Introduction to Programming Using Python Workshop at University of Ghana

As part of Python Ghana's efforts to build the capacity of young people in Ghana to solve problems through Python and allied open source technologies, we organised a workshop for students at the University of Ghana in partnership with the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology and the student society COMPSSA. The workshop took place at the Software Lab at the Department of Computer Science, UG, and lasted from 7 October to 4 November 2017. All in all, four Saturday sessions were held.

Excited to be introducing programming in #Python to so many 'newbies' at our workshop starting later at @UnivofGhana today! #PythonGhana #GetLegonCoding pic.twitter.com/wS1j6B60ZO

— Python Ghana (@PythonGhana) October 7, 2017

The first session was held on 7 October 2017. COMPSSA vice president Nicholas welcomed everyone to the workshop, after which Evans introduced the Python Ghana team. Gameli then gave a brief overview of Python Ghana. He informed participants of the organisation’s desire to help students strengthen their problem-solving skills using Python, one of the most sought after programming languages, as a tool. Emmanuel then took over and led the workshop for the day. He covered fundamental concepts such as programming, variables, and conditionals.

Emmanuel takes participants through fundamentals of programming

The workshop continued on 14 October with training being led by Edward with support from Emmanuel. Also four volunteers who are Entrepreneurs-in-Training (EITs) from MEST were present to support the learners. Day one’s concepts were reviewed and more advanced topics such as abstraction, loops, and functions were introduced. Edward also took time to advise the students on the importance of learning with purpose and inculcating good practices as this stage of their lives. Students were also given homework so they try their hands on code for themselves.

Edward taking learners through how to properly write Python functions

Some of our team members with volunteers from MEST Africa

The third session took place on 21 October. Emmanuel led the training for the day, covering advanced topics including object-orientation, modules, and the Python Standard Library. The students also had the opportunity to interact with contentgardening.com and Python African Tour founder Kamon. It was through the Python African Tour initiative that our community was born back in 2011. Kamon shared his experiences using Python for software development and leading Python communities and projects.

The final day of the workshop was moved to 4 November due to some challenges. It was led by Francis. The main topic was Python for web development using the Flask framework. He led an exercise on using forms to collect data for backend processing and output as information. Although attendance was low, compared to the earlier days, the session was interactive and the learners were engaged.

Python Ghana trainer Francis Addai explains how to handle form data in #flask. #PythonGhana #Python

A post shared by Python Ghana (@pythonghana) on Nov 22, 2017 at 6:21am PST

Question time

All in all, we had a successful workshop, which would not have happened without the active participation of students and support of COMPSSA and the Computer Science Department. Also, our partners contentgardening.com and Global Lab Network deserve credit for contributing in cash and kind. Finally, thank you to our hardworking team members especially Evans, Emmanuel, Enoch, Edward, Francis, and Gameli for their various inputs. Check out more pics on our Facebook page!

Selfie time after one of our sessions

Junior Camp Internship Programme to Train Ghanaian High School Graduates

GhanaThink Foundation through its Junior Camp Internship Programme (JCIP) will provide hands-on training and practical work experience to ten lucky senior high school graduates. This pilot programme is scheduled to run from June to August, and builds upon the gains of the Junior Camp initiative launched about two years ago at Keta Senior High Technical School.

The training component will last for two weeks; it consists of four thematic areas: learning & research, communication, leadership & ethics, and entrepreneurship. The programme will then dovetail into the internship proper, which features organisations from different industries. The idea is to match trainees with their hopefully "best fit" organisations. This will allow interns to work on projects they are interested in and learn in the process.

The overall aim of JCIP is to expose participants to a wide range of information, skills, and possibilities so as to build their confidence to face their next line of pursuits. A JCIP alumnus should excel at academic studies in the university, be competent and innovative in a work environment, and lead causes of great social benefit. Above everything, graduates of the programme would develop an insatiable hunger for learning and problem-solving, that will drive their everyday activities.

If you are a final year student in a senior high school, or know someone who may be qualified and interested, kindly visit the application form and be part of this great journey. Application closes on 1st May.

