The Gamelian World

Behind the Scenes of Ghana Decides- A BloGH Election 2012 Project

2013-03-24T23:18:00.001Z

Ghana Decides was a year-long project by BloggingGhana aimed at fostering a well-informed electorate through online social media tools. The project is officially one year today, and here are video highlights of what went on "behind-the-scenes". The video was curated by project videographer Sharifah.

Reading Aloud on Independence Day with Read Ghana- #WRAD

2013-03-11T00:05:00.000Z

I joined the Read Ghana team and their volunteers on 6th March ( Independence Day) for their World Read Aloud Day (#WRAD) activity at Madina Estate Primary School, Accra, on behalf of the BlogCamp team. It was easy for me to identify with this cause because I read voraciously as a child, and that opened doors.

When I got there, the children were having their faces painted. Everyone was happy to have one design or the other on their foreheads, cheeks or some other part of the body.

Who's who in face design?

Trying out some shoulder styles

Soon reading resumed. It went on until about 1:30 pm when the programme closed.

Great readers become great bloggers

We made a little video to show what happened:

The Read Ghana folks seem to have one message: Promote reading, wherever you are!


Reading means the world to us

More pictures at BloggingGhana's Facebook and Flickr pages.

Ghana Social Media Awards Finalists List Out

2013-02-16T10:39:00.000Z

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":

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.

Report on First Junior Camp Held at Ketasco

2013-02-14T23:42:00.000Z

Leti Games CEO Eyram Tawia poses with Seyram and Kennedy

One of the best ways to encourage learning among young people is to encourage them to take up initiatives. By so doing, they make mistakes, learn from their mistakes, correct them and become better. A Chinese proverb captures it pretty well: "what I hear, I forget, what I see I remember, what I do, I understand." Students of Keta Senior High School (Ketasco) demonstrated the above saying aptly when they organised the first Junior Camp Ketasco as part of this year's SRC Week celebration.

Junior Camp was put together by the Students' Representative Council (SRC) of the school in collaboration with GhanaThink Foundation. The idea for a Junior Camp was birthed when students of Ketasco participated in BarCamp Ho and BarCamp Tema last year. Realising the immense exposure and network they gained from BarCamp, Nathaniel Alpha and co. decided that the rest of their colleagues must have a taste of the pie.

Ice breaker: Ato "vimming up" Ketasco students

Before Junior Camp, also dubbed "Ketasco Goes Professional", selected students and teachers visited various basic schools in the area to educate their pupils on the opportunities and challenges of senior high school education. I was at Tettekope Global Evangelical Basic School with Yvonne and Robert who advised the students on courses available at Ketasco, admission requirements, time management and career opportunities. The duo did a brilliant job, as they shared their own experiences with the younger ones.

Robert Marley explains what it's like to be a student of Ketasco

Junior Camp focused on skills acquisition and career development. As such students were set up into mentoring sessions with mentors from different fields. They had the opportunity to ask questions and were given tips on how they could develop their talents and succeed today's challenging global climate. Mentors were drawn from the school, GhanaThink Foundation and industry.

Eunice shares her story with students as she is flanked by future engineers

Eunice Ogbugo, award-winning CEO of Eugo Terrano, gave the keynote address in which she touched on her journey from senior high school at St Roses to her current career. She explained her initial difficulties with certain subjects in school and how her determination and perseverance helped her to overcome those challenges. Eunice also took time to answer questions form the students.She was a huge inspiration.

The following mentoring sessions were held:

Entrepreneurship with focus on mobile communications and opportunities in the Keta area: Famous Avuletey
Engineering and Innovation: Ato Ulzen-Appiah
IT and Project Management Nehemiah Attigah and Seyram Ahiabor
Journalism: Senam Oyiadjo
Start-ups: John Armah
Talent Development: Joel Degue
Creative Arts and Creative Writing: Eli Aidam and Emmanuel Adonu
Banking: Arnold Parker and Richmond Ovadio
Public Speaking and Motivational Speaking: Courage Tetteh, Solomon Adawu and Rose Zaney
Fashion: Yayra Tay
IT Training and Education: Makafui Nyamadi
Sofware Development and Games: Eyram Tawia
Marketing: Donald Ward
Teaching: David Kattah
Digital Literacy: Eldad Nutakor and Gameli Adzaho

Seyram (arm raised) and Nehemiah in action during IT mentoring session

Read more accounts of Junior Camp Ketasco by Enock Nyamador and Eldad Nutakor.

