News

Goldozi

From FHI 360 

The Goldozi project will assist women in and around Kabul, Afghanistan, to increase the commercial potential of their traditional embroidered products. Goldozi, which is Dari for embroidery, will build the capacity of women embroiderers and entrepreneurs of both genders who represent the embroiderers in the market.

Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Goldozi project will form alliances with chambers of commerce, business federations, export agencies and local service providers to build a strong brand that promotes the ethical and authentic production of Afghan embroidered products made by Afghan women.

The project team will conduct a series of capacity building and training interventions in technical, business and marketing skills to improve product quality and increase sales potential in response to demand in local, regional and international markets. Through improved marketability of embroidered products, the project aims to increase overall sector performance and strengthen the value chain, from input suppliers to retail and export markets.

Working with Ustad Mobile, FHI 360’s technology partner, the Goldozi team will introduce an open-source mobile learning app. Ustad Mobile will customize their open-source code to build an app that tracks sales for real-time project reporting, market trends and up-to-date market information. The app will also create a mobile platform to display sample stitches and designs, as well as skills-refresher modules.

Over the life of the project, Goldozi will create jobs for 500 entrepreneurs, improve the jobs of 15,000 embroiderers (mostly disadvantaged women) and establish a network of stakeholders and value-chain actors who are committed to women’s economic empowerment.

READ ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE

Expo 2020 Dubai’s Expo Live Program Supports 26 Global Social Enterprises With Grants

From Dubai Startup Hub 

Beating 1,200 applications from 144 countries, 26 projects from 22 countries have been selected to be part of the third cycle of Expo Live’s Innovation Impact Grant Program, an initiative launched by Expo 2020 Dubai dedicated to fund and support “creative solutions that improve lives while preserving our world.”

From social ventures centering on renewable energy, fintech, agriculture, education, mental health, to empowering women and low-income households in rural areas, and more, the new additions will join the existing community of Expo Live’s grant recipients dubbed as ‘Global Innovators’, totaling to 70 grantees from 42 countries.

Expo Live provides each project a grant of up to US$100,00, which will be made available upon meeting ongoing conditions. Besides receiving mentorship, guidance and promotional opportunities, they also have the chance to showcase their work to visitors at Expo 2020 Dubai. Yousuf Caires, Vice President of Expo Live at Expo 2020 Dubai comments on the grant that innovation can “come from anywhere to everyone.” According to a statement, he added, “This is a major component of our redefinition of what a World Expo can and should do: tap into its convening power well before the event to enable problem-solvers around the globe to promote innovation and build partnerships that leave a lasting legacy not only in the UAE and the region but across the world.”

With the support of the Expo Live grant, the startups –of which, four startups are from UAE and Bahrain- are set to maximize the opportunity too. UAE-based TeachMENow, a startup offering on-demand and live teaching sessions, intends to utilize the capital to expand the platform, while the Ustad Mobile app -which enables users in low-income cities to access educational content without access to internet data- plans to use the grant to adapt its content to be accessible offline and implement workshops in various places. Bahrain-based startup Fish.me, an app which links fisherman and consumers to ease supply chain, said they plan to utilize the grant to develop in-app payment options and develop value-added services to fisherman by providing sales data insights, while Public Planet Partnership, a framework allowing users to work with natural capital, aims to use the grant to help implement its projects.

READ ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE.

Meet The Startups That Have Joined Dubai Future Accelerators For Its Third Cohort

From Inc Arabia 

Dubai Future Accelerators has launched its third cohort with 46 startups from 14 different countries.

Forty-six startups from around the world have been selected from a list of over 1000 applications to form the next cohort at Dubai Future Accelerators (DFA), it was revealed today.

Taking up their places for the nine-week program at the DFA’s headquarters in Emirates Towers, entrepreneurs with cutting-edge technologies will be partnering with various government-run entities, including Dubai Police, Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), Etisalat, Emirates, and more.

“In total, we have 150 entrepreneurs this round, 30 different nationalities from 14 countries. Small startups are working along big multinationals such as IBM, Nokia, and LG. And our oldest participant is 70 years old. This is a truly international and diverse program,” says Vera Futorjanski, communications head at Dubai Future Foundation.

Run by the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF), DFA is a unique program, in that it is not an incubator but rather a platform for entrepreneurs to use the city as a living testbed to further develop their products and services and get them to that next level of solving global problems.

If successful, they might also win the opportunity to sign MoUs with the Dubai government.

“The program offers an ideal platform to forecast and plan for the future as it gathers the world’s brightest minds and most innovative companies to join hands with government and semi-government entities in the UAE,” Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of Dubai Future Accelerators, tells Inc. Arabia.

“We are proud to see local companies among the participants; this underlines the great progress that the local tech scene has achieved, placing it on par with major global competitors.”


This year, a special humanitarian accelerator program has been added to run alongside the main cohort. This inaugural program focuses on empowering refugees through education and employment opportunities.

