Why Spanish Town High School should have Tablet in School Project with Homework Rooms

Looks like Minister of Finance, Audley Shaw should also be called Santa Clause for the Tablet in School Program.

During the Standing Finance Committee of Parliament on Tuesday May 3^rd 2016 he made mention of more tablets coming for more schools under the Government's Tablets in Schools Programme as reported in the article “More Tablets Coming For Schools”, published Friday May 6, 2016, The Jamaica Gleaner.

He was speaking on behalf of the Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Dr. Andrew Wheatley. It was during this same meeting that he let drop the news that a new Telecom Provider was coming to Jamaica as detailed in my blog article entitled “Why New Telecom Provider coming to Jamaica may be using White Space Spectrum”. 

Well it looks like he also let drop details of a plan to give some eighty (80) tablets to some one hundred and fifty (150) schools as noted in the article “150 More Primary And Early Childhood Schools To Get Tablets”, published Thursday May 5, 2016, The Jamaica Gleaner. 

 Each school is actually getting two (2) sets of forty (40) tablets starting in September 2016. Take a listen to this audio clip of Minister of Finance, Audley Shaw speaking at the Standing Finance Committee of Parliament on Tuesday May 3^rd 2016.

It’s set to come to an end in June 2016, exactly as former minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell had promised.

So how many Tablets are being given away this time around?

Audit of the TIS Pilot Project - Successful Deployment since December 2014

The Tablet in School Programme Pilot, which started in September 2015, has been going well thus far, with teachers colleges getting Tablets in a push towards a more interactive education system as noted in my blog article entitled “How Teachers' Colleges getting TIS Project Tablets heralds Projectors and Interactive Whiteboards for Engaging Teaching”. 

The distribution of the Tablets has been slow yet steady since the start of the 2014-2015 School Term as seen from the stats below:

1.      17,000 TIS Tablets distributed up until December 2014

2.      18,000 TIS Tablets distributed by the end of December 2014

3.      7000 Tablets distributed in early weeks of the Easter term in 2015

Four (4) contractors are responsible for the deployment of the Tablets:

1.      Innovative Corporate Solutions

2.      Digicel Jamaica

3.      Productive Business Solutions

4.      GeoTech Vision Enterprises Limited

The 25,000 Tablets as distributed in March 2015 by the four (4) contractors, reads as thus:

1.         10,500 Tablets from Innovative Corporate Solutions

2.         5,500 Tablets from Digicel Jamaica

3.         5,500 Tablets from Productive Business Solutions

4.         5,500 Tablets from GeoTech Vision Enterprises Limited

So what has happened since March 2015?

Audit of the TIS Pilot Project - Why High School will get no Tablet as Primary School are priority

Up until September 2015 according to the Audit of the TIS Project two thousand (2000) more tablet were distributed under the TIS Project bringing the total up to 27,000.

 

Back in December 2015, some seven hundred (700) tablets were distributed to Primary schools in East Kingston and Port Royal as noted in my blog article entitled “700 Tablets for East Kingston and Port Royal Primary Schools - Why Raspberry Pi Zero Great for Jamaican Secondary Schools”.

The following primary schools in East Kingston and Port Royal are earmarked for the seven hundred (700) more tablets as follows:

1.      225 for Windward Road Primary

2.      180 for Rollington Town Primary

3.      80 for Elletson Primary and Infant

4.      80 for Norman Gardens Primary

5.      80 for Junior High and Holy Rosary Primary

6.      27 for Port Royal Primary

That's because the High School student keep using the tablets to go to pornography websites and Facebook based on the preliminary review. So the focus has shifted away from High Schools to primary schools.

So what should be do about the High Schools?

Spanish Town High School needs Tablet in School Project - Tablet at School in a Homework and Testing Room

So now more tablet to more primary schools. But the High School, especially schools like Spanish Town High, still deserve to have Tablets, despite the pornography and hacking issue.

