Take an average work day of a ‘knowledge worker’, someone whose main work day is around information. For example, a programmer, a stock broker, an investor, a sales person, a consultant and other office workers.

He probably has a cell phone, a laptop and an organizer. This is in addition to the land line he has on his desk. Of course he also has a desktop computer, or a laptop that he takes with him at home and on trips. On that computer, he must have email, e.g. Microsoft Outlook probably with immediate notification when a message arrives. He also has an Instant Messaging program, such as Yahoo Messenger, ICQ or Skype. He has client contacts on all of those means of communication, as well as family and friends too. He may also have other network contacts from Facebook, LinkedIn or Myspace whiles keeping updates with interested news on Twitter.

A Skype message pops up with a client asking for a quote on something. Meanwhile, his sister pops up on Yahoo Messenger asking him about how a relative is doing. An email notification comes in with a SPAM announcing mortgage rates. Another email message pops up about corporate news. His office phone rings with a colleague asking him something work related. Outlook Calendar pops up a video conference meeting reminder. His cell phone keeps beeping about an SMS text message he earlier got from a friend. He also needs to check the latest news on the web, the latest comic movie, some corporate information and newsletters.

Well, I think you get the idea now. Life is turning into a series of interrupted interruptions and leaving us the question – who is in charge? How is someone supposed to do any work or enjoy some reading/research without being interrupted? The sheer number of ways that we can be contacted here and now is always multiplying. As a result, our attention span is shorter and shorter as time goes by. The only time for peace and quiet – where you may be in charge may well be on a remote island with a book where there is no technology – not even a cell phone and internet.

© Harry Tetteh

The change Americans embraced some few months ago has started to spread around the world as we look forward to welcome it in Africa soon. The President of United States, Barack Obama who is also an African descendant and who has been an icon of the change is coming to Africa through Ghana in July. With obvious reasons, our local media are making lots of noise about his visit especially choosing Ghana as his gateway to Africa even though former American Presidents including Bill Clinton and George Bush respectively did the same when they came to Africa. This may be because of Ghana’s history of democracy and good relationship with the USA but rumours are pointing hands to the recent oil discovery on our shores – which could also be a good reason – or perhaps both. Notwithstanding these debates, the fact of the matter is for us Africans to use this opportunity to seek cordial but pragmatic relationship with the USA.

A cordial pragmatic relationship should be built on mutual respect which transcends economic and social relationship. Thus a mutual respect which recognises Africa as any other continent in the world enjoying peace and equal opportunities. But the reality is that Africa is facing tough competition and huge hurdle to attract American investors especially in the current economic crises since news about Africa is mostly about poverty, political instability, war, chaos and unrest continent. The point is, like any other continent, it’s not surprising that disarray may arise within a section of the region on the continent but most western media attribute such occurrence to the entire African continent, unfortunately. That is once it’s in Africa then it means the whole Africa is affected. Even though I didn’t live to see my great grandparents, my grandmother who is still alive but close to 100 years old never experienced any war in her lifetime which I believe most western folks may doubt based on what they see and hear on the news about Africa.

This is not only a historic disappointment but the upshot has been negative opinions and attitudes towards Africa with accompanied rippling effects including fear for potential investors to explore our continent which is full of untapped potentials, resources and opportunities for the good of the world. You would be interested to read more on “Money Talks in Africa like Everywhere else”. And the high rate of unfounded refusal of visas for African travellers to the United States.

It is our hope that President Obama’s visit will help unveil the true image of Africa to the United States and the entire western world. Many African countries have good economic prospects – particularly given the demand for natural resources from India and China. Mining, agriculture, and tourism are the flywheels of the African economy. Collectively these generates majority of the foreign exchange earned by most African countries. Unfortunately technology which is the vital tool today in development of all sectors including communication and transportation is what is lacking most in Africa. Get more insight from “Africa The Place to Be”

Africa seeks a new direction and focus today, where the western media will concentrate on the peace, prosperity, good governance, democracy which most African countries including Ghana are enjoying. A new direction, where American and other international investors will be keen to explore and invest in Africa – this we believe will help absorb some of the shocks of the economic crises. We seek a new direction where focus will divert from competition to partnerships and collaboration for the good development of the world and humanity. More partnership programs ranging from education, health care, security and technology. More collaboration programs in capacity building on all fronts of development.

