USF Fund to purchase Tablets for STEM Teachers to engage Auditory, Visual and Kinesthetic Learners

“The truth is there needs to be a shift in the way our young people perceive the STEM fields. We must begin to see it as a viable career path or a way of providing solutions to our many socio-economic problems,”

Former Science and Technology Minister, Dr. the Hon. Andrew Wheatley during the opening ceremony of the EXSEED workshop at the Excelsior Community College

Science Teacher may soon be getting their own Tablet to aid with Teaching STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

In total they plan to spend some $5,234,800 (US$40,000) of USF (Universal Service Fund) to provide them to teachers as reported in the article “Gov’t to Spend Over $5.2 Million to Equip Teachers with Tablets”, published July 18, 2018 By Chad Bryan, The Jamaica Information Service.

So said former Science and Technology Minister, Dr. the Hon. Andrew Wheatley while addressing the opening ceremony of the EXSEED (Excellence in STEM Experimental Education) workshop at the Excelsior Community College in Kingston on Tuesday July 17 2018. It is being hosted by the JTA (Jamaica Teachers’ Association) in collaboration with the Loma Linda University based in California in the United States.

The five-day EXSEED workshop is being held under the theme ‘Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics: A New Pedagogical Approach’. During the workshop, over 100 tablets were provided to the participants.

The EXSEED workshop had hoped to achieve the following for teachers:

1.      Give them more tech gadgets to teach in the classroom

2.      Assist teachers with new skills to foster a love for STEM subjects among their students

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information has established a STEM steering committee to provide oversight of the work of the STEM team. There is also a STEM technical committee that is driving the research and training component of the programme.

So how will Tablets assist teacher in teaching STEM to students??

Teacher and Tablets in the Classroom - Learning Environment for Auditory, Visual and Kinesthetic Learners

Clearly, a lot of work needs to be done to help teacher use tablets and properly integrate them into the teaching curriculum.

Getting Grade 1 to 9 to love STEM is a high priority for the Government. It will help them to develope their ability to perform project-based tasks in groups and solve problem that require critical thinking skills.

To this end, the STEM workshops aim to engage other types of learners aside from tactile or Read/Write learners as pointed out by newly appointed Chairman of the J-TEC (Jamaica Tertiary Education Commission), Dr. Dameon Black.

This as most classrooms environments are designed mainly for such traditional learners, with auditory, visual and kinesthetic or hands-on learners being left behind. By making the classroom environment more interactive, possibly with the use of tablets in conjunction with smartboards and kinesthetic toys, teacher should be able to introduce more innovate and interactive lessons in their learning environment.

This should get children focused on learning as posited by JTA President-elect, Dr. Garth Anderson, quote: “Your interactions over the few days will influence the way you think about teaching and, ultimately, how you teach, as we seek to be on the cutting edge of technology in education for the future”.

Such a learning environment would also help teachers of TVET (technical and vocational education and training), which is coming on stream in September 2018 as noted in my blog article entitled “Why TVET for Jamaican High Schools by September 2018 as Skilled Workers demand Rising”. 

How Teacher can use Tablets - Practice with a mini-whiteboard while the Government sorts out the Bugs

On a more whimsical note, Teachers will have to practice the use of Tablets and how to integrate them into their lesson plans. But how does one practice using a Tablet?

I think I may have just the ideal way; with a mini whiteboard. I myself had a mini Whiteboard to be used in my classes come September 2018 when I start teaching Grade 12 and 13 at Calabar High School!!

My idea is just to use it to write on information using a whiteboard marker and then pass it around or hold it up to the class to show them quick snippets of information e.g. a diagram, a formula, a definition or a solved calculation.

It doesn't need a battery and albeit it may not be able to do animation or store data, you can still use a paper clip to pin your notes and lesson plan to the top, making it hold more data.

Still, I suspect it will be a lot easier for many teachers to afford and use than the electronic Tablets. Also, there is still the problem of how Teachers can load content on the Tablets and whether or not the Government will be providing Wi-Fi Internet in the Classrooms to enable them to use the Tablets effectively.

White listing will have to be used to lock out student who are not supposed to use the Wi-Fi on their phones.

I'll definately be using my mini whiteboard as practice on how to integrate tablets into my lessons so that when the real tablets arrive and the government sorts out all the bugs, I'll be able to use them effectively for the different Learners We Teach.

JAJ’s Entrepreneurial Studies in Jamaican Schools in September 2018 enables the Total Man

“[We have] realigned our curriculum in what we now call the new standards curriculum to focus less on the passing of exams and more on the person we create at the end of the educational journey”

State Minister for Education Floyd Green during opening of a two-day Youth for Sustainable Development Conference at the University of Technology in St Andrew on Thursday, July 26, 2018

Come September 2018, all Grade 9 students will have to actually become entrepreneurs and start their own businesses.