Ustad Mobile (UAE)

On the humanitarian front, Ustad Mobile is an open source app designed from the ground up to work where others struggle. The app connects learners wirelessly with each other and to educational content, even when they are not connected to the Internet.

Lamsa (UAE)

Another one for the Humanitarian accelerator is Lamsa,  a leading Arabic-language Edutainment app, on a mission to spread the love of learning through engaging, fun and interactive stories, games and videos. They provide a safe and ad-free environment for kids aged 2 to 8 through local and international content that adheres to Arab values and culture.

Tembo Education (USA)

Tembo aims to transform early childhood education for the world by making high-quality education more accessible and affordable for millions of children worldwide. One of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs, Tembo educates 0-6 year old children, via text messages. Tembo sends one activity per day, to parents, via text messages.

READ ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE

Mobile Soft Skills Training Afghanistan

Get it on Google Play

The University Support and Workforce Development Program (USWDP) –  funded by USAID and implemented by FHI 360 – aims to bridge the gap between universities and the needs of the labor market. The in-person soft skills courses created through the program are oversubscribed. To meet student demand, FHI 360 decided to transition to a blended model with students completing mobile course modules on their phones before attending in-person classes.

Ustad Mobile has created an open source app called ‘Mobile Soft Skills Training’ which enables students to experience interactive video-based simulations that work on smartphones and feature phones. The app content is based on the existing in-person soft skills course materials and contains four pre-employability modules (CV writing, cover letter writing, job search skills and job interview skills) and five post-employability modules (communication skills, workplace values and ethics, time management, report writing and entrepreneurship). Each module contains a short introductory video which explains the learning objectives and relevance of the module to the students. Summative and formative assessments are conducted on a rotating basis as the learners progress through the modules choosing how to respond to simulated situations.

Afghanistan is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country and this is reflected in the module content. All modules are available in Dari, Pashto, and English. We anticipate that some students may be preparing for interviews in English and choose to complete the modules in English irrespective of their native language. Actors and actresses of different ethnicities were cast by DNA Media Productions Ltd. to provide positive role models for all Afghan students.

The app enables the use of text, images, audio and video without requiring any connectivity. Usage data – such as time spent on each module and quiz scores – is logged to devices offline and automatically uploaded securely to a cloud server when a connection is available. An in-app peer-to-peer feature enables wireless offline sharing with nearby devices at high speed.

A pilot was conducted to ensure the app is easy to use for students and USWDP staff who assist students in installing the app on their devices. Feedback was solicited from both male and female students to be certain that the app serves both genders equally well. The pilot evaluation found that student outcomes increased from an average of 32/100 prior to using the app to 71/100 after using the app. There are no excess equipment costs as the students complete the modules on the devices that they already own.

While the mobile modules serve as a passport to attending USWDP classes for eligible university students and recent graduates, Mobile Soft Skills Training is freely available to download via the Google Play Store and the Ustad Mobile website.

Going to the Global Youth Economic Opportunities Summit? See Steven Ehrenberg (Associate Director for Learning and Technology, FHI 360) speak about how the University Support and Workforce Development Program is using mobile technology to increase access without compromising learning outcomes on September 27th at 2:20 pm.


This post was co-authored by Steven Ehrenberg Mike Dawson and Benita Rowe. Many thanks to Abdul Basir Quraishi, Gul Mohammad Hamad, Afifa Qurieshi Shams, and Abdul Malik Wafa from USWDP and the USWDP Translation Department, to Mohammad Atif for his translation and voice-over services, to Shoaib Shirzai for his translation services, to Varuna Singh for his work on the reporting system, to Lukundo Kileha for his work on the offline peer-to-peer functionality, to Mohammad Zeytter and the cast and crew from DNA Media Productions Ltd. for filming the video simulation, and the USWDP staff and students for their feedback on the UX. 

Skills for Success Afghanistan

455px-Kabul_Medical_University_in_2006
Kabul Medical University by By Ben Barber (USAID) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Today there are still more than 4 million Afghan refugees outside of Afghanistan and over 1.5 million internally displaced persons within Afghanistan. Afghanistan has seen over 15 years of solid progress; GDP production is more than 4.5 times larger than it was in 2001 and school enrollment has increased from less than 1 million to over 9 million children. Yet 40% of those who want a job remain unemployed.

The University Support and Workforce Development Program (USWDP) –  funded by USAID and implemented by FHI 360 – aims to bridge the gap between universities and the needs of the labor market. The in-person soft skills courses created through the program are oversubscribed. To meet student demand, FHI 360 decided to transition to a blended model with students completing mobile course modules on their phones before attending in-person classes.

Ustad Mobile is thrilled that USWDP chose us to create an open source application which will enable students to experience interactive video-based simulations that work on smartphones and feature phones. When Ustad Mobile conducted focus groups with university students in Kabul (December 2016) between 30% and 50% did not own smartphones. It is therefore essential to support feature phones to avoid further disadvantaging lower income students. As less than 20% of the students had their own mobile data packs, the app must also function offline.