Quick Links

JCIP Application Form

Junior Camp Ghana Facebook

Junior Camp Ghana Twitter

Junior Camp Ghana G+

GhanaThink Facebook

Making Science Education More Practical in Ghana, The PEN-GAST Experience

Brainstorming session ongoing at a recent science workshop in Accra

Science is commonly viewed as a process of obtaining knowledge through experimentation and observation. This means that scientific knowledge is generated through extensive interaction of learners with the physical and natural world. It appears that the role of the teacher, therefore, is to provide students with the requisite tools to embark on this journey of discovery, filled with adventure, curiosity and wonder. Once interest is stimulated and maintained, the rest is history.

Yet in Ghana, especially at the basic school level, lack of basic laboratory materials and equipment interfere with the ideal of teaching science using a hands-on approach. Without proper practicals or demos, students find it more challenging to understand topics taught in class. This may partly be responsible for the general poor performance of basic school pupils in their end-of-studies examinations.

Thankfully, the above situation may soon be in the past as the educational paradigm shifts towards more engaging instructional approaches. One such proposition is low-cost science practicals, designed and run using very cheap readily available resources. A recent workshop jointly organised by the Greater Accra branch of the Ghana Association of Science Teachers (GAST) and Practical Education Network (PEN) introduced district science coordinators and some selected basic school science teachers to some of these activities.

Indicator being extracted from some flowers

The workshop was facilitated by Heather Beem of PEN and MIT D-Lab, while Saddik Mohammed and colleagues from GAST coordinated the logistics. Thomas Tagoe, Habib Sumaila, and myself played various supporting roles over the three days. The workshop covered basic science activities for selected topics in the Junior High School (JHS) curriculum. Apart from performing pre-set experiments, Heather introduced a framework useful for designing new science activities, and solving problems in general. This was well-received and tested by the educators. Feedback from the participants, the facilitator, and the organisers was positive. The science coordinators promised to transfer their experiences to the teachers in their districts through follow-up workshops. The workshop blog and GH Scientific covered details of what transpired.

Heather explaining the design cycle

All in all, being part of the PEN-GAST workshop was a useful experience as I learnt some cool science tricks I would be likely to try out some time. More importantly, I connected with many people influencing science education at the basic level in Ghana, namely science coordinators and teachers. We discussed how some of their own projects fit into initiatives such as Global Lab Ghana, Ghana Educators Network and GH Scientific. There are many opportunities for further collaborations! Finally, I shared some online tools, communities and resources that could be useful for their future learning and work.

Learning science should not only involve memorisation and reasoning, but also performing activities and developing skills. The PEN-GAST workshop demonstrated that cost cannot always inhibit science in action. Teachers can take advantage common low-cost materials to give school science a new twist. This will go a long way to contribute to raising competent innovators and problem solvers of the future.

What are your personal experiences learning science? In what ways can teachers make studying science more fun and engaging? Views welcome!

The Citizen Science Approach to Research: Report from GW4 Workshop, Bath

Source: thinkprogress.org

The idea of harnessing the collective or community input for a project is quite appealing to my African mind. Grassroots involvement fosters group ownership and often leads to better results. Movements such as GhanaThink, BloggingGhana and Enactus ride on the numbers and efforts of its members. When applied to science, public participation aids data collection and organisation, research design, and facilitates greater understanding of scientific phenomena. The active involvement of volunteers or "lay people" in the scientific enterprise, "citizen science", is a fast-growing paradigm in the scientific community and has the same essence as open source, open data and civic participation movements. It has wide applications ranging from social science research, through ecological studies, to unravelling the mysteries of the wider universe. I recently had the fortune to be part of a citizen science workshop organised by the United Kingdom's GW4 Universities at the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, (BRLSI).

At the #Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution (@BRLSI) for a day's workshop on #CitizenScience. Hope to learn some cool stuff.
— Gameli Adzaho (@gamelmag) March 26, 2014

We were welcomed by Dr Helen Featherstone of University of Exeter who gave a brief intro of the day's activities. Dr Robert Simpson from University of Oxford, in the first presentation, gave an overview for the need and benefits of citizen science, drawing examples from the Zooniverse project.

.@orbitingfrog giving an insight into galaxy zoo & which began with kevin, a phd student #GW4CS pic.twitter.com/ZcwxCJpjkK
— erinmaochu (@erinmaochu) March 26, 2014

He made an interesting point on validating crowdsource data- data contributed by the most accurate and least accurate volunteers are equally important because of the consistency. Thus you can tell whether the data coming in is accurate or inaccurate.

