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[Education]

December 12, 2003

Don't need the sunshine. Apparently, the deaths of 150,000 people in 2000 was indirectly caused by global warming - which is also responsible for 2.4% of all cases of diarrhoea and 2% of cases of malaria. So says a major WHO report...

"The 1990s were the hottest decade on record and the upward trend in the world's temperature continues," the WHO said. "In Europe this past summer for example, an estimated 20,000 people died due to extremely hot temperatures."

"Rain can also have a major impact on health. When rainfall rises above normal levels, it can collect and stagnate, and the still water provides additional breeding grounds for mosquitoes and. other vectors which transmit diseases such as malaria and dengue fever."

The report was launched at 9th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Milan, Italy.
Erin Dean @ 01:36 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Couch potatos rejoice - for sitting around watching TV is good for your health! So say the World Health Organisation, who told us "Soap operas, community radio programmes and entertainment TV have the power to mobilize people to take control of their health, both in terms of prevention and treatment."

Ary Rogerio Silva from Americas for World Health. added that "in 1985 when a famous actor used a wig on a very popular soap opera - the wig market saw a rise of 70 per cent that year."

Although this sounds frivilous, media, entertainment and ICTs can improve health.Unsurprisingly the AIDS epidemic was also high on the agenda. Advances had been made, said Mr Taiwo Allimi, Director General of Voice of Nigeria because every television and radio station in his country now has a health correspondant.
But he stressed that traditional methods of communication such as village meetings and town criers still needed to be used for an integrated communication approach.

Mr Allimi also said that the language used is very important as many villages don't know the disease as AIDS or HIV, but "blood eater".
Erin Dean @ 12:17 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

December 11, 2003

Girls Girls Girls, need education, education, education. That's the message from Carol Bellamy, UNICEF's executive eirector , launching their "State of the World's Children report 2004". She said the "leadweight holding back the progress of their own nations" is the sad reality is that 120 million children each year never see the inside of a classroom - and the majority of them are girls.

She also pointed out what a lot of people at WSIS seem to ignore - "ICTs cannot change people's lives if they can't read".

Cara Swift @ 01:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 10, 2003

Modern day missionaries? The Irish and Swedes teamed up today to launch the UN's ICT Task Force's Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative. The initiative will be piloted in Bolivia, Ghana, Namibia and India between now and Tunis 2005, but run from Dublin.

"We've always been seen as missionaries with a love of education and knowledge and a willingness to bring it around the world," said Brendan Tuohy, Secretary General of Ireland's Ministry of Communication.

Claire Regan @ 04:19 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Digital arts. UNESCO have been presenting their DigiArts destination, which aims at promoting arts and music through communication technology. Their online tutorials on digital music are quite interesting, but, again, for part of the presentation, the equipment wasn't working. Oh, and, when promoting an AV project like this, it's a good idea to connect the presentation up to some speakers.

Aaron Scullion @ 11:11 AM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2003

Children of the Digital Revolution. There will be a Youth Pressure caucus at WSIS - they believe that young people - not technology - are "the world's largest untapped resource in creating an information society". It's obviously vital for young people to be trained in IT if digital knowlege is to grow - take a look at all of the issues from the youth caucus.

Cara Swift @ 07:11 AM | TrackBack

November 26, 2003

Schoolkids are set to interact with one of the largest educational events ever attempted on the internet. Schools from up to 40 countries will link up during WSIS - pupils even get to meet a Head of State online. There's a host of exercises designed to demonstrate how ICTs preparing children for a knowledge-based society, but whether schools play an effective role in that - even in the developed world - is questionable.

Aaron Scullion @ 06:36 PM | TrackBack

November 20, 2003

Technology League Table. Summit organisers, the ITU are trumpeting their new Digital Access Index as the "World's First Global ICT Ranking".

And it's a Scandinavian one-two-three - with Sweden in pole position, and Denmark and Iceland just behind them on the grid. Norway (5th) and Finland (8th) are only just behind. The US only comes in 11th (apparently because of its weak mobile phone network), just behind Canada, while Italy (22nd) and France (23rd) only just edge out Slovenia.