The app content is based on the existing in-person soft skills course materials. Each module will contain a short introductory video which explains the learning objectives and relevance of the module to the students. Summative and formative assessments will be conducted on a rotating basis as the learners progress through the modules choosing how to respond to simulated situations. These elements of the module design – feedback, challenge and practice at the right level and formative assessment – have been found to be particularly impactful on learning (Hattie, 2009).*

Using video in the mobile application will enhance the learning experience but technical considerations are important to avoid relying on expensive and unreliable internet services. Our architecture enables the use of text, images, audio and video without requiring any connectivity. Usage data – such as time spent on each module and quiz scores – is logged to the devices offline and automatically uploaded securely to a cloud server when a connection is available. A built-in peer-to-peer feature enables wireless offline sharing with nearby devices at high speed.

  • Content listing - Android

Afghanistan is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country. It is therefore critical that the module content reflects this. For this reason, the modules will be available in Dari, Pashto, and English. We anticipate that some students may be preparing for interviews in English and choose to complete the modules in English irrespective of their native language.

Early user trials will be conducted to ensure the application is easy to use for students and USWDP staff who will be helping students to install the application on their devices. We are soliciting feedback from both male and female students to be certain that the app serves both genders equally well. Our media partner DNA Media Productions Ltd. have cast both men and women of different ethnicities to provide positive role models for all Afghan students.

While the mobile modules will serve as a passport to attending USWDP classes for eligible university students and recent graduates, the app and modules will be freely available to download via the Google Play Store and a website. Once the app is downloaded on one phone it can be shared with and downloaded by others without Internet. We believe that the model is applicable to a wide variety of settings to increase access and decrease the costs of serving more students without compromising learning outcomes.

* While Hattie collected data which included, but was not limited to influences on achievement in tertiary education, his synthesis of 1200 meta-analyses is the largest collection to date of evidence-based research focusing on factors that influence learning (Hattie, 2015).

This post was co-authored by Mike Dawson and Benita Rowe.


Hattie, J. (2009). Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement (1st ed.). Oxon: Routledge.

Hattie, J. (2011). Feedback in schools. In Sutton, R., Hornsey, M.J., & Douglas, K.M. (Eds., 2011), Feedback: The communication of praise, criticism, and advice. Peter Lang Publishing: New York. Retrieved from: http://visiblelearningplus.com/sites/default/files/Feedback%20article.pdf

Hattie, J. (2015). The applicability of Visible Learning to higher education. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, Vol 1(1), Mar 2015, 79-91. Retrieved from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/stl0000021

Assessing an open source project

It’s hip and trendy to declare a project “open source” – it means something about sharing, freely available, can be used by anyone, right? Well most of the time that’s the case – but I’ve seen a definite uptick in false declarations. I’m asked questions about selecting open source software quite a bit – so here’s a guide suitable even for the non-technical folks.

1. Find the code

This isn’t as scary as it sounds.  Open source projects have to post the software source code online; otherwise the label “open source” is being used fraudulently.  Look around the site for words like “Community“, or “Open Source“.  There should be a link for the source code itself – this could be called “Github” (a community site commonly used for this purpose), Git or SVN (systems commonly used to manage code) or just “Source Code“.  You should find something like this:

um-opensourceWhat the open source link looks like on UstadMobile odoo-open-sourceThe open source link on odoo.com

You should then find something that looks like a bunch of files (the source code) – like this:

um-src-dir

If you can’t find that – then someone either has a very badly designed site; or more likely is lying to try and get people to adopt their software.  Also check when it was last modified – that is better when it’s recent and frequently updated; but some software which just meets all it’s requirements can hang around for a while without modifications.  In this case are normally signs that it’s used by a lot of people – e.g. high download counters, active forums, something like that.

2. Try using it

It should be possible to try the software out. You should not have to compile source code to use open source software; it should be easy to use and install through an online demo or by installing on your computer/phone etc.  If they say something like ’email us’ etc. then it’s obviously not so free and open to be used.  Look for a Demo or Download link.  No link that you can use – perhaps the software is technically open source but it’s authors obviously don’t really want people to freely use it.

3. Check who else is using it

Perhaps the website explicitly tells you about who is using it, or perhaps there are active forums.  Some new projects might not have that many users.  If you’re not sure then post your own question about the state of the community on an email list or forum and see if you get a reply.  Some new projects might not have that many users and they might be looking for people to join in; there’s always a risk there though it can be a much lower risk than making something of your own from scratch.

odoo-forum

Now you have a report card

Now you should be able to see if the project is really open source; and if you can actually use it.  A project that fails the first two tests should be avoided just like a second hand car you’re told works great and has a perfect history and you then find out it’s been almost written off in accidents twice.  It’s definitely better to see a wide community of users.  If you’re depending on a piece of software you might want to get someone qualified to check into the quality of the project by looking for the testing procedures used etc.