Dr Erinma Ochu from the University of Manchester then explored the topic from a social science perspective, with examples from the Sunflower Experiment and other projects. Here's a key point she made:

You need to think about what participants stand to learn- Dr Erinma Ohui #CitizenScience
— Gameli Adzaho (@gamelmag) March 26, 2014

One of my favourite parts of the day was the structured networking session where the participants interacted about how they use citizen science in their work. In short three minute spells, I learnt briefly about projects such as mathMETics, IfOnly, and BodyTrack.

Next was a panel on citizen science case-studies featuring Lisa Austin (Bath, IfOnly), Alexander Todd (Exeter, CliMathNet), Dr Emma Rich (Bath, Citizen Journalism), Dr Jaap Velthuis (Bristol, HiSparc), and Dr Sarah Perkins (Cardiff, Project Splatter).

Panel discussion on GW4 citizen science projects

After the round-table, we broke for lunch amidst networking, followed by the breakout sessions. The breakouts focused on recruiting citizen scientists, methodological approaches and ethics. I was in the methodological approaches/ethics group and some of the issues raised include data ownership, blurring the line between academic and activist, limitations of institutional review processes, and citizen science governance.

Some useful technological and web resources for citizen science researchers were also shared among the group. Some of the less popular ones include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Storify, University Wiki pages, Open Street Map, Google tools (Maps, Apps, etc), Carto DB (for visualisation), Ushahidi (for crowdmapping) and Github (for open source code). 

I learnt a lot from what researchers are doing in the GW4 universities and other institutions. More than that, I enjoyed the brilliant opportunity to interact with the brains behind some really interesting citizen science projects. Hopefully we can do more with the larger public to piece together the puzzle that is life and derive better solutions for our pressing problems. Meanwhile, the conversation continues on Twitter via #GW4CS.

Afrimakers and OUWA Team up to Train the Next Generation of Ghanaian Makers

Trainees keenly engaged during the Africamakers Uganda session. Source: Afrimakers

Afrimakers project, in partnership with Open University of West Africa (OUWA) and a few others, are making further strides towards nurturing a maker movement in Ghana. Their three step strategy involves:

1. Training facilitators to lead mentoring workshops and the community
2. Mentoring 6 to 17 year olds to acquire the necessary problem-solving skills
3. Showcasing innovations and networking through maker faire type events

Victor Kelechi Ofoegbu, one of the coordinators for the first facilitators workshop coming up at iHub, Accra next Monday, 10th March states:

The project aims to spark interest in young children for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) by exploring a range of hands-on experiments hands. The projects range from building paper-based electronic circuit boards, air quality control sensors, recycling old web cams into microscopes, to programming Raspberry Pi microcomputers.

This is a brilliant opportunity to improve problem-solving through open innovation in Ghana. Everyone should register and be part of it.      

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!

BloggingGhana Organises First Ghana BlogCamp

BloggingGhana, Ghana's biggest group of bloggers and social media enthusiasts presents a day of workshops and networking dubbed BlogCamp Ghana 2012. I will encourage everyone who can to attend this event as I can testify to how social media has changed my worldview and improved my life. BlogCamp 2012 indeed gives voice to the new generation!

Exchange of ideas during January 2012 meeting

BlogCamp seeks to educate and inform attendees on the benefits of social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google+ and blogs. Further, BlogCamp 2012 will demonstrate how the youth can leverage the power of social media for positive social change, good governance, accountability, technology, business and education; this will ensure that there is more online content from Africa. BlogCamp 2012 will also be used to launch Ghana’s first Social Media Awards scheme, aimed at rewarding various activists and contributors to the growth of social media in Ghana. Visit the BlogCamp Agenda page for further details.

BlogCamp 2012 has been made possible through the efforts of the BloggingGhana Community and the kind support of our partners: Vodafone, Google, United States Embassy, Nandimobile, Web4Africa, Citi 97.3 Fm, Mawuli Sikanku Photography and REDD Kat Pictures.

