May 2022 - Lit Empowerment Support

The Role Of ICT In Sports & Recreation

Sports is an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

Sports is important for mankind because it involves exercises that help maintain the heart and other organs in the body. It is often said that, a healthy mind lives in a healthy body. Sports is also a job and business. Some sporting events include athletics, football, sitting volley ball, basketball, the combat sports like, judo and taekwondo. There is also the pugilist sports-boxing, wheel chair race, ice hockey, gymnastics and paintball just to mention a few.

Evolution of Sports

It is widely known that many sporting events have evolved overtime. The story is told traditionally, of how footballers in the past used to kick the ball very hard high up, put their hands on the waist as the ball drops to the ground. At that time, goal scoring in the game wasn’t a priority because the game wasn’t competitive. Some more sporting events have also been invented and added to the list. An example is paintball. It is quite evident that physically challenged people did not compete in sporting events in the past, at least, not on a competitive level. Today, there is the Paralympic which is held in the same city, almost parallelly, to the Olympics.

Specific Roles of ICT In Different Sporting Events

It is absolutely important that developing countries, especially those in Africa realize that ICT is pervading every area of life, including sports and recreation. In athletics, for example, I CT is used to decide and determine fault starts and winners in a close contest. In football, the VAR Video Assistant Referee is been deployed to at least reduce to a great extent, the severe disputations that characterized matches during the yesteryears. In tennis, IT based gadgets are used to call shots concerning balls that cross the line or otherwise. I CT can be used to quantify a sportsman’s performance in a game, event or over a period. For example, by the magic of ICT.The distance covered by an athlete can be ascertained. So is the number of passes he/she has made; number of successes and/or failures. Shots on goal and misses. Number of tackles, number of goal assists and much much more. All this information and analysis inform the kind of training and strategy for matches and so on.

Specific Roles of ICT in Recreation

An amusement park is operated on IT based devices. A rollercoaster for example, has ICT controls. The lotteries and the way winning numbers are generated are all done using IT based tools. Then, there are the numerous computer games and their unique features. While some of these games are played by means of consuls, others are simply made to run on smart phones, laptops and desktops and can be played by means of keyboards and pads.

How can populations of developing countries, especially the youth harness the resources that abound in ICT to unearth talents, consolidate and maximize the benefits that accrue from sports? They certainly must align and embrace ICT and all it’s prospects. Meanwhile, the digital gap between the developing countries, especially Africa and the rest of the world remains widely wide.

Have You Heard of Lit Empowerment and Support Incorporated?

Lit Empowerment and Support Incorporated as an organization, is non governmental and non profit in nature. It aims at assisting marginalized (in the ICT sense) communities and schools to simply bridge the digital divide. In view of the fact that the organization is a non profit one, the task is daunting. Lit Empowerment therefore appeals to governments, cities, organizations, institutions, philanthropists, businesses, faith groups and individuals to partner them assist the lowly and unfortunate ones in the low penetration areas. This, the organization believes would add a little bit more impetus to it’s noble course.

Electronic Scoreboards Et Al

Live feed and streaming of sports and sporting events are all too familiar with us. Some ICT is in the mix there. Electronic scoreboards and other media have ensured that during sporting events, fans are addressed and informed directly.

ICT in Physical Education

In physical education, CT is used in refining basic and complex motor skills in order to apply them to increasingly complex games, activities and sport specific situations. Instructors and students of P.E. can actually capture images of sporting activities and edit them to explain skill perfection and/ or tactics. I have personally seen on the American WrestleMania stage, the deployment of virtual fans in a way that makes one think that, the fans are really actually in the match venue physically. That’s amazing! Isn’t it?
In spite of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Japan hosted the 2020 Olympics enviably. Need I say more?

Importance Of ICT In Trade & Commerce

Trade is simply defined as the action of buying and selling goods and services. Trade is also defined as a job requiring manual skills and special training. For the purposes of this article, I shall focus on the former definition. Commerce on the other hand is defined as the practice of purchasing and selling, especially on a massive scale. In this write-up, I shall seek to outline the usefulness of ICT in modern trade and commerce and the opportunities that abound in that regard.

