Cyber Bullying is RIFE on Social Media

There have been various important events in the cultural and technological development of cyberspace and the Internet over the last few years.  In recent times, the Internet had tremendously influenced the way people communicate and interact with one another.  This brought about a lot of opportunities including challenges to the way people act and behave.  The endless opportunities for anyone to connect with friends, families, workmates and schoolmates would have never eventuate if there is no Internet today.  While majority of the World Wide Web users may focus on using the Internet for their development, there are others who have gone astray and used it negatively to intimidate others and these sometimes lead to severe consequences and even deaths.  

For this post, I will share some information pertaining to privacy on the web and why I think it is recommended for everyone to consider what they share on the Internet.  The focus will be on Cyber Bullying, outlining some of the practices heavily used today by the minority in cyberspace.  I will also include random other points throughout the post on Internet safety in general.  I hope this post will provide useful information to those who read it so they can protect their loved ones or possibly help to educate those that practice cyber bullying.

In cyberspace, the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically through texts messages, manipulative images with the intent to intimidate or threaten someone, is likely to pose numerous threats to our society.  One of the pioneers of antivirus protection, Eset (2015) reports that cyber bullying is increasing on the internet through the use of mobile phones and computers.  A study by Eset recorded almost 45,000 children contacted ChildLine, a counseling service in UK for help in 2014.  Cyber bullying may pose greater risks to how one interact online because within cyberspace, anyone can be anonymous unlike physical bullying where victims can identify who their bullies were.   According to a study by Eset (2015), 54 percent of parents in UK were unaware of their child being bullied.  The report highlights that majority of "parents are completely ill-equipped and under-educated in knowing how to recognize and deal with" the increasing threat to children online (Eset, 2015).  With such statistics for parents in a developed nation to be unaware, it is likely that smaller developing countries like Papua New Guinea may possibly have even higher percentage of parents to educate in order to help them be aware of the risks of cyber bullying. 

Risks of Cyber bullying:
Ohio University (n.d), reports that youths especially those that are psychologically vulnerable, are at higher risks of being affected by cyber bullying.  In some cases, the bullies themselves may also become victims of cyber bullying where they fall under any one or more of the different cyber bullying types. 

Various risks associated to cyber bullying include emotional distress such as anger, frustration, embarrassment, sadness, fear and depression.  Moreover, it may include disturbances to one's concentration with school work or job performance.  Cyber bullying victims can also end up quitting their job or if the victim is a student, the effects may force them to drop out or even switch schools.  Sometimes, cyber bullying encourages delinquency and violence, transforming victims to become aggressive.  For other victims, they may resolve to drug abuse or even cause them to bring weapons onto school grounds.  Even far worse, cyber bullying can lead to suicide (Ohio University, n.d).

Common Types of Cyber Bullying:

In my attempt to understand and identify various forms of cyber bullying practices in Papua New Guinea, I followed various posts and pages on Facebook and have seen various methods employed by regular users.  I will not go into detail of giving specific examples due to sensitivity of the topic, instead I will present the overview of the different cyber bullying types for readers to learn and possibly protect themselves.  I have placed these practices into the common types of cyber bullying known in cyberspace and these are briefly explained below.

- Anonymity
Anonymity may be one of the most common and widely used forms of cyber bullying.  Among most of the listed types of cyber bullying, the internet creates a conducive cyberspace for bullies to be anonymous hence allowing them to hide behind screen names or fake identities to intimidate others.   

- Impersonation
When a person logs into someone else' account or creates a fake account with another person’s information and pictures, then sends out messages pretending to be that user, they are in the act of impersonation. With this type of cyber bullying, it is considered a form of identity theft and is a federal crime therefore has implications based on prosecution that can last between 2 to 8 years imprisonment in most countries, and may cost fines of up to $10,000 based on inflicted harm.  

- Trickery
This type of cyber bullying involves someone being purposely tricked by a bully into sharing secretive information that may be personal or embarrassing, and then publishes that information online.

- Outing
In this type of cyber bullying, a person shares personal and private information, pictures, or videos collected from someone openly with public.  The victim is “outed” when his/her information has been distributed throughout the internet.   

- Flaming
When someone posts critical or disrespectful remarks on other webpage, through emails, instant messaging, chat rooms or social media posts, they are considered flaming.  Usually, these are fights that happen online using bad or obscene languages.  Flaming wars can mount into real-life, physical fights. 