Cross-section of Junior Camp mentors after the event

I believe that creating more learning opportunities outside the classroom will go a long way to buttress what is learnt in class. It will also expose students to the realities of life and motivate them to be more serious with school work. Thank you to all the mentors who took time off to spur the next generation on, and the many others who could not come, due to the unfavourable time, but were in Keta in spirit. To Nathaniel Alpha, Ato Ulzen-Appiah, Enock Nyamador, Eldad Nutakor, Mr. Norvor and everyone else who gave their support, thank you for making this happen.

BloggingGhana Chair Launches Social Media Awards

2013-01-08T15:45:00.001Z

At exactly 2: 33 pm today the Chair of BloggingGhana, Ghana's biggest association of bloggers, launched BlogCamp Ghana 2013 and Ghana's first social media awards. The event, which was first announced last year will be the first time that awards will be given in Ghana to acknowledge the contributions of bloggers to society.

Chair Kajsa Hallberg Adu also mandated the BlogCamp team to find Ghana's best blogger in a tweet:

With this tweet, I mandate the #Blogcamp13 team to go find the Best Blogger in 2012! blogcampghana.com May the best win! #233moments
— Kajsa Hallberg Adu (@kajsaha) January 8, 2013

BlogCamp 2013 is themed "Content is King" celebrates the relevance of quality content in branding individuals, organisations and nations on the web.

In 2012, BloggingGhana organised the first BlogCamp Ghana under the theme "Voice of a New Generation". According to feedback gathered on social media, the event was a huge success. BlogCamp 2013 aims to take the experience a notch higher with Social Media Awards as a key part of the event.

A Round-up of a Very Eventful 2012

2012-12-31T23:52:00.000Z

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

Vodafone Broadband in Keta

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

Diplo Internet Governance Capacity Building Programme

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

Ghana Decides

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

BlogCamp Ghana

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

BarCamp Ghana

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

ICT, Digital Literacy and Education

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

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

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

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

2012-12-21T11:47:00.002Z

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turning Failure into Success at BarCamp Accra 2012

2012-12-18T16:41:00.001Z

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

Administration block of MUCG. Source: ghanaschoolsnet.com

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

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

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

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

See you on Saturday!

Ghana Election 2012: A Digital Walk-through

2012-12-06T10:24:00.002Z

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

Issues

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

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

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

Ghana Elections 2012 Wordle created using content from ghanadecides.com

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

Civic Activism

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

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

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

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

Software Tools

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

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

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

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

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

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

2012-11-30T03:45:00.002Z

#GhanaDecides, #LetsVote, #OurVoteOurVoice

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

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

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

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

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

Read the full press release on ghanadecides.com.

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

PLEDGE NOW TO VOTE IN THE 2012 ELECTIONS.

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

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

2012-11-18T01:39:00.000Z

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To overcome the challenges, some proposals were made:

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

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

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

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

Driving Excellence at BarCamp Tema 2012

2012-10-22T13:05:00.001Z

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2012-09-28T13:36:00.002Z

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

Discussing the declining rate of BECE performance at #bcho

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

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

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

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

How can the situation be improved?

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

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

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

Social Media Awards for Ghana's Online Community

2012-09-25T22:56:00.001Z

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:

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

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

END

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

Youth Taking Charge of Development at BarCamp Ho 2012

2012-09-20T07:13:00.000Z

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gedeme! Miawoe zɔ!

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

2012-09-02T14:34:00.001Z

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

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

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

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

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

Five Keys to Taking Control of Your Health

2012-08-30T02:50:00.001Z

Today, we take a break from the usual tech, events, education and development stuff to talk about health. Guest blogger Dr. Carl Nutsugah blogs at GH Health Diary a Ghana-focused health blog. In this post, he sums up five critical steps for taking control of one's health. Enyoy!