Money Transfer Services

With the inception of ICT has sprung numerous money transfer services that are making it easier to do business. A few decades ago, people sent cash across nations amidst much paper work and time. Presently, the rhetoric has changed. A good number of money transfer services are available to do the magic of transferring money inter and intra geographical areas in a flash. It is therefore very easy for goods and services to be exchanged and money transferred wirelessly as payment. This has surely sped up the time of trading and doing business.

Virtual and Online Shops

Again, courtesy ICT, rendering service and selling goods by means of virtual and online shops has become a limitless possibility. In our world now, it has become possible to sell and buy without actually mounting or displaying goods in a physical geographical spot. That used to be the story a few decades ago.Nowadays,all a trader or entrepreneur has to do is advertise his/her wares with corresponding price tags and payment mode, which is made possible by the numerous money transfer and payment modes platforms. This kind of trade saves both business people and consumers a lot of precious time and stress.

E-commerce Payment Systems

An e-commerce payment system or(an electronic payment system) facilitates the acceptance of electronic payment for online transactions. Also known as subcomponent of electronic data interchange (EDI), e-commerce payment systems have become increasingly popular due to the widespread use of the internet- based shopping and banking. According to Wikipedia, as of 2008,in North America, almost 90% of online retail transactions were made with this payment type. The banks particularly have adopted and innovated fast convenient pull and push payment modes based on e-commerce payment systems. Customers can therefore push funds from other transfer and payment platforms into their bank accounts and vice versa.

Mobile and E-banking

Business people and anybody can transact business online with their bank by just a entering a short code or by just a click. Businesses and individuals can check their bank accounts the same way. Sms alerts prompt customers when any transaction is done on their account. One needs not travel to and fro their bank’s premises any longer. By so doing, risks, time and all the other unpleasant factors that used to be the case are cut out of the equation. Customers can ask relevant questions concerning any product via the FAQ segment of the website or portal of the bank they are dealing with. Customers can even open bank accounts without visiting the banking hall. Gone are the days when users of ATMs had to spend about eight hours executing a single transaction. Today, the exercise takes not more than a minute or two. The user or subscriber even has the rear privilege of hearing their money being deposited or dispensed, by means of micro speakers which amplify the machine’s sounds. Interesting, isn’t it?

E payment of Tax

Currently in Ghana, payment of tax adverts are playing on the radios and TVs.The Ghana Revenue Authority, the department that collects and oversees tax issues is taking a giant step in service delivery. The authority is adopting an repayment system to drastically improve tax collection and payment. This is anticipated to increase efficiency greatly. Paper work, which is time consuming and slow would have been reduced a great deal.Errrors of all sorts would be avoided and prevented as well. I know these epayment systems of paying taxes already exist in the developed states, since they are miles ahead of the developing countries in ICTs.

Paperless Ports

The harbours and the ports are key points of exit and entry of goods and services for any nation.The efficiency of the ports and harbours will always have a significant toll on trade and commerce in that nation and their trade relations with other nations. Ghana as an example again, recently embarked on a journey to paperless land. The vice president led and announced the transition from paper to the paperless status of doing business at the ports of Ghana. This is to facilitate fast clearance of goods and so on. All such initiatives are made possible by the use of ICT and IT tools. It is therefore crystally clear that ICT is particularly important in trade and commerce in our day.

High Illiteracy a Threat?
Two major setbacks to the peoples of developing countries are high Illiteracy levels and lack of access to computers, IT tools and imputing usage skills and knowledge. This high level of illiteracy and lack of access to computers and skills for their use tends to erode the confidence of the people in the usage of computers.

What Does Lit Empowerment Support Incorporated Seek to Do?

Since governments of developing nations cannot bridge the digital gap alone, it is essential that others help in the realization of that all important goal of bridging the digital gap. So how can the youth and others get access to computers and the necessary usage skills and competencies without necessarily waiting for government intervention?