 

One option is to issue US$5 Raspberry Pi Zero computers to students, especially those High School student doing CXC and CAPE Computer Science programs. Hopefully, they'll teach the High Schoolers, particularly the girls, programming using the Raspberry Pi as noted in my MICO Wars Blog article entitled “Why the US$5 Raspberry Pi Zero is perfect Programmer’s Gift for New Year’s 2016”. 

Hopefully this time around they'll take their cues from Samsung Smart School E-Learning Platform and have a special room created to use the Tablets as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “Samsung’s Smart School are Tablets for VARK Hexagons of Learning”.

Testing can also be done using the Tablets, with tests being written using Google Forms as described in my blog article entitled “How Google Forms creates Online Questionnaires and Surveys - Questionnaires and Surveys for your Blog”. 

Student should not be allowed to take the tablet home, as they can stay at school and do their homework in that special room. Then the Tablet can be returned to the cubby to be recharged for the next morning's class. TIS Project is a good idea; it just needs to be made more useful for Testing and Learning by having a designated Homework and Testing Room.

Spanish Town High School with specially designed Tablet in School Homework Rooms equipped with high speed Wi-Fi for CAP (Community Access Points) for the student and the wider community is the way forward.

  

How 9-y-o and Millennials in Jamaica are becoming CEO Entrepreneurs to avoid the Cubicle Rat Race

“I graduate about 200 young persons per year in the course that I teach at the University of the West Indies, and most of them are looking to start their own business because they have recognized that there are not a lot of jobs waiting for them”

CEO of JBDC (Jamaica Business Development Corporation) Valerie Veira, speaking on Wednesday May 4^th 2016 during The Gleaner's Growth Forum

It looks like CEOs in Jamaica are getting younger and younger. Take a look at this picture of CEO of Izzy's Treats, Izzy Chin on Smile Jamaica's Twitter feed who's only 9 y-o.

Now: Amazing Woman and Child, Life Coach, Joan Wright-Good and CEO, Izzy's Treats, Izzy Chin pic.twitter.com/R7u0iZdLGe

— Smile Jamaica (@Smilejamtvj) May 3, 2016

So it's not surprising to hear the CEO of the JBDC (Jamaica Business Developement Corporation) Valerie Veira state that more young people are starting their own business as reported in the article “Rise In Young CEOs – SMEs Increase As Youth Shun Regular 9-5 Jobs”, published Thursday May 5, 2016 by Anastasia Cunningham, The Jamaica Gleaner. 

The CEO of JBDC (Jamaica Business Development Corporation) Valerie Veira was speaking on Wednesday May 4th 2016 during The Gleaner's Growth Forum held at the media house's Kingston office. Good to point out that the JBDC is celebrating their 15^th anniversary. A part of that celebration includes a 9^th annual Small Business Expo to be hosted on Thursday, May 12^th 2016, at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in St Andrew where youth entrepreneurship will on display.

So why is this happening

CEO at 9-y-o is the new trend in Jamaica – NCB Tailoring lands towards Entrepreneurial Millennials

CEO of Izzy's Treats, Izzy Chin is a developing trend in Jamaica, as I suspect more tiny tots in Jamaica already have companies registered by their name with parents acting as proxy Board Members on their behalf. It’s a good move, as they’ll be millionaires by age 16, able to do whatever they choose with the rest of their lives.  

After all, job opportunities are hard to come by in Jamaica with only work in the service sector, mainly tourism and BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) as argued in my blog article entitled “How to find work in Jamaica at Call Centers - LMIS Website, Education, Entrepreneurial grants, Jobs in Call Centers and Tourism”. 

Even NCB (National Commercial Bank) is seeing this shift towards entrepreneurship, with Senior General Manager of NCB, Audrey Tugwell Henry, using her daughter views on work as an example of the shift in thinking among Millennials, quote: “In fact, my daughter, a young adult, said to me, 'I would not be caught dead in a cubicle'. From what I am seeing, young persons are not looking for a 9-5. Yes, companies are still getting job applications, but when you look at the unemployment rate for young persons, you can understand why they are going the self-employed route”.