Enter your details into the BlogCamp 2012 registration page to be part of this wonderful programme. For more information, visit the BlogCamp Ghana website or connect with BloggingGhana through Twitter, Facebook or Google +. We will be posting with the hash tags #BlogCamp12 and #BloggingGhana. Send your inquiries and we will get back to you immediately. Be part of BlogCamp 2012, Voice of a New Generation!

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.

Web@2011: Fuelling the Web Revolution in Ghana

Image taken from www.profy.com

There is no doubt that the Internet is fast becoming a key part of the everyday lives of Ghanaians. Many individuals and businesses are taking advantage of the reach, convenience and speed of the web to engage their friends, clients and business partners. Web 2.0 platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter are recording huge numbers of local users. Ghanaian Facebook users have increased to 970,840 from 277,600 in November, 2009 according to facebookcheck.com. This presents the case for business web users to develop effective skills to ride smoothly and speedily on the wave of the nascent web revolution. Creative Ghanaian social web maven, Maximus Ametorgoh and popOut are out to empower Ghanaian web users with the essential skills through Web@2011.

Web@2011 is a technology event which aims at unveiling all about the World Wide Web as a platform for connecting with the world, sharing information, doing businesses, engaging customers and meeting new people. It will further touch on how to design a website, optimize it for search engine, how to create rich and captivating web content, and ways to drive traffic to a web. The new 'virtual infection' called social media, as a consumer-engagement tool, will also be discussed.

Web @ 2011 Event, AITI-KACE, Accra

The first in a series of workshops was held on 3rd June at Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence. Various stakeholders in the Ghanaian Internet space were taken through interesting and insightful topics such as

• Wealth on the World Wide Web
  
• Web Product Development
  
• Web Content Development
  
• E-mail marketing
  
• Creating a Great User Experience
  
• Online Payment
  
• The Game Business on the Web
  
• Driving Traffic to a Website
  

The speakers were a unique blend of experienced, successful technopreneurs and young, talented, game-changing web professionals/entrepreneurs. The line-up included Herman Chinery-Hesse (SoftTribe), Charles Hansen-Quao (DreamOval), Edward Tagoe (NandiMobile), Maximus Ametorgoh (popOut), Sheila Bartels-Sam (inCharge Global), Eyram Tawia (Leti Games) and Michael Darkwa (NandiMobile). Read more about the Accra event on Edward Tagoe's blog.

Kumasi and Takoradi- Get Ready for the Webvolution!

Thankfully, Web@2011 is not one of those conferences scheduled for Accra only. The web revolution fever is spreading to other parts of Ghana; workshops have been lined up for Kumasi (17th June) and Takoradi (24th June). I hope these regional events will be successful and further motivate the organizers to take the webvolution to the rest of Ghana, and beyond, as I have been advocating.

Businesses and individuals who have a serious intent to use the web as an effective communication tool need to take time to learn the core skills that will help them to be successful in their endeavour. The higher the number of skilled Ghanaian web users, the higher the quality and quantity of local web content (applications, text, images, and videos), the higher the traffic to Ghanaian sites and the higher the revenue generated from the Internet!

Coders4Africa: Skills Training for the African Technology Revolution

One of the key components of promoting African development through technology is skills training for its developer community. Developers need to be abreast with the latest cutting edge technology so that they can deliver compelling solutions to our software, work and life problems. Thankfully, events such as Python African Tour, G-Ghana and Garage48 have served as great learning and collaboration platforms among members of Ghana's software community. Similar initiatives are taking place all over Africa. Another interesting training opportunity making waves recently is Coders4Africa.

What is Coders4Africa?

Coders4Africa is an ongoing ambitious African technology project scheduled to run up to 2016. Its goal is to train and certify over 1000 Africans in different programming tools and platforms such as Java, PHP and Microsoft. Coders4Africa is the brainchild of Ali Kone (Mali), Kwame Andah (Ghana), Ibrahim Cisse (Mali/Senegal), Amadou Daffe (Senegal), and AlMoustapha Cisse (Niger).

Our short term goal is developing a community of African developers all across Africa under one structured roof - Coders4Africa. We want to create a pool of highly skilled African citizens in the software development industry to enlarge the labor income share thus contributing in a more equitable distribution of income.