Cashless Economy

With the banks and businesses having moved to online transactions, we are gradually entering the phase of a cashless economy where currencies and kryptos are taking over. That means more safety for traders, especially in the developing countries, where most of them still carry huge amounts of money around in order to engage in their trading and commercial activities.

QR Code

A quick response code (QR Code) is a kind of barcode. This cod was created in 1994. The QR Code is an image that can be scanned by a machine, including a smart phone camera. When a smart phone scans this code, it translates that info into what can be understood by humans.

POS

The point of sale or point of purchase is the time and place where a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, issues like how much a customer must pay, and the issuing of receipts and /or invoices are done, either in printed form or electronic form. The POS Machine is a terminal or part of the checkout process that processes credit or debit cards and completes the transaction. These machines, which are sometimes made up of a cash register, printer, monitor etc. or sometimes as small as a mobile, actually finalizes a transaction.

Conclusion

All the these ICTs are available to be exploited and are making trade and commerce quite easy compared to a few decades ago. All the traders and entrepreneurs need to do is to take advantage of these IT Tools and the systems so as to improve their trading and commercial activities.

Importance Of ICT In Education For The Youth

What Is Education?

Education is defined as the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially, in a school or university. It is also defined as a worthwhile pursuit by one social scientist. The importance and benefits of education can not be overemphasized.

Formal Education Trends in Ghana Some Twenty Years Ago

In Ghana for example, formal education started somewhere in the 15th through to the 18th centuries respectively. It was started by the western missionaries and traders. In those days, formal schools provided book based training. Since then, textbooks, notebooks and exercise books have been the only known ways of accomplishing academic work. Students used to copy notes given by teachers into their notebooks from a blackboard. Large spaces were needed to keep books. Books that were not stored well degenerated in no time. Valuable certificates and documents had to be kept in saves, drawers, files, cardboard boxes, trunks, wooden boxes depending on who was saving a document and which of these saving methods was available to him/her. Students in those times, especially in the developing countries such as Ghana had to provide hand sewn dusters as their contributions to the education delivery process. Classroom facilitators used to inhale chalk dust as they taught.Students,in their quest to blacken the boards and to keep them black would fall on old dry cells to keep the blackboards in shape. Students had to cart heavy loads of books to and fro school, especially those who were in the colleges and the universities. That happened during vacations.

ICT Prospects In Education

Even though ICTs have been around for quite a long time in the Americas and the West,ICTs in education only began to make inroads seriously in some parts of Africa barely two decades ago. Even in the face of this fact, many countries, including Ghana are yet to fully take advantage of ICT in education.
In this article, I will attempt to look into details, the Importance of ICT in education, especially for the youth.

The Role of ICT In Teaching and Learning

ICT aids in teaching and learning significantly. It is common knowledge in the era we are in that, teachers can make use of ICT to prepare for lessons. Teachers can carry out research and do advanced preparation using search engines and various educational apps.So can students also access loads of information by resorting to ICTs.There are several apps that are loaded with school curricula and many more. Teachers could as well use IT tools to create and prepare teaching learning materials (TLMs).IT tools themselves could be used in actual teaching and learning. Electronic or smart classrooms and virtual classrooms enable facilitators and learners to instruct and receive instruction by means of electronic boards, projectors, desktops, laptops, tabs, pads and cell phones among others.Trachers again, can employ the services of IT tools to compute students scores in class assignments, projects, tests and examinations. The preparation of terminal reports and cumulative records cannot be left out at all.

Easing Education Delivery Processes Through ICT

School administrators, secretaries and accountants can have their work eased significantly, as IT tools are available for exploitation. In School student admission procedures and processes and related areas, the (CSSP)Computerized School Selection Program conceptualized and implemented in Ghana for instance rings a loud bell for the topic in discussion. The program selects secondary schools for prospecting Junior High School students who aim to continue their education to the next level using ICTs instead of the manual method used in the past.