Marketing Director of a custom-order button-making company, Button It Jamaica, Demola Cunningham pretty much confirms this thinking, as Millennials like her to face problems with companies not liking their Mark Zuckerberg-eqsue thinking, quote: “We also believe in a vision that only our demographic understands and supports as we really find that most companies don't welcome young, fresh, and innovative ideas. Well, only until a competitor uses that idea and reaps rewards from it. Then they'll smack their head and say, 'We should have done that and given it a chance. Why didn't we?”

To this end, the NCB is making loan program for such entrepreneurs.

So aside from the lack of job opportunities, what other reasons are there for young people to start businesses?

Ministry of Labour and Social Security and Entrepreneurs - Call Centers a fertile ground for Start-Up

Currently the Ministry of Labour and Social Security is offering education and entrepreneurial grants to Millennials (ages 18 to 28) to access funding to pursue higher education or establish small businesses. The groups being targeted are mainly:

1.      High school students in Grade 11 (Form 5) and Grade 12 (Form 6)

2.      Tertiary students (UWI, UTECH peeps!)

To qualify for the educational grants, you have to be a true volunteer:

1.      30 hours of volunteer service at a golden age home

2.      30 hours of volunteer service at a children’s home

3.      30 hours of volunteer service at an infirmary

The Entrepreneurial grants are, surprisingly being tackled by these young people and are being offered by the JBDC. In fact, some of the 10,000 company registered at the Companies Offices of Jamaica may mainly have been started by Millennials as explained in my blog article entitled “Why 10000 firms registered in 2015 at Companies Office of Jamaica heralds Recession in 2016”. 

Part of the qualification process involves potential entrepreneurs being required to do rigorous training and then create a business plan. Lack of a credible business plan is the main reason why some 20% of applicants fail to get loans as pointed out in my blog article entitled “20% of Jamaican MSME's Fail to get Bank Loans - Why MSME's need Business Plans, Marketing Plans and Market Research”.

However, many of these Millennials show an incredible appetite for risk, especially as opportunities are lacking an unemployment is so high, many are opting to migrate to the US of A Canada and UK as noted in my blog article entitled “How Respect Jamaica and UNICEF Survey suggest Mass Exodus of High School Leavers in 2016”.

After all, if you’re unemployed, what other options do you have and what is there to lose in starting a business? For that reason, many are opting to sit down and carefully plan their business ideas before approaching the JBDC for a loan.

Most of their ideas show surprising sophistication and proper planning for Millennials, which is quite a surprise Deputy Chief executive officer of JBDC, Harold Davis, quote: “They are not coming in to do a thing or asking how much they can get. You can see that they have thought it through. The business plan is clear in their minds, and perhaps six out of 10 of those business ideas are technology driven. Many of them are in what we categorise as high growth potential business”.

Even more surprising is the fact that many of these entrepreneurs are Millennials who work or used to work in the Call Center industry. I know this from personal experience, as when I had worked at Xerox in 2012 and later at ACCENT Marketing in 2013 and encountered young people who were already running their own businesses while moonlighting as Call Center Agents.

Many of them realize that this industry only offer short term employment as JAMPRO President Diane Edwards points out in the article “Inside Call Centres: “No More Jobs For Life' - JAMPRO President Comfortable With Attrition Rates Among Call Centre Employees”, published Monday April 18, 2016 by Andre Poyser and Jovan Johnson, The Jamaica Gleaner.

So starting your own business, especially after such a demeaning work experience such as a Call Center, makes a lot of sense to high school leavers. Having worked in the Call Center scene, they mainly take advantage of Social Media to build their local and international customer base for their products and services to quote manager of Things Jamaican, Janine Taylor, quote: “They are not just thinking Jamaica, they are thinking globally and using social media as a key tool. In fact, just the profile of this demographic makes the potential to succeed much higher”.