Utilising technology to bridge the knowledge gap between Africa and the developed world – making it possible for educators and kids in Africa learn with kids in the USA, Europe, Australia, Asia, etc. in a secured online platform.  Not implementing the “One Laptop Per Child” program which realistically is three or more children per laptop – for the fortunate few, unfortunately. Encouraging and promoting more exchange learning programs for the youth of Africa and developed nations for multi-cultural understanding. It’s time to live in the future but not in the past.

Mistakes have been made, some good stories have been untold and opportunities have been limited if not denied in Africa, but now is the time to join hands to solve the world’s problem together based on mutual respect, while creating a new world of possibilities for the future generation and for all of humanity.

Quote from President Barack Obama:

“…the interests we share as human beings are far more powerful than the forces that drive us apart. That is what it means to share this world in the 21st century. That is the responsibility we have to one another as human beings. This is a difficult responsibility to embrace. For human history has often been a record of nations and tribes subjugating one another to serve their own interests. Yet in this new age, such attitudes are self-defeating. Given our interdependence, any world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail. So whatever we think of the past, we must not be prisoners of it. Our problems must be dealt with through partnership; progress must be shared.”

“AKWAABA” – WELCOME HOME – PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

© Harry Tetteh

A recent article published on USA Today.com said that nearly one in ten children and teens in the US who play video games show behavioural signs that may indicate addiction and this has led to poor test results by skipping homework for video games. This article also reminded me about a debate I had some time ago with some staff at Opoku Ware School when I was a teacher during my national service. The debate was about the relevance of technology in all context of education and I encountered questions like “What if technology dies out? Don’t you hear about internet frauds (popularly known as Sakawa)? And also what if another thing comes to replace technology?

It amazes me how in all the debate these days about the decline of education we ignore the most fundamental of its causes. Students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer suitable for the old educational system which is still being used to teach and assess. Today’s students have not just changed incrementally from those of the past, all their ways of live have also changed and not exclusive to their slang, clothes, body adornments, or styles, as has happened between generations previously.

Video/computer games, cell phones, internet (instant messaging and email) are integral parts of their lives. This ubiquitous environment and the sheer volume of their interaction with it, today’s students think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors. Marc Prensky refers them as the Digital Natives.

For those of who were not born into the digital world but have, at some later point in their lives, become fascinated by and adopted many or most aspects of the new technology are, and always will be compared to them, Digital Immigrants.

The importance of the distinction is this: As Digital Immigrants learn – like all immigrants, some better than others – to adapt to their environment, they always retain, to some degree, their “accent,” that is, their foot in the past. There are hundreds of examples of the digital immigrant accent. They include printing out your email (or having your secretary print it out for you – an even “thicker” accent); needing to print out a document written on the computer in order to edit it (rather than just editing on the screen); and bringing people physically into your office/desk to see an interesting web site (rather than just sending them the URL). I’m sure you can think of one or two examples of your own without much effort.

Should the Digital Native students learn the old ways, or should their Digital Immigrant educators learn the new? Unfortunately, no matter how much the Immigrants may wish it, it is highly unlikely the Digital Natives will go backwards.

Computer and video games are so engaging – and education is often so not engaging. Not because that is the “natural state of things,” or “the nature of the beast.” Although many hold the opinion that “learning hurts” and “games are fun,” any of us easily can think of enough counter-examples to prove this isn’t a universal truth.