Your health is a very crucial asset to you. Do you believe that? Usually a lot of people would say yes but the question is what are you doing about it.

Point is I know it aint easy to start exercising and eating some well ‘calibrated’ diets and all because trust me I also struggle with this. Before you start you need to work on your mind. Maybe you should read more about health issues and also visit the hospitals, lol, no don’t visit the hospitals. But make a conscious effort to take control of your health, resolve to enjoy your old age and also try to understand how crucial your health is to you.

Before you start just remember these five steps.

Start low
See it big but keep it simple. I have been in the same gym with first timers who start by lifting weights way bigger for them and guess what they never came back. You don’t have to jog for 5km on your first week if u decide to start jogging. You don’t have to start eating supper at 5 pm if you think eating late is your problem for the big belly. Start simple and gradually build up until you can take it a step higher. This makes it possible for a naïve body to all of a sudden get used to all the new stress.

Make it fun
This is a very important aspect of any health remedy encounter. If its not fun its not going anywhere because you would probably stop very soon and do something more relaxing like sleeping and watching movies. Make it spicy by involving likeminded people who share your passion and chose a place where it is more fun.

Make it sustainable
Sustainability is a very rare gem in a workout plan. Usually starting low and making it fun takes care of this but not necessarily always. Sustainability must include a plan that stands the test of time and is an objective approach for you.

Diet! Diet!! Diet!!!
Diet alone can do the magic. Most at times all that stand between you and your workout goal is your diet. Even though I would talk more about dieting on a later post, it is important to put at the back of your mind that you are what you eat and you are exactly that.

Work on your mind.
They say the biggest sex organ is the mind, I say the biggest workout organ you have is your mind. Do not be psychologically defeated before you start working out and taking control of your health. Know deep within your mind not your heart, that you can take control of your health.

TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR HEALTH NOW and enjoy quality life you are working so hard to achieve.
Follow @ghhealthdiary & @carlnutsugah on Twitter for up-to-the-mminute updates. Read more at ghhealthdiary.blogspot.com & virgoinitiatives.blogspot.com.

Google Hangout Discussion on IEA Presidential Encounters

2012-08-24T00:20:00.000Z

Yesterday, I took part in a Google plus hangout organised by Ghana Decides to discuss submissions from presidential candidates of various political parties in the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) presidential encounters series. I joined fellow Ghanaians from different locations throughout the world to discuss what we made of the submissions of the leaders of Convention People's Party (CPP), People's National Convention (PNC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP) as Ghana prepares for elections in December. The hangout was broadcast live on the Ghana Decides YouTube Channel. You can follow the discussion for yourself through this video:

Various opinions were shared, but what was clear is that people expect the IEA encounters to have little impact on the outcome of the polls (due to a perceived language barrier as the discourses were undertaken in English and that most people already made up their minds on who to vote for). However, it was agreed that the platform created by IEA has become an important hallmark of our democracy. It's relevance lies in the fact that whoever wins power will be held accountable for the pronouncements made to the people captured live on televison, radio and on the Internet. Another thing that was clear was the seeming distrust of political authority and their willingness to really bring change to the country.

All in all it was an interesting discussion and another example of the use of social media as a tool for civic engagement in our part of the world. I look forward to another opportunity in the future to talk, not only about politics, but also about other topics I'm interested in. What do you think about the points made during the discussion? What were your impressions about the IEA Evening Encounters? What do you think are the main issues that concern the youth as far as democracy in Ghana/Africa is concerned? It'd be good to know!

Ghana's High School Students Learn How to Build Robots

2012-08-20T00:48:00.000Z

Future Ghanaian engineers busy building their robots. Source: www.ashesi.edu.gh

High school students from all over Ghana were given the opportunity to sharpen their science and technology skills through the Ashesi Robotics Experience (ARX), a five-day robotics competition recently hosted by one of Ghana's most innovative universities, Ashesi University College. ARX was also aimed at piquing the interest of students in industry-relevant careers in computer science, engineering and technology.

