


RT @Zik you talk I listen, you listen I talk>>> Great lesson, sir.  #debate #understanding


RT @Ghandi Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.

RT @WEBDubois: Believe in life! Always human beings will live and progress to greater, broader, and fuller life.

I won't be surprised if he sent out a few thoughts running through his mind, as we often encounter in social media circles. 

On the eve of independence: Feeling a bit nervous. I can't believe what we fought for has been won #GhanaisFree #Indece #6Mar57cc: @Gbedemah @Botsio @Busia


When Akosombo Dam was built: I can't wait to inaugurate this dam. The power generated from this facility will propel our industrialisation and development efforts.


Or when he was overthrown: I can't believe my people have deserted me. Ghana and Africa are in trouble. :(.

And many would have retweeted. Happy holidays!

Using Social Media in Citizen Engagement in West Africa

It is now common knowledge that ICTs play important roles in the development process. In West Africa, projects such as Esoko, Grameen MoTech and Project ABC are confronting the challenges of development from different angles. Another interesting area with great potential in this sphere is the role of ICTs, social media in particular, in citizen engagement.

Côte dʼIvoire-based Nnenna Nwakanma of Free and Open Source Software Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) explores the question: "Social media and networks: what potential is there for policy engagement by citizens in West Africa?" Nnenna first gives a vivid account of the cultural diversity of the West African region and then gives key Internet statistics. She then goes on to cite instances of the usage of social media in discussing policy issues in Ghana, Nigeria and Côte dʼIvoire. From Nnenna's study we learn of different instances of social media in policy engagement:

Citizen-to-citizen engagement- During the Ivorian elections, individuals and news outlets used the #Wozonmai and #CIV2010 Twitter hashtags to disseminate information and advance different viewpoints with regards to developments. Another instance is the Enough is Enough (EiE) campaign run by a coalition of youth activists to ensure accountability during the Nigerian elections.

Government-to-citizen engagement- Ghana's Constitution Review Committee put together various channels such as Facebook, Twitter and SMS to collate views from individuals as part of the country's constitutional review process. The Ghana Police Service has equally deployed Twitter and YouTube as digital frontiers for their security and safety activities.

President Goodluck Jonathan says "let my people talk to me"
Perhaps, the leader who has used these tools most extensively is President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria. President Jonathan uses both Facebook and Twitter to engage ordinary Nigerians. The latest update on the president's Facebook page is as follows:

"Last Friday I launched a comprehensive database on all Vehicles in Nigeria designed to link every vehicle to its owner/operator such that vehicles can be traced within seconds. This is part of proactive steps we are taking as part of a review of our national security architecture to lay greater emphasis on intelligence and citizens' participation in security surveillance. Terrorism has no conscience and spares no one. We must stand together against terror in its destructive manifestations."

Based on a survey carried out as part of the research, it was found out, among other things that:

• There is increasing use of Internet and social media among citizens in policy engagement discussions
  
• Authorities are becoming increasingly aware of the use of these tools by citizens. Citizens are also of the know that the authorities are aware of their activities and may be monitoring them
• Access to the Internet and social media is being seen more and more as a human right.

In light of the implication of social media in the recent political events in North Africa and the Middle East, and the London riots, the study provides interesting perspective to the situation on the ground in West Africa and future possibilities. You can freely download this study at diplomacy.edu website. I'd like to hear your thoughts on the role of social media in citizen engagement in the sub-region. What are the positive windfalls that could be gained? What are the pitfalls?

Finding Business Information Ghana Style, The Nandimobile Way

Ghanaian software startup Nandimobile, previously written about here, has stepped up gear in its quest to empower connections between businesses and their customers through mobile technology. Meet the brilliant minds behind Nandimobile:

L to R: Edward Tagoe, Anne Amuzu and Michael Dakwa

Since my last post on them, they have been up to many interesting things, including winning the best business award, for their Gripeline product, at the launch conference held in San Francisco, USA last February. Team Nandimobile is at it again. This time they've come out with one of Ghana's biggest mobile business directories dubbed Infoline Business Directory. What does this entail?