- Denigration
Denigration involves criticizing someone in a derogatory manner, to tell them that they are worth nothing.  Examples may include spreading rumors, blackmailing and threatening someone.  In many cases, texts messages such as "I hate You" or "You are Stupid" may be sent to damage another person's esteem. 

- Harassment
In a harassment type of cyber bulling, a string of hurtful and offensive messages are sent by the bully to an individual or a group repetitively. A common type of cyber bullying that can be categorized as harassment is Cyber stalking which as mentioned, involves continual harassing and threatening messages which may also lead to physical confrontations.

- Cyber stalking
With this type of cyber bullying, the bully keeps contacting the victim on social media or other online site and drives fear and upset to the victim.  Usually messages are deliberately left on someones phone to scare them.  This may include threats or sexual comments which the stalker often uses to intimidate and scare the victim.  By law in many countries, stalking is illegal.

- Exclusion

This type of bullying involves the act of intentionally excluding and leaving a person out from any online engagement such as group chats and sites.  While doing so, the group may then subsequently leave malicious comments and harass the one that is singled out.

Some Ways to abstain from cyber bullying:

While there may not be a 100 percent method to protect yourself from possible cyber bullying, there are few tips that can help anyone prevent themselves from it.  Some of those include;

- Avoid posting personal information including photos/ images

Important: With the use of manipulation programs, people can easily manipulate your images in a way to harass you then post it online. 

- Always check the TO: field (Especially with emails, verify who you are posting the message to before sending). 

- Don't be gullible:  
Try not to be emotional so you be easily persuaded to believe something.  Seek for sources or credibility. 

- Try NOT to respond to harassing messages with anger
Usually, when you are angry, you can't control yourself and this allows the gap for the bully to use you through your frustration which can make things even worse than the initial.

- Never open messages from strangers
This is one of the important warning I warned friends and families to be mindful of. Simple rule is, if you don't know the person, NEVER click on the link sent.  Additionally, if you aren't expecting a link or file from someone, never click on that link.

- Ignore chain mails, hoaxes or long emails If you come across any mail, messages that requests you to forward it to friends, DON'T forward it because it may send your email along with your friends to the source where it came from.

- Proofread messages before posting
Always check what you wrote before posting or sending it out because the Internet in itself, is the World Wide Web and anything you release can go public.

- Beware of certain topics 
There are certain topics that may invite or expose you to cyber bullies.  If you aren't sure of the topic, abstain yourself from it.

- Again, NEVER POST anything that is very private

Final Note: 
Know that the web is a medium for sharing.  Most of what you put up on the web is meant to be shared-Not private.  Be mindful of who you want to share the information with and adjust the privacy and security settings especially on the website you are using to appropriate level of information sharing.  

Remember; If you decide to post your photos and personal information online, you accept to expose your privacy unless you have your own domain that governs itself using its terms of use.  

image source:https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/144157/width926/image-20161102-27212-1lrsqz2.jpg 

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Reference:

End Cyberbullying n.d, "A step closer to a safer and more friendly social network", accessed 23 July 2017,<http://www.endcyberbullying.org/5-different-types-of-cyberbullying/> 

ESET 2015, "Majority of parents are clueless when faced with cyber bullying", accessed 24 July 2017,<https://www.eset.com/me/about/press/articles/article/majority-of-parents-are-clueless-when-faced-with-cyber-bullying/>

Lohmann, C.R 2012,"Cyberbullying versus Traditional Bullying", accessed 23 July 2017,<https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/teen-angst/201205/cyberbullying-versus-traditional-bullying>.

The National 2014, "Some control of social media a must", accessed 23 July 2017,<http://www.thenational.com.pg/some-control-of-social-media-a-must/>Ohio University n.d,"Cyberbullying:Risk Factors", accessed 22 July 2017,<http://www.ohio.edu/people/mk931908/riskfactors.html>
O'Keeffe, S.G & Pearson, C.K & Council on Communications and Media 2011,"The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families", AAP News and Journals,viewed 24 July 2017,<http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800.long>
 
Steve Harvey 2016, "New App To Stop Cyberbullying", Steve Harvey Show, viewed 6 July 2017, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh9IEgBo3u4>.
 
 Trisha Prabhu 2014, "Rethink before you type", TEDx Talks, Viewed 6 July 2017, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkzwHuf6C2U>.