So how badly has the entrepreneurship bug bitten Millennials?

Business based on the App Economy - Young CEO with sophisticated, well thought out plans

Things Jamaican, Janine Taylor offers that 30% of entrepreneurs are serious about what they want to do.

They often come with sophisticated ideas, mostly relate to apps or smartphones, quote: “With three out of 10 persons who want to start their own business, I find that they are very serious and very aware of exactly what it is they want to do, the type of business they want to go into. They know that they have a skill that can be converted into money, and they are actually more robust in terms of their approach to business than some of the older persons. In fact, the demographics are showing that they are more likely to succeed or accelerate than the older persons”.

Most of these app tend to be games based on a freemium model, In-app purchase or in-app advertising as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “In-App Purchasing falters as Freemium In-App Advertising Rises”.

Jamaican developers are still not tapping into opportunities to make business apps for Corporate and Enterprise clients. According to a Vision Mobile’s 10,000 Developer Global Study, there is an untapped opportunity for App Developers as explained in my blog article entitled “Vision Mobile’s 10,000 Developer Global Study – Why Developers prefer developing for Android and Apple iOS yet Enterprise makes Steady Money”. 

The result?

CEO's as young as 25 years or younger as in the case of the CEO of Izzy's Treats, Izzy Chin who are blazing a trail by identifying business opportunities that others never knew existed, quote: “So you find now, 25-year-old CEOs earning the same income as businesses that have been around for 20 years because they are tapping into new opportunities and new industries. This demographic is what we call voluntary entrepreneur. For them, it is not about survival or being forced into business. They have deliberately identified a business opportunity that they can earn money from, and, in fact, young entrepreneurship is now a global trend”.

So the next time you hear of another start-up in Jamaica, know that the CEO of that company may be a disgruntled Millennial who's just trying to avoid the cubicle Rat Race.

How Quisk and AIS Mobile Money 2.0 heralds Cashless Society in Jamaica in July 2016

Mobile Money is finally coming to a cellphone near you.

That's the message from Chairman and CEO of AIS (Advanced Integrated Systems) Doug Halsall who announced plans to launch their Mobile Money platform in the next three (3) months as reported in the article “Advanced Integrated Systems Mobile Money Platform Ready”, published Friday April 29, 2016 by Tameka Gordon, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Their service, called Mobile Money 2.0, is powered by Silicon Valley startup Quisk. The company demonstrated their tech at the NCB Digital Tech Symposium at the Terra Nova Hotel on Wednesday April 20^th 2016 as reported in my Geezam blog article entitled “How Quisk Mobile Wallet impressed at inaugural NCB Digital Tech Symposium”. 

AIS and Quisk already have a head start on Digicel and Paymaster, who are supposed to launch a Mobile money platform later in 2016 as noted in my blog article entitled “Why Digicel's purchase of Paymaster means Mobile Money is launching in 2016”. 

So how does Mobile Money 2.0 work?

Quisk and AIS Mobile Money 2.0 - Your mobile phone number is a Debit Card

Quisk and AIS Mobile Money 2.0 partnership will allow you to use your phone number as their transaction number.

Albeit awaiting BOJ (Bank of Jamaica) approval, they've already forged partnerships with the following banks and financial instructions:

1.      NCB (National Commercial Bank)

2.      Lasco Financial Limited

3.      VMBS (Victoria Mutual Building Society)

This service works on any feature phone without the need to install an App, making it more universal than CONEC Mobile, the only other approved Mobile Money service in Jamaica as described in my blog article entitled “JCUES now CONEC Mobile Wallet - Why CONEC Mobile Wallet still inconvenient despite Paymaster and Remittances in the JCCUL-Mozido Jamaica mix”.  

Setting up a bank account with NCB is as simple a sending a text message that initiates NCB's Online Account Opening as described in my blog article entitled “Why NCB's Online Account Opening as CIBC First Caribbean, First Global, Sagicor and Scotiabank Mobile Money Looms”. 
  