Business Information for End-Customers

With over 18,000 listings, the Infoline Business Directory enables mobile users to search through listed businesses, via SMS, with their mobile phones. The system returns results that contains the business' name, contact details, address or directions and the business sector. All it takes to receive info on a particular business in Ghana is to text ‘’FIND [Name of Company]’’ to short code 1945. Eg text "FIND Esoko" to 1945 to obtain available information on Esoko. The platform delivers results within seconds of sending in the request and also provides more results if there is more than one entry on a particular company. One thing, the service works on all mobile networks in Ghana and goes for only 10p per SMS (charged by the customer's network).

Business Listing and Back-End Analytics for Companies

Unlisted businesses can input their details freely at Nandimobile's website after which they will be listed in the directory. An Infoline dashboard service is available for businesses interested in tracking who is viewing or requesting for their information and other important business analytics. Companies with Infoline dashboard can easily edit or update their business information in the directory anytime such changes occur.

Nandimobile's Infoline tool effectively bring businesses closer to customers and customers closer to businesses, using simple SMS technology that everyone uses.

[Press Release]: ISOC Ghana and ghNOG successfully ends ghNOG-4 and Train the Trainer Workshops

Cape Coast Ghana, June 2011 - ISOC Ghana and the Ghana Network Operators’ Group (ghNOG) have successfully ended a train the trainer (TTT) program and the fourth edition of the UNIX system administration workshop dubbed ‘ghNOG-4’ at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Ghana.
 

Speaking at the opening of the 2-day TTT workshop, the president of ISOC Ghana, Daniel Obuobi said the presence of the participants at the workshop demonstrated their willingness to join the corps of volunteer instructors who will help ISOC Ghana and ghNOG spread the community based capacity building program to other parts of the country. He said ISOC Ghana was poised to expand its capacity building program that will improve quality of service and enhance internet services delivery of network operators in Ghana. “We will count on your support anytime we have a ghNOG workshop in your area” he added. Mr. Obuobi said moving forward, ISOC and ghNOG will involve all TTT workshop attendees who reside in a locality when the workshop is held there. He hinted that with the corps of new instructors trained, ISOC Ghana and ghNOG may add new workshop tracks focused on nation IT developmental needs. The TTT workshop was attended by 15 participants from all over Ghana. Marcus Adomey, a ghNOG instructor and Bless I. A. Ahiaku, an educationist were facilitators at the workshop. The workshop was made possible by the kind sponsorship of ISOC.

The ghNOG-4 Workshop which was held back-to-back with the TTT workshop was held from 20 to 23 June 2011. Twenty six participants from industry, academia and non-governmental network operators attended the workshop. At the end of the workshop, participants were equipped with skills to setup a UNIX Internet production system with all essential services such as email and web services. Participants received books donated by Network Startup Resource Center (NSRC) of the USA. Instructors to the workshop were AfNOG / ghNOG alumni and practicing network managers from industry, academia and non-governmental operators. During the closing ceremony, the local host and head of Computer Science & IT department of the University of Cape Coast, Dr. J. M. Eghan said he was glad the workshop was held at UCC and he will be glad to promote the ghNOG community based capacity concept in Cape Coast. The workshop was sponsored by Internet Society (ISOC) and Ghana’s premier mobile telecommunication network, MTN Ghana.

Photos of the TTT and ghNOG-4 can be found at http://jalbum.net/en/browse/user/album/999386/ and http://jalbum.net/en/browse/user/album/999379/ respectively.

About ISOC Ghana Chapter

Internet Society Ghana Chapter is a certified chapter of the Internet Society (ISOC) which is a nonprofit organization founded in 1992 to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education, and policy. With offices in Washington D.C., USA, and Geneva, Switzerland, it is dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of people throughout the world. The Ghana Chapter was founded in 1997 with Dr. Quaynor as its founding President.