Niger rolls in last, just behind Mali, Chad, Guinea-Bissau and Ethiopia. Africa's performance is predictably depressing - with only two countries (the Seychelles and Mauritius) squeezing into the index's second division and most languishing in its fourth (and bottom) one.

The performance of Asian countries is improving rapidly - with Korea (4th), Hong Kong (7th), Taiwan (9th), and Singapore (14th) all ahead of tech-obsessed Japan (15th). UAE (34th) heads up the Arab League Table, followed by Bahrain (42nd), Qatar (48th), Kuwait (60th) and Lebanon (67th).

The report's author, Michael Minges, claims lack of infrastructure is not the main, or even the most important, barrier blocking ICT take-up. Affordability and education are equally important factors, he claims.

Contrary to perceived wisdom, he claims English is no longer an advantage. "Over the past four years there's been a big shift," he says. "It's really moving toward Asia and away from the English-speaking nations."

Using data from 1998 on the top 40 countries as a comparator, Minges argues that non-Anglophone countries are on the way up, while English-speakers are plummeting down the rankings.

"This is completely contrary to everything that we've heard, that English is an advantage, if you don't speak English you're behind," he says.

The index aggregates eight (weighted) variables: fixed telephone subscribers per 100 inhabitants; mobile cellular subscribers per 100 inhabitants; internet access price as percentage of gross national income per capita; adult literacy; combined primary, secondary and tertiary school enrolment level; international internet bandwidth (bits) per capita; broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants; and internet users per 100 inhabitants.
David Steven @ 03:35 PM | TrackBack
Technology League Table. Summit organisers, the ITU are trumpeting their new Digital Access Index as the "World's First Global ICT Ranking".

And it's a Scandinavian one-two-three - with Sweden in pole position, and Denmark and Iceland just behind them on the grid. Norway (5th) and Finland (8th) are only just behind. The US only comes in 11th (apparently because of its weak mobile phone network), just behind Canada, while Italy (22nd) and France (23rd) only just edge out Slovenia.

Niger rolls in last, just behind Mali, Chad, Guinea-Bissau and Ethiopia. Africa's performance is predictably depressing - with only two countries (the Seychelles and Mauritius) squeezing into the index's second division and most languishing in its fourth (and bottom) one.

The performance of Asian countries is improving rapidly - with Korea (4th), Hong Kong (7th), Taiwan (9th), and Singapore (14th) all ahead of tech-obsessed Japan (15th). UAE (34th) heads up the Arab League Table, followed by Bahrain (42nd), Qatar (48th), Kuwait (60th) and Lebanon (67th).

The report's author, Michael Minges, claims lack of infrastructure is not the main, or even the most important, barrier blocking ICT take-up. Affordability and education are equally important factors, he claims.

Contrary to perceived wisdom, he claims English is no longer an advantage. "Over the past four years there's been a big shift," he says. "It's really moving toward Asia and away from the English-speaking nations."

Using data from 1998 on the top 40 countries as a comparator, Minges argues that non-Anglophone countries are on the way up, while English-speakers are plummeting down the rankings.

"This is completely contrary to everything that we've heard, that English is an advantage, if you don't speak English you're behind," he says.

The index aggregates eight (weighted) variables: fixed telephone subscribers per 100 inhabitants; mobile cellular subscribers per 100 inhabitants; internet access price as percentage of gross national income per capita; adult literacy; combined primary, secondary and tertiary school enrolment level; international internet bandwidth (bits) per capita; broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants; and internet users per 100 inhabitants.
David Steven @ 03:35 PM | TrackBack

November 19, 2003

In the news, the FT reports on the perilous state of the negotiations, Angola prepares for the summit, and Pakistan plans 2,000 Internet labs planned for state schools.

David Steven @ 08:06 AM

November 10, 2003

Free software for schools? "Students should learn ways of life that will benefit society as a whole, and so, they should promote the use of free software". An opinion piece on Newsforge provokes a mixed response from readers. It's a tough call for educators - how are they supposed to prepare children for the real world without lining the pockets of the IT industry unneccessarily?

Aaron Scullion @ 05:26 PM
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