ICT indeed plays a major role in education delivery. It is therefore expedient that the youth poise themselves to maximize the opportunities presented in ICT in terms of education delivery. I personally wonder why students are found wanton when it comes to examinations. In an era where, there are apps developed to help in calculating math problems, it is an understatement to say that students should be excelling in their academics more than those who attended school when ICTs were not integrated into education.

Remote Education Made Possible By ICT

Online schools and universities are rife, and thriving. All one has to do is to apply online. The applicant is interviewed online and boom, he/she is in school. What is amazing is that, assignments,tests,project works and indeed, everything is done online. Certificates and degrees are awarded at the end of the course.

During the COVID-19 outbreak up to now, many colleges and universities had to resort to online classes. Students received instruction whilst in the comfort of their homes. Virtual classrooms are on the increase.

Electronic Saves, Folders, Files and eBooks

ICTs are being used to create folders and files to save large volumes of documents and the like. The role of eBooks cannot be ignored. Several books can be put on a small IT tool. Due to this, nobody carries large volumes of heavy books in hardcopy around any longer. Those who still do it probably are those who claim they were born before computer age(BBC). These are people who are in their fifties upwards, and who have given up on learning new skills, especially computer skills. It is also true that, some of these people do not have access to computers. This sad turn of events affect some of the young people as well.

Lit Empowerment Support Incorporated-Who are We?

It is this pathetic situation of apathy by those who should be providing computers and the necessary IT tools, and the general serious poverty levels, which has made it difficult for most of the populace, especially the youth to acquire computers that has spurred Lit Empowerment Support Incorporated,a non profit,non governmental organization which occupies itself with assisting communities, schools and students to bridge the digital gap in education especially in rural Ghana to try to intervene. Due to the non profit,non governmental nature of the organization, resources are scarce. Lit Empowerment Support Incorporated would be grateful if philanthropists,benovelent organizations, educational institutions, businesses and individuals can come to their aid by giving them grants, donating IT tools so as to afford the organization the impetus to continue with its attempt to salvage the situation.

Education, A Means To An End?

It is undisputable that people just don’t get education for getting sake.Eduucation also involves training, acquisition of skills,, mentoring, tutelage and imbibing of competencies so that the learner can apply these to solving societal problems. So therefore, education can be defined also, as, the acquisition of skills and competencies, mentoring, training and tutelage towards the pursuance of a career path in order to help correct and solve societal ills. It is evident then that people get educated to carve out a living by the vocations they pursue in school. We should remind ourselves that, even before 3 the inception of formal education, informal education, which has thrived and evolved into apprenticeships and the like, basically entailed training and acquisition of skills.

ICT As A Vehicle of Trade Acquisition

Typically, in Africa and other parts of the world, a father who was a farmer for example, trained his children to be farmers. A mother who was a fishmonger, made her daughters walk in her steps. By so doing, family businesses were built and ran. The learners or apprentices learned these new skills by observation and practice. I have seen informal car builders use ICT in their work. So apart from the high skilled ICT jobs that were mentioned in our last article, “The Importance of ICT in Job Creation”, such as ICT teachers, data scientists, cyber security analysts, database administrators, and so on ,which are jobs or careers that come about as a result of ICT education, it is imperative to remind ourselves that those in the informal area also benefit from ICTs, with regards to their training.

Do It Yourself-ICT As An Integral Agent

Many websites, portals and apps are training many people to learn new skills and competencies by just following instructions and demonstrations online. These types of training have ,and are equipping numerous people, especially the youth, with handy livelihoods.

ICT, A Tool For Education and Information Dissemination

Just about two decades ago, the only media for education and information dissemination in most developing countries, were via radio and TV.Today, governments, organizations, all manner of institutions, corporate bodies, businesses and individuals can educate the masses on any subject of interest through ICTs. It has been said time and number that the main principles underlying the fourth estate of the realm-the media are; to inform, to educate, and to entertain. Certainly, information is some sort of education. In other words, we can say education thrives on information. No doubt,TV sets have been upgraded to digital status. Traditional TV stations are further booking slots on digital platforms. Even newspapers are becoming electronic. They can simply be accessed on IT tools.