This as the Ministry of Education has decided to make entrepreneurship classes mandatory in all high schools as reported in the article “Entrepreneurship Classes in All High Schools September”, published July 27, 2018 by Alecia Smith, The Jamaica Information Service.

To this end, the Ministry has partnered with the JAJ (Junior Achievement Jamaica) to incorporate the Junior Achievement Company of Entrepreneurs programme into the ninth-grade curriculum. The JAJ is part of the global non-profit organization, Junior Achievement Worldwide, which provides training for young people in the following areas:

1.      Entrepreneurship

2.      Financial literacy

3.      Work-readiness

Already in 40 schools, including Jose Marti Technical High School, 80 more high schools are being targeted in September 2018. The aim is to:

1.      Provide hands-on experience in running a business

2.      Learn the fundamental skills necessary to make successful enterprises

It is expected that the learning and practical experience gained from running the companies will provide students with a viable option to pursue entrepreneurship as their main income stream or may supplement it while being employed in their particular areas of training.

Now: Changing the Way We Learn by Implementing Entrepreneurship Classes in Schools with State Minister, @MOEYIJamaica, @floydgreenja pic.twitter.com/rLZ63SrAuy

— Smile Jamaica (@Smilejamtvj) August 3, 2018

This fits in nicely with the move to introduce TVET at all school by January 2019 as noted in my blog article entitled “Why TVET for Jamaican High Schools by September 2018 as Skilled Workers demand Rising” as entrepreneurship can be combined with TVET skills to help student to start a business upon leaving 5th form.

So why is this now being done so suddenly?

Jamaican Schools and Entrepreneurship - Working and Studying To Be The Total Man

One school I had worked at, Jose Marti High School, is way ahead of the curve, as this Technical High School was already teaching Entrepreneurship as a Vocational course. So come September 2018, entrepreneurial studies will be starting at Grade 9, meaning Grade 8 going into Grade 9 will have this option, with businesses being designed and undertaken in groups.

So clearly this decision by the State Minister for Education Floyd Green during opening of a two-day Youth for Sustainable Development Conference at the University of Technology in St Andrew on Thursday, July 26, 2018 is clearly aimed at making all high school students islandwide to live up to the motto: “Trabajando y estudiando para ser el hombre total” which translates “Working and Studying To Be The Total Man”.

This apparently is a restructuring of the educational system to make it less of a conveyor belt approach that merely rewards the academically brilliant with tertiary education, leaving those who did not make the grade to leave the system and suffer due to not having any certification. 

In the TVET and Entrepreneurial based approach to education, students are given further Technical and Vocational Instruction as well as Entrepreneurial skills in order to make them more able to make their own business with their skills once they reached Grade 10.

This as the previous system was more geared towards student who were more tactile (read/write) learners and not towards kinesthetic, visual and auditory learners. Thus it ensures that they time they reach Grade 10, they would have had enough training to not only work with their hands and minds but also start a business and make money on their own.

This is in case they did not qualify for 6th form or just simply could not afford to go or did not academically quality to go to a Tertiary educational institution. The results will be less criminals and more critical thinkers and individuals who are capable of charting their own destiny.

Entrepreneurship for Grade 9 - Best to introduce it at Grade 7

Entrepreneurial skills would make students possess the tools to become self-sufficient and potentially independent of being employed by others.

Hopefully, they will also be taught how to write a business plan, as a 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”. 

It would also help many to use their IP (Intellectual Property) to make innovative product that can even be used to fund their tertiary education as noted in my blog article entitled “How 9-y-o and Millennials in Jamaica are becoming CEO Entrepreneurs to avoid the Cubicle Rat Race”. 

I would recommend it be introduced to them at Grade 7 as pointed out by State Minister for Education Floyd Green, quote: “So, all our grade-nine students will come together in groups, and they will have to work with a business plan, they will have to put together a business and the business must have the principles of sustainability”.

Once you get them hooked at that early age, they will love it more than when they are in Grade 9 and being pressured by doing multiple subjects, they will choose this option that has the potential to free them and even fund their journey into tertiary education.

So come September 2018, all Jamaicans High School student will be Working and Studying To Be The Total Man via their inclusion of Entrepreneurial skills.

Why TVET for Jamaican High Schools by September 2018 as Skilled Workers demand Rising

“Part of what we will be embarking on come this September is a really robust career training programme in our secondary schools, as a number of our students are still unaware of some of the new areas that they can go into. A lot of them still have misconceptions about the areas that can bring them significant wealth”.