I could not visit the Berekuso, Eastern Region, campus of Ashesi to savour the robotics experience firsthand, but this amazing YouTube video shot by Sharifah Issaka does a good job relaying what transpired:

The experience itself, as evident in the video, was fun, not only for the particpants, but for Ashesi President Patrick Awuah Jr himself as well.

Follow @PatrickAwuahJr

Patrick Awuah Jr
@PatrickAwuahJr

Here are some of the high school students I got to meet at #ARX2012. Future engineers for Africa. http://t.co/QUiFZQYU

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6 days ago via web · powered by @socialditto

Ashesi University seems to be getting it right when it comes to practical and quality tertiary education in Ghana. I can only applaud their efforts to get Ghanaian high schoolers to develop deep analytical and problem-solving skills while wooing them to their university.

Ghanaian Team Emerges Tops in Google Online Marketing Challenge

2012-08-17T23:58:00.002Z

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!

Ghanaian Scientist Part of Curiosity Mars Exploration Team?

2012-08-08T02:37:00.000Z

Human's continuous quest to unravel the secrets of the universe is running full throttle with the successful landing of the space rover, Curiosity on Mars. Curiosity's mission is simple, to see whether the red planet has ever supported life, even microbial forms. The news of its landing generated great excitement all over the web, challenging the popularity of even the olympic games. CNN asks whether Curiosity will finally open up martian frontier.

One of the first images captured by Curiosity. Source: CNN.com

What was most interesting to note, however are reports that among the many NASA engineers and scientists, was a Ghanaian, Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu.

Dr Trebi-Ollenu Source: http://www-robotics.jpl.nasa.gov

Place of Birth: Accra, Ghana

Education: B.Eng. in Avionics, University of London, 1991; Ph.D. in Control Systems Engineering, Cranfield University, U.K., 1996.

Profession: Multi-disciplinary Engineer

Research Interests: Planetary Rovers, Adjustable Autonomy, Mechatronics, System of Systems, Manipulation. Planetary Rover Operations, Multiple Mobile Robots, Reconfigurable Robots, Man-machine Interaction.

Other activities: Motivational Talks, Robotics Workshops

A look at Dr Trebi-Ollenu's page at the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) website reveals his membership of the Mars Exploration Rover Operations Team. He was a member of both Spirit and Opportunity teams. What is not clear as of now is his direct involvement in Curiosity. This news is very inspiring, to say the least. Dr Trebi-Ollenu's is a great example for young Ghanaian science students. Another notable Ghanaian scientist doing great work with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is Dr Ave Kludze.

Celebrating the Late President Atta Mills of Ghana

2012-08-01T00:49:00.000Z

News of President John Evans Atta Mills' death shocked many including myself. Atta Mills won political power "against the run of play" in 2009 and died a few months to completing his term of office. He will be remembered in Ghanaian history for his peaceful nature and his democratic and anti-corruption credentials.

In my first ever vlog (video blog), I reflect on the life of the late president, drawing our lessons that might be useful for all Ghanaians:

A book of condolence, in memory of President Mills, was opened yesterday at the Keta Municipal Assembly amidst great ceremony. Preceding the actual opening was a public procession from Busco Junction area all the way to the municipal assembly. All marchers were clad in some combination of red an/or black to signify their grief. A lively mix of brassband music and traditional sounds dared to reduce the "sorrowfulness" of the ocassion.

#RIPMills: Street procession in honour of the late Prsident Mills

In attendance were the Municipal Chief Executive, the Municipal Director of education, other public officers, chiefs and people of Keta. Tributes were read by representatives of various stakeholders such as the government and political parties. The speeches hailed the lifestyle and good works of the departed leader. The book of condolence was then signed by MCE the leaders of various departments in the municipality the chiefs, reps of various political parties and some renowned citizens.

#RIPMills: An NPP rep at the function


#RIPMills: Municipal Dirctor of Education signing the book of condolence

Find more pictures on the Ghana Decides Facebook page.