First Ghana Workshop

On 18th and 19th June 2011, Coders4Africa will be running their first Ghana training sessions at Ghana's tech Mecca, AITI-KACE. The workshops are free to attend by software developers, system designers, computer science and information studies students and other IT folks. There will also be presentations by local software companies. To be part of this worthwhile educative event, secure your place by registering on their Eventbrite page. For more info visit Coders4Africa website or connect with them via Facebook and/or Twitter.

The team deserves commendation for putting all this together.

African Youth and Internet Governance Issues

Youth and Internet Governance Issues Panel at IGF Ghana. L to R: @kajsaha, @gamelmag, @AmmaBaffoe @gkahuma and @MacJordan.

The first Internet Governance Forum (IGF) held in Ghana took place last Friday, 11th March 2011 at the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT. IGF Ghana is a multi-stakeholder platform encompassing civil society, business, government, academia and the technical community to discuss issues regarding the governance of the Internet in Ghana. Under the theme "Internet as a catalyst for change: access, development, freedoms and innovation", the forum is a prelude to regional and global IGFs scheduled to take place in Lagos and Nairobi respectively later in the year. I was privileged to be part of deliberations on Youth and Internet Governance Issues together with some GhanaBlogging colleagues
at the forum. This post sums my views on some of the key discussions points.

How do young people view themselves as Internet users?

Young people can play a variety of roles as Internet users: developers, designers, researchers, content builders (bloggers, writers, etc), technical people, policy makers, activists, community coordinators, marketers and end-consumers. Though some of these roles overlap, it is very important for each Internet user to identify the role(s) she wants to play (or can play effectively) for best results. Many young people who're passionate about technology tend to be involved in almost all the outlined activities, thus reducing the impact they could have made in one field or the other.

The youth and social networks

In the advent of social media and web 2.0, social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and foursquare have become the fulcra around which the internet activities of today's youth revolve. Social networks have become crucial to connect, engage, share, learn, relax, publicise and achieve results. Because of social networks, national boundaries are literally melting down as different cultures fast zoom towards convergence. Therefore the lure of being part of the bigger global picture seems to leave no space for localized or nationalized social networking sites as even Facebook, twitter and co, have opened their platforms to run different kinds of applications that serve local needs. One crucial point of concern is privacy and safety issues. Young Internet users are aware of potential security breaches associated with social media, but often overlook them as they are more focused on the numerous advantages that these platforms have to offer. Security goes side-by-side with connections, so social network users must go about their activities with great circumspection. They should take time to investigate the backgrounds of suspicious characters and promptly change their passwords with the slightest indication of an attack.

What is the role of mobile operators in Internet governance matters?

Mobile operators, as key stakeholders in the Internet sector, must actively collaborate with government, regulatory agencies and consumers to debate and implement policy e.g. SIM registration and number portability. This is very crucial in our part of the world as many Internet users access the web through mobile devices. In addition, telcos must strive to:

• Improve accessibility by making their services available throughout the country and not just in major cities
  
• Improve quality especially speed when it comes to their mobile broadband packages
  
• Improve pricing by reducing both cost of connection and cost of data packages
  
• Develop exciting applications that encourage young people to use the Internet constructively
  
• Open up their platforms for young innovative developers to build apps on top
  

How can youth participation in Internet governance issues be increased?

Firstly, the youth must be educated about Internet governance issues and sensitized on their crucial role in Internet governance. Also, since the youth form the bulk of Internet users, they must be well-represented on all relevant bodies pertaining to the use of Internet in Ghana and Africa. Thirdly, the youth must forge common positions on key Internet governance matters through continuous engagement through identifiable youth groups and within larger groups e.g. Internet Society of Ghana.

Outstanding issues

The discussion left a few questions that are worth contemplating on: Is there life after social networks? Do you have a right to be forgotten? What are government's next steps with regards to engaging the youth in Internet governance?

Overall, the youth panel is a great start to getting young people involved in the internet governance process. It was a wonderful learning opportunity for me. Also, check out Kajsa's report for more info.

There were other sessions/workshops on Internet Governance for Development (IG4D), Critical Internet Resources, emerging Issues, Access and Diversity, Security Openness and Privacy, and Multi-stakeholder approach to Internet Governance. IGF Ghana is collaboration between the West African IGF Consortium, Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT, Internet Society Ghana Chapter, GhNOG, GISPA and GARNET. The event was supported by National Communications Authority (NCA), the Ministry of Communications and hosted by National Information Technology Agency.