State Minister for Education, Youth and Information, Floyd Green speaking about TVET (technical and vocational education and training) in secondary schools

Looks like more Secondary schools, including the more traditional Schools, will be going Technical.

For the Academic Year coming in September 2018, will be adopting TVET (technical and vocational education and training) as reported in the “Education Ministry to Increase Promotion of TVET in Secondary Schools”, published July 19, 2018 By Rochelle Williams, The Jamaica Information Service.

The State Minister, who was delivering the keynote address at the opening ceremony for World Youth Skills Day 2018 on Tuesday July 17th 2018 at the Garmex HEART Academy in Kingston. called for a “mindset change” among Jamaicans.

The event featured plenary sessions on careers in the following areas:

1.      Allied health services

2.      Automotive industry

3.      Booth displays in information and communications technology (ICT)

4.      Digital animation

5.      Engineering

6.      Marketing self for future jobs

7.      Social media and cybercrime

Discussions are under way with the following actors to get this latest government initiative on it way:

1.      NPSC (National Parenting Support Commission)

2.      PTA (National Parent-Teacher Association)

This means more of the TVET courses may be coming to a Traditional High School, specifically courses in the following five (5) areas:

1.      Agriculture

2.      Business Education

3.      Home Economics

4.      Industrial Education

5.      Visual Arts

Students with technical and vocational education and training, long seen as slow learners are now been seen as hands-on or Kinesthetic learners whose skills are in high demand. So why is this the case?

TVET and HEART Trust/NTA - Emergent Occupations for Vision 2030

He made these statements against the backdrop of the World Youth Skills Day 2018 held on July 17 at the HEART Trust/NTA’s Garmex Academy in Kingston.

Held under the theme ‘New Skills for Emerging Jobs: Improving the Image of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)’, it hope to encourage young people, aged 15 to 25, to choose the path of acquiring and developing their special skills and make a career out of it, builds their long terms earning potential.

Already the HEART Trust/NTA is focusing on training young people for employment in areas of the economy that are currently experiencing high levels for employment:

1.      BPO (Business process outsourcing)

2.      Tourism and hospitality

3.      Business Logistics

4.      Animation

5.      Construction

6.      Agriculture

Apparently, the Government is set to make a windfall from new and emerging careers in TVET as new career paths are on the horizon for skilled workers as noted in the article “Gov’t Increasing Focus on Skills Training”, published July 18, 2018 By Rochelle Williams, The Jamaica Information Service.

This as there are 21st Century skills and training opportunities in these areas that will be needed to enable Vision 2030 such as:

1.      Hydroponics

2.      Mechatronics

3.      Mobile robotics

4.      3D printing

5.      Mobile application development

6.      Videography

7.      Make-up artistry (for film)

8.      Renewable energy (photovoltaic installation)

The plan is to have the School guidance counselors provide advice to 5th form students and parents on TVET careers. This would include telling about their options for training, which would include the HEART Trust/NTA, as more than 67% of our workforce is untrained and uncertified.

 According to studies conducted by the HEART Trust’s LMRI (Labour Market Research and Intelligence) Department, these areas will result in new and emerging occupational areas such as:

1.      3D Visualisers

2.      Big Data Engineers

3.      Renewable Energy Specialists

4.      Accident Reconstruction Specialists

5.      Robotics Engineers

6.      Mechatronic Engineers

7.      Smart House Infrastructure Designers

8.      Drone Pilots

So why did we not know this before? It all has to do without the perception of skilled workers.

The Perception of Skilled Labour in Jamaica - Increase foreign exchange as well as Nation builders

This is due to the misconception of Technical and Vocational people as being slow learners.

Yet interestingly, they have the greatest potential to earn the most money due to the need for skilled workers internationally, as they are needed for the Jamaican economy to experience growth as noted in the article “We need more skilled workers — BOJ”, published Wednesday, November 29, 2017 by Karena Bennett, The Jamaica Observer.

To quote the State Minister for Education, Youth and Information, Floyd Green: “We have a bad perception of going into skills. We want to ensure that we are going into our schools with our guidance counsellors to have career training sessions where we say to our young people, these are the new areas. We have to partner with the PTAs to counsel the parents, because often they are the ones that discourage our young people (from pursuing alternative career paths). We have to explain to them that these are areas of growth”.

In fact, most Jamaicans who migrate to the USA seeking work are skilled technical workers as noted in my blog article entitled “How Jamaicans can apply for H-2A and H-2B VISA to work in the US of A”. 

Ditto too persons who migrate to Canada, especially part of Canada, due to the low-level of skilled labour in those areas as noted in my MICO Wars blog article entitled “How Database 876 helps Jamaicans find US$51000 yearly jobs in Saskatchewan, Canada”.