Similar ceremonies have been held in Accra, Ho, Cape Coast and all over Ghana, attracting heavy coverage in the mass media. Today, one minute of silence was observed all over the country at 2:15 pm, on the instruction of the government. For the first time, social media coverage has not been left out, with Ghana Decides taking lead role. There's a collection of great videos in the RIP President Mills YouTube playlist. Also, the #RIPMills hashtag has been the focal point of spreading the latest news on Twitter, while Facebook is awash with creative photos and posts, all celebrating the third president of the fourth republic.

President Mills' erstwhile Vice-President, John Dramani Mahama has since been sworn in as President of Ghana. We wish him well!

Press Release: Ghana Decides on the Death of President Mills

2012-07-25T22:12:00.000Z

We are shocked and saddened by the death of His Excellency President John Evans Atta Mills. The announcement of his death was nothing less of a surprise and a blow to a nation that is continually trying to surmount immense developmental challenges. President Mills led Ghana on a path that he best judged as one that could propel the country he loved forward. He did his bit, but now he is gone.

We have been overwhelmed with Ghana’s heartfelt response to the death of President Mills. The words fine academic, religious, hardworking and peace-loving are most often used to describe him. Some mention humility and we should not mistake that for timidity. President Mills brought the “GOOD MAN” syndrome to Ghana’s politics.

So on the event of his death; we are shaken, here at Ghana Decides. Ghana’s future is opened up again and we are thinking of the shape it will take. We cannot believe that the man we had various expectations about had eluded all of us and made it to “behind the seas where no one has seen.” That alone is heavy for us all and we are uncertain what next to do with regards to our plans for the sitting Government. President Mills has changed everything once again – and for the last time.

Consequently, the quick turnaround the nation has made, in terms of transition by swearing in Vice President John Dramani Mahama as President, is impeccable. We, at Ghana Decides, are not surprised as we have found in our interactions both online and offline with Ghanaians across the country, that people are committed to ensuring that peace and stability is maintained. Nonetheless, the peaceful and unified transition should be noted and celebrated. Ghana continues to hold the peace and uphold its constitution.

We therefore mourn the man we all loved, castigated, laughed with and wished well. If we ever forget how he lived, we would do well to play one audio clip from his addresses to Parliament and turn around with a “gargantuan” smile and say: There was the man who loved this country more than himself.

BarCamp Tamale 2012 Focuses on Development and Sustainable Change

2012-07-06T01:48:00.000Z

My friends at BarCamp Tamale are putting together their second event. Feedback gathered from Twitter on the first one was very positive. On the whole, it appeared to be an educative event. For Ken, it was an eye-opener. I hope to join them this time. Watch out for the #bcTamale tag on Twitter!


Shot taken at first BarCamp Tamale. Source: http://kenkubuga.blogspot.com

BarCamp Tamale Press Release

Here comes the 15th Barcamp in Ghana and 2nd in Tamale! BarCamp Tamale 2012 is a free networking event bringing people together for a day of discussion, demonstrations and dialogue about Tamale, Northern Ghana and beyond. BarCamp Tamale 2012 follows last year's November 26 event at the Tamale Polytechnic in Tamale, Ghana. This year's edition will be held on July 14 with Tamale Polytechnic. The theme is “Accelerating Development: Key Stakeholders & Priorities for Sustainable Change”. It will build upon local knowledge, expertise and resources in a supportive community for entrepreneurs, change makers, innovators and other leaders in Tamale and the Northern Region.

It will be organized in conjunction with LEAD-Ghana and the Tamale Google Technology User Group (GTUG). This Barcamp will focus on creating more awareness about the uses of technology; build knowledge on how to foster innovation in and around Tamale; and increase visibility through tourism, (re)branding and online content creation.

BarCamp Tamale 2012 will feature multiple sessions on Northern Ghana’s development agenda and the recently launched Savannah Accelerated Development Authority, businesses, social entrepreneurship, technology tools and products, as well as breakout sessions on topics relevant to the Northern region and beyond. Like all Barcamps, there will be user-generated sessions and discussions where attendees get to set the agenda and topics for the day. Local experts will share knowledge on different technologies, and successful entrepreneurs and innovators will share their stories to serve as role models for participants.