This allows anyone to create an NCB account, with the option to send in the required documents via fax to complete setting up the bank account. Once their bank account is set up and paired to their mobile number, the customer will potentially be able to do the following transactions:

1.      Mobile Top up

2.      Bill Payment

3.      In-Store Retail

4.      International Remittance

5.      e-commerce

6.      P2P and Mass B2P transfers

7.      Micro Finance

8.      Mobile Ticketing

9.      Cash in and Out

So what can Mobile Money 2.0 do that CONEC Mobile can't?

AIS and Quisk Mobile Money 2.0 - No App no phone as Mobile Money 2.0 ushers in Cashless Society

For one, there is no need to have a smartphone or even the phone for that matter; all transactions are tied to the mobile number as the Video from Quisk YouTube Channel explains.

Once they have approval from the BOJ, they'll be able to offer customers the ability to receive their remittance money from abroad without having to join long lines. Potential clients may even be able to withdraw cash from any ATM using their cellphone in lieu of an ATM Debit Card. Mobile Money 2.0 can also be used for the following applications:

1.      Virtual ticketing meters

2.      Mobile betting

3.      E-commerce

Put simply, you could potentially pay for your JUTC Bus ticket or top up your JUTC Prepaid SmarterCard as detailed in my blog article entitled “How JUTC will earn JA$30 million per day from JUTC Prepaid SmarterCard Launch”.

In fact, it might even replace the need to have the JUTC Prepaid SmarterCard; you could just pay for your bus fare on JUTC or any bus using Mobile Money 2.0., which could then be used to pay the toll fee on Highway 2000. 

AIS and Quisk vs the competition – Digicel, Supreme Ventures and GraceKennedy have Mobile Money ambitions

This is very interesting as Digicel and Paymaster may be launching their Mobile Money service around the same time that the JUTC plans to roll out free Wi-Fi on their buses in September 2016 as reported in my blog article entitled “Why JUTC Wi-Fi by September 2016 means Digicel Mobile Money launch imminent”. 

Mobile betting is also another potential business, which Supreme Ventures is already gearing up to do with their IFLEX Betting Platform Upgrade in October 2015 as noted in my blog article entitled “Supreme Ventures Limited IFLEX Betting Platform Upgrade - How Mobile Gambling via Smartphone is finally coming to Jamaica”.

Tapping into the US$2 billion in remittances that may be showing signs of slowing dowe due to the Oil Crisis in the Gulf States as predicted in my blog article entitled “World Bank's Global Remittance Slowdown - Why Jamaica's Remittance will slow in 2016 as Saudi Arabia Runs out of US Dollars” is key to the growth of Mobile Money 2.0 in Jamaica.

GraceKennedy has plans to also enter the Mobile Money space by December 2016 as reported in the article “GraceKennedy promises to roll out mobile wallet in 2016”, published Wednesday, May 04, 2016, The Jamaica Observer.

However, it's the use of Mobile Money 2.0 for e-commerce is what has me excited personally, as it would make it possible for Jamaicans with bank accounts to set up e-commerce websites and have customers purchase items without the need for a Scotia or CIBC. The use of Mobile Money 2.0 in the daily lives of Jamaicans may allow NCB and other banks to increase the number of Jamaicans who have a bank account.

AIS and Quisk Mobile Money 2.0 may jumpstart the push towards a Cashless Society in Jamaica.

Here’s the link:

AIS (Advanced Integrated Systems)

Quisk

How to Increase Digicel Greenpacket DX-250 Modem Wi-Fi Signal and Range

Digicel Greenpacket DX-250 Modem, you may be wondering why you're not getting signal all the way downstairs or in the living room. If so, draw for a tall glass of Lemonade, Beyonce Style, as today is your lucky day.

Again, you can read my blog article on setting up the Digicel Greenpacket DX-250 Modem as explained in my Geezam blog article entitled “How to setup and troubleshoot your Digicel 4G Broadband Modem”. 