The reason video games are taking most time of students is because the primary objective of the game designer is to keep the user engaged. They need to keep that player coming back so that the person feels like he has gotten value for his money. That is their measure of success.

The goal of keeping users (students) engaged is, of course, not the primary concern of educators. The primary goal of educators is to instruct, that is to get the material across with most times less engagement.

How can we make games educational without sucking the fun out of them? It is high time instructional designers, educators/teachers and game designers collaborate to produce games for students across all levels of the educational curriculum. This will transition from not learning by what students are being taught but being exposed to things in the context by which they are already interested in. We inherently care about what we are doing when playing video games, the enthusiasm is already there, and so game designers just have to channel it.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if there were video games on all subject areas in school? For example a game that says, play this game and you’ll pass any statistics or economics test or having a database of games online (like Youtube for videos) that allows anyone to search games on any topic.

Games can influence students to learn a new concept in life. For example playing SimCity 3000 introduces players to the model of urban life, complete with simulated citizens (Sims), traffic, commerce, industry, utilities, taxes, and other important aspects of city life. This allows students to learn as they assume the role of mayor by creating and managing their own city. Games above all are fun! Games can enrich audience’s lives.

When students put down the controller they should have the opportunity to bring something from their recreation into their lives by simply exposing them to new concept and game designers can lay down the grounds for extra learning. For example getting interested in and research on topic, story or the character in the game.

Children and teens assimilate information better through things that they are already interested in rather than in things that they are forced to learn at school or at work. Games produce learning with engagement and once students experience this, they’ll want to learn with engagement all the time. All educational curriculums should be designed with engagement as a very important component than content.

Simulators in the form of video games are been incorporated in pilot and military lessons and other technical fields of endeavours. Anyway, technology has come to stay for good so let’s learn to channel it in all our endeavours to facilitate and achieve our goals in the 21^st Century.

© Harry Tetteh

Yes, I admit that I’ve given up on looking into detail about the recent financial jargons in the global media which basically portrays the global economic and financial trends in the 21^st Century.

The FTSE Index. The Dow Jones. Subprime Mortgages. Bank Bailouts. Wall Street. Credit Crunch…YIKES! The list goes on and on. Over the past months, these words have been bandied about by a frenzied, mainly western media descending upon us. Investors are in panic, financial traders are in depression, hitherto great banks are in meltdown and savers are worried as to what happens next to their savings and pension funds. Looks like the major western economies are in serious trouble, and it is spreading around like a nasty worm virus. I think only my uncle Agyemfra and his folks are safe now.

The medium through which this global financial turmoil affects developing countries include financial channels and real channels. Financial channels include effects through: stock markets, banking sector (borrowing from advanced economies, foreign ownership of banks, exposure to sub-prime market), and foreign direct investment. Real channels include effects through remittances, exports, imports, terms of trade, and aid.

According to Antoinette Sayeh, Africa’s Director of the International Monetary Finance (IMF) “there is a drop in global demand for goods and services produced in Africa. Import demand in the EU, the US and emerging Asia which together account for Africa`s exports – is falling sharply. The drop in export prices will also affect trade and current account balances.”

Foreign direct investment (FDI), and remittances, which are an important source of foreign exchange for some African countries, are also at risk of declining. Such a decrease is likely to compromise the financing of many infrastructure projects on the African continent.

Ghana is equally at risk since we have a significant share of foreign owned banks and our economies strongly rely on foreign direct investment. These may probable result in pressure on budget as government revenues decline.

G20 finance ministers have pledged to make a sustained effort to beat the recession after they met on Saturday 14th March 2009, but much effort is required by each country on the continent. Each developing country needs to set up a crisis task force to consider the best possible policy responses – short term and long term economic and social policy responses.

Raila Odinga, Prime Minister of Kenya, once said “they say that when America sneezes, Europe catches cold, Asia develops pneumonia and Africa’s tubercolosis gets worse. This is what we are beginning to see.” But I know my uncle Agyemfra will not agree with Raila.