The same can be said for the UK and the Middle East, where skilled workers are needed to help in the building of infrastructure as those economies transition from a Oil Exporting Economy to one based on Tourism, the Service Sector and Renewables as noted in my MICO Wars blog article entitled “How Jamaicans can find work in UK and Dubai”. 

This translates to increase foreign exchange inflows to the island via remittances. More importantly, Jamaica needs skilled workers to help us build our own infrastructure as well, poising the nation for growth.

But for young people to take advantage of these opportunities, they need to be properly trained as pointed out by Managing Director of the HEART Trust/NTA, Janet Dyer, quite: “Today’s World Youth Skills Day is one of the many activities that we are using to ensure that our young people in Jamaica get all the opportunities that are available to get trained, certified and to contribute to the productivity of this nation”.

So not only are skilled workers going to be necessary for Jamaica to achieve growth, but the potential for employment is getting better and better as their field is expanding. Jamaicans needs to move now to have more TVET programs in more Traditional High School as well as strengthen Technical and Vocational Schools and improve the view people have of these skills area.

Kinesthetic skills take time to learn, usually via observation, practice and repetition, but will help the individual to earn for life.

How to connect a Nintendo Switch Joy-Con or Switch Pro Controllers to you PC or Mac

The Nintendo Switch is the fastest selling console in US History as I'd pointed out in my Geezam blog article entitled “How the Nintendo Switch is the hottest Gaming Console in US History”. 

One of the great selling points about the console is its use of regular Bluetooth Technology for its Joy-Cons and Switch Pro Controller. That potentially opens up the possibility of using them on a computer of Apple Mac.

After all, you can connect the Xbox Controller to a PC or Mac as noted in Geezam blog article entitled “How to connect Xbox One controller to any Computer or Laptop”.

So how do you do that, exactly?

Connecting Joy-Con or Switch Pro Controllers - Step by Step

The steps for connecting the Joy-Con or Switch Pro Controllers are as follows:

1.      Turn on Bluetooth on your PC or Mac.

2.      Disconnect the Joy-Con from the Nintendo Switch 

3.      Hold the “sync” button on the Joy-Con, located between the SR and SL buttons, until the LED lights start flashing.

4.      Look for the Joy-Con in your computer’s Bluetooth menu

5.      Select the option to pair it with your device.

If you’re having difficulty, this video may help for the Pro Controller.

And here is an alternate video for the Joy-Con.

The pairing lights on the Joy-Con won’t stop blinking, but you can confirm that the controller is connected. This is done by looking at your computer’s Bluetooth settings.

If you see an error message, move the controller and check for interference from other Bluetooth device trying to connect to your PC. So now that you have them connected, how do you use them?

Nintendo Switch Controllers - x360ce conversion of DirectInput to API XInput helps

First, I'll explain the Switch Pro Controller. The layout for the controller is as shown below:

The Pro Controller connects via the USB-C port on the bottom of the controller, similar to the Xbox controller or the PS$ Controller The sync button for the Pro Controller is located at the top of the controller, directly to the left of the USB-C plug.

It has a more traditional layout and can thus be played with a wider range of games than the Joy-Con Controllers, which are made specifically for the Nintendo Switch. Still, there are some hiccups as the Pro Controllers works well with some games but not with others.

This is because the Pro Controller uses DirectInput instead of the newer API XInput, making it incompatible with many newer games. To get around this problem you'll need to download the freeware program x360ce.

This program translates DirectInput commands for XInput games and was specifically designed for Xbox 360 controllers. So it's a match made in heaven for the Switch Pro Controller.

Things to consider - Bluetooth issues and Older Games play well

Oh..One more thing.

If you connect the controller wirelessly, remember this; that you can’t charge the Pro Controller while it’s paired via Bluetooth. The Pro Controller has exceptional battery life, roughly 40-plus hours on a full charge. So charging it for about 5- 12 hours before play is not a bad idea!

The Bluetooth connection can connect and disconnect and is easily interrupted by interfering devices, especially when playing with the Joy-Con Controllers. If you’ve had connectivity issues with your left Joy-Con on Switch, you may run into similar problems on other devices.

Make sure there are no physical obstructions between you holding the Joy-Con and the PC...even if your little sister climbs into your lap. Finally, aside from Steam games, the Joy-Cons and Pro Controller support older DirectInput API.

Albeit it won't allow you to play newer games, at least you can enjoy the nostalgia of emulated games a lot better as noted in my MICO Wars blog article entitled “How to use OpenEmu to Play Retro Games with USB Game Controllers on your Apple Mac”.

  

Sharing is caring so share this with your friends and children who have rediscovered how awesome Nintendo is and why they are No. 1.