Or you can watch Digicel's own Video for the Digicel Greenpacket DX-250 Modem on their Digicel Jamaica YouTube Page:

Then you have to add your computer to the Digicel Greenpacket DX-250 Modem Wi-Fi Network.

If you've now configured you're Digicel Greenpacket DX-250 Modem which comes with Wi-Fi as explained in my blog article entitled “How to configure the Wi-Fi on your Digicel 4G Broadband Modem” then we might have some other problems.

Troubleshooting Digicel Greenpacket DX-250 Modem - It's all about Location, Location and Powerline Adaptors

Of course, you may have structural interferences.

On possible block to your Wi-Fi may be Christmas lights, you know the ones you forgot to take down since Christmas 2015 as noted in my blog article entitled “OfCom say Christmas Lights interfere with Wi-Fi – Why Fiber Optic Lights Christmas reduce EMI and Electricity Bill”.

You can also try doing the following to improve signal from your Wi-Fi router:

1.      Placing the Digicel Greenpacket DX-250 Modem on the highest possible elevation

2.      Placing the Digicel Greenpacket DX-250 Modem in the middle of the room

3.      Shifting the location of you receiving devices

4.      Rotating the Digicel Greenpacket DX-250 Modem to improve signal bounce from the walls

5.      Turn off gadgets that interfere with Wi-Fi routers e.g. baby monitors, old cordless phones, anything running Bluetooth, microwave

6.      Purchase a Wireless Range Extender

7.      Use a Powerline Adaptor to extend Wi-Fi into other rooms

That last one, that is the use of Powerline Adaptor, is great for securing your Digicel Greenpacket DX-250 Modem from outsiders stealing your Wi-Fi signal as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “How to expand and secure your Wi-Fi Network with Power-Line Adaptors”.

An excellent Powerline Adaptor that I’d recommend is the US$90 Extollo LANSocket 1500 Powerline Adapter as described in my MICO Wars blog article entitled “US$90 Extollo LANSocket 1500 Powerline Adapter securely extends your Wi-Fi Network”. 

If you so with these options, your Digicel Greenpacket DX-250 Wi-Fi Modem signal should extend all over the room.

Troubleshooting Digicel Greenpacket DX-250 Modem - Internet is an issue if the Signal Turn Up

If you're getting Wi-Fi Signal but no internet, then your problem could be with Digicel. You might need to reset the Digicel Greenpacket DX-250 Modem as follows:

1.      Reset the Digicel Greenpacket DX-250 Modem by holding down the Reset button provided or just unplugging the modem for 10 seconds

2.      Turn if back on again

3.      Wait for all the lights to go green

4.      Test to see if you can browse the Internet

If the modem’s not connecting:

1.      Type ipconfig /release to release the older connections to the modem

2.      Type ipconfig /renew to renew the connections to the modem

3.      Reset the Digicel Greenpacket DX-250 Modem by holding down the Reset button provided or just unplugging the modem for 10 seconds

4.      Restart the Computer or Laptop as well

If you did a diagnostic and got a DNS (Domain Name Server) not found error, most likely you need to flush the DNS Cache:

1.         Check to see if you have full signal

2.         If your PC or Laptop’s not picking up the Wi-Fi produced by the modem, connect physically using the Ethernet Cable

3.         Type ipconfig /flushdns to flush the DNS Cache and thus allow the Remote Server to reconnect you to the DNS

4.         Reset the Digicel Greenpacket DX-250 Modem by holding down the Reset button provided or just unplugging the modem for 10 seconds

5.         Restart the Computer or Laptop as well

Finally, in case you delete the MAC (Media Access Controller) by accident, you can get it as follows:

1.      Go to Start button

2.      Type cmd to bring up the Command Prompt

3.      Type ipconfig /all

4.      Look for the first line that says Physical Address

If this helped, then congratulations, you back in the world of the living. Sharing is caring so share this with the rest of your friends.