My uncle Agya Kwaku Agyemfra, who lives in a very modest, simple house in my village (not mortgaged, of course), with his wife and six grandchildren. He does not draw a pension. He lives off his small farm, has never held a bank account, and has never sought or been offered a bank loan for obvious reasons. Of course, all those other fancy financial terms do not mean anything to him, for he lives entirely outside the system. Since he enjoys no electricity, he has no TV or any other modern gadgetry, his major luxury being a constantly malfunctioning battery-operated transistor radio. The concept of rising bills is therefore beyond his grasp. He only relies on a trusty, if rather charming, rickety bicycle to get along, so rising fuel prices are not much of an issue for him.

Whiles others toss in bed at night worried about the security of their home, their savings and their jobs, My uncle Agyemfra, in contrast, continues to sleep soundly at night, I suppose, not infected by any virus.

© Harry Tetteh

Like me, I believe many of you didn’t enjoy your early school age due to some interesting reasons or perhaps you did. I think I didn’t like the idea of always carrying my table and chair on my head from home, walk like half a mile to school feeling tired already. Truly I have experience different kinds of educational setting including classrooms, lecture halls, conference halls and virtual classrooms. Among these, the most interesting but challenging for me was the virtual classroom which I think was due to the intensive integration of technology. Living in my home country, Ghana and obtaining a degree from California, USA was not possible some few years back.

As they say, the technology era has brought tremendous change in our life and work. One major change which I think needs to take effect soon is the definition of “School” in most dictionaries including the Collins Dictionary. A school does not need to be only physical structures but could be virtual which even comes with better educational facilities.

I was very glad about my online program but I was also a little hesitant initially because of difficult access to the technologies that comes along with it especially internet. Internet access has always remained limited and expensive with mostly slow connectivity in Ghana. I ended up hopping from internet cafes then landed on a Company’s internet service at night hours when the workers are closed and gone home. The night was also favourable for me because I was 8hours ahead of the University I enrolled, which made me able to interact with my instructors and course mates online when it was midday for them. I did enjoyed living like the nocturnal during that period.

Unlike the traditional classroom setting, the technologies used in delivering distance education are synchronous and asynchronous. Synchronous technologies required students to be present online at that same time as the instructor. We used text chat, audio and video chat sessions, to interact. Usually, this medium required arranged time for meeting online. Asynchronous on the other hand is where we access course materials or post to a discussion board at our schedule. Asynchronous was my favourite for the course because I could quickly download and save all my materials on my laptop and get time to look at them at home where there was no internet. But the frustration part on both technologies was slow internet speed.

Distance education has come to stay for good especially in the 21^st Century where technology rain is falling all over the world with nonstop innovations. Above all, I think distance learning pros outweigh its cons. There is self-paced learning in distance education. You can quickly browse materials you have already mastered, and concentrate time and effort in areas containing new information and skills, study materials at a personal speed and intensity, without having to wait for slower pace of the traditional classroom.

There is also flexibility to join conversations on the discussion boards at any hour, and to review your course mate comments since the previous visit. Distance learning does not require commuting. This saves money and time that would otherwise be spend on travel back and forth to school. You can schedule learning around other aspects of your personal and professional life. Online classes address physical accessibility issues that some people with limited mobility encounter when taking traditional classes. You don’t have to worry about gaining access to a classroom or sitting on uncomfortable desks. Instead, you can use your comfortable furniture in your home while enjoying free movement and a chance to further your education.

Some of the cons may be lack of social interaction. If the classroom environment is what you love most about learning, you may want to take a step back and reconsider distance learning. You’ll likely get some interaction on chat rooms, discussion boards and through email, but the experience will be quite different than traditional classroom. The format may not be ideal for all learners. In other words, not everyone is an ideal candidate for distance learning. If you know you have problems with motivation, procrastination and needs lots of individual attention from an instructor you may want to think long and hard before enrolling in a distance learning program.