Register/RSVP today at the BarCamp Tamale eventbrite website. You can also register by sending "Barcamp Tamale, Your Name, Your Email Address" to 1945 on all mobile networks. You may also contact the BarCamp Tamale team through this website for sponsorship opportunities. If you are interested in organizing a breakout session, let us know, especially if you have special needs. BarCamp Tamale 2012 is sponsored by the GhanaThink Foundation, Tamale Polytechnic, LEAD-Ghana, Nandimobile, Tamale-GTUG, Fienipa Group, Savana Signatures and Northern Ghana Innovators. Our media partners are Bishara Radio, SpyGhana and Radio Justice.

Towards Open Education in Ghana- What is Happening?

2012-06-18T23:31:00.002Z

Last Friday, 8th June, I had the opportunity to participate in a forum on Open Education in Ghana. The forum was part of Innovation Week 2012 organised by the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT (AITI-KACE). The diverse audience included students, educators, software developers, entrepreneurs and people from government. Overall, the discussion was rich, informative and engaging making the event one of the best fora I've been in. Thumbs up to Dorothy Gordon and her team.

A participant from Central African Republic sharing her joy at being at the forum

The programme started with a discussion on open education, its relevance and the experiences of the audience. A graduate of SOS College shared how he used the Internet to study thermodynamics, a challenging topic, for his IB examination. An interesting debate on whether the rise of technology signaled the redundancy of the human element in education came up. The consensus reached was that "school was mainly for networking and socialization", and so the human element is still crucial.

How are Ghanaians using open education resources?

The team from AITI-KACE then presented open courseware platforms such as Khan Academy, MIT Open Courseware, BBC KS3 and Videolectures.net. These platforms serve educationsl content free of tight copyright restrictions. The issue of dearth of relevant local educational content was raised. Someone mentioned that Ashesi University have their course materials freely accessible by the public. I recall that Prof Dakubu and co were working on an online system called Kewl at University of Ghana around 2006/2007. I'm not up to date on the status of the project. Some strategies for building content, including training for both students and teachers were discussed.

Next was a panel discussion on Open Education resources featuring officials of the Ghana Education Service, Ministry of Education and AITI. Also on the panel was Anis Haffar, a thought leader in the Ghanaian Educationi space. Some of the key discussion points were on the need for government to step up its interventions to integrate ICT into education and the need for a conscious national effort to create open courseware for the pre-tertiary levels. It was revealed that government will soon roll out e-SHS to minimize the effects of some of the problems facing our educational system: lack of easily accessible textbooks, low number of quality teachers and inadequate science equipment. It was interesting to learn that the educational authorities will be reviewing the policy that restrains students from using various digital devices in schools, so as to ensure that the full benefits of open eduction are realized.

Speaking on the keynote "Education in the IT Age", Annis Haffar stressed on the merits of deploying ICT as part of an integrated strategy, rather than as a standalone tool. Hands-on activities, schemes of work and teaching methodologies, he said, were other tools that needed to be sharpened to improve the status quo. By showing images of schools that lacked teachers, electricity and books, he demonstrated that much was left to be done in terms of the basic ingredients needed to ensure quality education. Also, he was of the view that educational instruction must be tailored to affect both the affective and cognitive domains of students, stressing that one of the most important things teachers must do is to inspire their students to be able to learn by themselves rather than trying to teach them everything.

Annis Haffar in action: teaching methodologies and planning must accompany technology to make any headway

Presentations of various innovations interspersed segments of the programme. Anita Hato, a fresh graduate of the University of Ghana, presented her undergraduate project, Kiddie World, an online system to help kindergarten children to build basic literacy and numeracy skills. Another presenter spoke about a software system he built that uses 2D barcodes to check the authenticity of drugs.

The forum on open education was a refreshing change from all the talk shops we are greeted with every now and then. The practical demonstrations of what is being done and what could be done was inspiring and challenging. What are your views on integrating open education into Ghanaian education? What should be done to ensure that it is done right? If you're a teacher, school administrator or just someone interested in contributing change to education in Ghana, join the Ghana Educators Network now.