Latest Updates on Python African Tour Ghana

Python African Tour is just three days away from stopping in Accra, Ghana. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to learn about one of the most versatile modern programming languages, and what it can do in terms of science and development in Africa. Here are some quick updates relating to the Ghana leg of the tour.

AUCC and GTUC Will Jointly Host PAT Ghana
PAT Ghana will take place from 18th to 22nd January 2011. The schedule is as follows:

• Day 1: Introduction to Python


• Day 2: Introduction to Python (cont.)


• Day 3: Introduction to Web Development with Python (particularly with Django)


• Day 4: Python Sprint/Hackathon


• Day 5: Python Sprint/Hackathon (cont.)

African University College of Communications (Google Map) will host the workshops/tutorials while the Sprints/Hackathon will be held at Ghana Telecom University College (Google Map)

More Partners and Sponsors on Board
Fedora Linux Project has joined forces with the PAT Ghana team and other organisations/groups such as Ghana Google Technology User Group (Ghana GTUG) and Hutspace to run the training workshop.

PAT Ghana is sponsored by Google, BECATEC, Ageliaco and Python Software Foundation/ Python Sprints. Their kind donation is making this possible. Check out the sponsorship options available and contribute to this worthy cause.

Connect with PAT
You can email any inquiries to the PAT Ghana team via PATGhana@gmail.com or connect through their Facebook page or Twitter.

To participate in the workshop, register using the form available at the PAT website. Spread the word!

Python African Tour Official Press Release

Contact: PAT(Ghana) Organising Team
Email:patghana@gmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PYTHON AFRICAN TOUR COMES TO GHANA

Advancing Open Source Technologies for Development

Python African Tour (PAT) is an exciting African open source technology initiative aimed at promoting agile programming languages, mainly Python, among Africa's tech communities. The Tour, which has successfully been executed in Senegal, Nigeria and Morocco is run by a group of nomadic volunteer Python developers and evangelists, backed by the generous contributions of various organisations and individuals. With the support of Ashesi University College, Ghana Google Technology User Group (Ghana GTUG), local developers, entrepreneurs, bloggers and open source fans, the PAT train will make a stop in Accra Ghana from 18th to 22nd January, 2011 at the Ashesi University College Campus.

The tour was highly successful in the three countries where it has been held so far, and this has greatly increased interest in Python as a programming language to be reckoned with. The overall goal is to boost development in Africa through Python and allied technologies; this will be achieved by empowering young Ghanaian students, developers and entrepreneurs with quality skills to tackle local problems. It is also the objective of the Tour to inspire and build conversations among local developers, creating an ecosystem of cooperation, idea-sharing, collaboration and creativity.

Python African Tour takes a different approach from other tech-related conferences that have been held in Ghana due to its focus on hands-on Python training and skills transfer, an opportunity local developers have been yearning for. The training format adopted is particularly suited for people who have already started Python programming or at least know how to program in another language. The tentative agenda is as follows:

• Day 1: Introduction to Python

• Day 2: Introduction to Django Web Framework

• Day 3: Python for scientists (based on demand)

• Day 4: Python Sprint/Hackathon

• Day 5: Python Sprint/Hackathon

Such a well-orchestrated training regimen is focused on developing a problem-solving approach to programming among attendees. The experience and expertise of the international team of trainers drawn from the PAT, Ghana GTUG and Hutspace will guide the participants to come out more quality and useful apps, some of which would have business potential.

Ashesi University College, Python Software Foundation and Hutspace are proud sponsors of the tour. There are sponsorship opportunites available for workshop sponsorship, hackathon sponsorship and individual sponsorship. Contact the PAT team and get your organisation to be part of this exciting initiative.

To participate in the Python African Tour (PAT) Ghana workshop, please fill out the registration form at the PAT website now. If you are interested in sponsoring, supporting the training team or helping out in any way, please send an email to patghana@gmail.com.

See you there!

###

Connect with Python African Tour:

http://www.pythonafricantour.com/countries/ghana

Register: http://www.pythonafricantour.com/countries/ghana/participate

Twitter(@patghana): http://twitter.com/patghana

Facebook: http://facebook.com/PythonGhana