From a distance? Absolutely! Beside educational institutions, a lot of corporate and government institutions are delivering resources and services from distances like health care, training, maintenance and support services. A new age of education for a new generation indeed.

© Harry Tetteh

Speaking at Oracle OpenWorld, Oracle Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Larry Ellison said that the computer industry is more fashion-driven than women’s fashion and cloud computing is simply the latest fashion. Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer used “the cloud” more than 3 times in his opening address at the 2009 Consumer Electronic Association (CES) tradeshow, referring to internet. Many technology executives including Christophe Bisciglia – Senior Software Engineer at Google, Marie Hattar – Cisco’s Vice President of Network Systems and Security Solutions, are dancing to the tune of cloud computing recently.

“Cloud” in IT generally refers to the Internet and I think it evolved from the cloud-like symbols in the network topology or diagram which is used to reduce an entire network communication into points of entry and exit. Basically, the cloud symbol represents a communication network without specific details of its architecture. The cloud technology enables resources to be provided as service on the internet, which is popularly known as Software As A Service (SAAS).

Internet companies such as Google and Amazon are working hard to offer more web services for all internet users. At 2009 CES, Steve Ballmer said “Microsoft is transforming what Windows is, from a Personal Computer (PC) operating system to a connected platform and experience across the PC, phones, TV and the cloud”. Microsoft says it’s Software-Plus-a-Service.

I am always thrilled to hear about new innovations in IT and its impact on the global economy. I believe one of the purpose of cloud computing is to be able to reach all customers in any part of the world. But the question is “are we all feeling the cloud?” Or “are we all connected to the internet?”

During this leap forward are the proliferation of high-speed internet connection, cheaper and more powerful chips and drives and the construction of data centres that houses thousand of computers. Seems like it’s time to build an infrastructure for the 21^st Century where broadband value of speed and price would be a national innovational policy for most countries if not all.

© Harry Tetteh

Not long ago, I had an opportunity to be interviewed by a multinational technology company that I have longed to belong over 2years now. During the interview session, I stated clearly that one of the reasons why I want to join them is because the company deals in the most expensive commodity in the 21st Century.

After watching and becoming a fun of “24”- an American action drama series, which depicts how US government fights domestic terrorist’s plots, I came to the realization that what always made the security services reach their targets is access to reliable information. I think information is the most expensive commodity in the 21st Century. And I also believe that, like water, information is the life of all businesses regardless its objective.

Every living thing depends on water for survival. Even desert animals need water to survive. Most of these animals do not need to drink water but obtain sufficient moisture from their foods. Some desert animals are specifically shaped to collect water. For example, the thorny devil in Australia is covered in sharp spikes which actually collect the moisture that condenses in the early morning and channels it directly down toward its mouth. According to scientist, our body is 65% water, so if you weigh 100 pounds, 65 pounds of you is water. By discovering water ice layers on Mars, NASA believes potential life on Mars. These prove beyond doubt that water is life, but is business life water?

Businesses depend on information for decision making in other to survive and grow to meet their targets. Either good or bad decision, it’s always based on the information available. Just as sufficient water is needed for healthy growth, sufficient information is also needed for business to succeed and grow. Indeed, many businesses fail due to lack of correct, timely, complete and relevant information than from any other single cause.

Like dirty water, incorrect information is poisonous to business survival. Correct information which comes too late is useless to business survival like clean water arriving after the death of the thirst. Correct, timely information which is incomplete is as disastrous for business survival like hot water as a drink. Irrelevant information is useless to business survival just like ice cube for the thirst.

Thriving to survive and surviving businesses boils down to the four factors identified. I think one of the objectives of the company I wish to belong is for businesses to have access to Correct, Timely, Complete and Relevant Information which is clean and sufficient water to quench your thirst at the right time.

© Harry Tetteh