Yapumi, C 2017,"Act will no censor social media:NICTA",accessed 24 July 2017,<http://www.looppng.com/png-news/act-will-not-censor-social-media-nicta-49630>

Social Safety 2017,"Cyberbullying",accessed 23 June 2017,<http://socialsafety.org/cyber-bullying/>.

Marbella Family Fun n.d, "Top 10 Tips on how to protect yourself from cyberbullies", accessed 23 July 2017,<http://www.marbellafamilyfun.com/avoid-cyberbullying.html>

Pollution - A Prompt to Sustainable Mindset

I have recently come across a friend's post on Facebook about "Plastic bottles Convenience at the biggest cost" and I did share some of my views pertaining to the issue.  Though that post was about plastic bottles, I found it to be as important to elaborate on because the issues relating to pollution are serious and have not been addressed much in many developing countries including Papua New Guinea.  Today's post may not capture everything however, the main issue I hope to express is associated with people's mindset, the trend in which development is taking place and what I think should be done.

There are various forms of pollution that have impacted our environment in recent times ranging from marine, air, water, soil, noise, light, radioactive and thermal pollution.  Papua New Guinea may have been affected by most of these pollution over the years and some of these are obviously evident.  For this post, I will briefly share some thoughts on how people are concerned about the product they consume and not the waste from those products, which ended up affecting the environment and eventually may affect people's life.  In many circumstances, these waste, mostly man-made, are dumped away or removed somewhere in the hope to clear the sight.  What may not have been considered is the place in which these waste are disposed.  Despite various actions taken by people to discard waste, it is utterly important to educate everyone to employ appropriate ways that will protect the environment.

Recently, many concerns associated to environmental pollution have been raised however, it seems not many people, including the government may have taken serious measures to address them.  If we travel to almost majority of the beaches, near towns and cities throughout Papua New Guinea, we may find man-made waste floating or piling up along the shores.  For those living in Port Moresby, such may sometimes be visible around Ela Beach and if we travel further towards villages like Hanuabada, plastics are a common eyesore along the beach. These plastics are hazardous and pose threat to marine life as well as children who play around the area.  Even more, the community is at high risk of contracting diseases such as cholera, typhoid, diarrhea or even malaria.  What worries me is the future of what used to be playgrounds for children and refreshing sights for adults who can sit back outside their veranda and enjoy the fresh breeze from the ocean.  The once beautiful and clear sandy beaches may soon become piling spots for many of the consumable waste.

Looking at the behavior in which people's actions are performed, I think GREED is eventually going to destroy our societies if people do not step back to see the real happenings around them. It is likely that a lot of people do not have any concern for their future generation. These days it's all about ME and NOW mentality and not US and OUR Future.  I have heard from few people who bluntly responded when asked about their future and all they answered was, "I Don't Care about Tomorrow, tomorrow has its own problems", or similar responses where tomorrow or the future doesn't really matter to them. This is purely SELFISH and reckless attitude without a single concern for what problems the future generation may face.  There are people with such careless mentalities who are contributing to harm the environment.

While we may focus our attention on developments and look abroad for models and influences to shape our nation, survival basics that our ancestors have thought us such as respect and having dignity for and over our natural environment is rapidly diminishing. There seemed to be no concern whatsoever for what may happen later.  I have, in many occasions, shared similar sentiments with those that I've talked to. It seems likely that PNG is indirectly becoming a dumping ground for the things that come into the country, in the name of development. For instance, people are so focused on satisfying themselves with whatever products they consume and do not take any notice of the waste that they produce after their consumption.  Classic examples include canned and bottled foods which people consume almost everyday.  Once the bottled/ canned food have been consumed, the waste are dumped.  All the consumer is concerned about is from the time they need the product to the time they consume the product.  What happens after the consumption is where the problem lies and in many places around the world, people are now looking at sustainable ways to protect the environment.  Back at home, processed foods, imported goods, electronics, automobile and many others entered our shores in the name of development however what people don't see is where do all the waste go to after their primary consumption.  The question we should possibly ask now is, where do all these waste go to?  The answer may lead to further questions.  Were the waste dumped under the soil?  Were they thrown into the ocean?  Were they thrown into the bushes? Were they all burnt to get them out of our sight?  These questions were derived from some of the realities of what is happening today within our societies.  It may solve one side of the problem of removing the waste from our sight but on the other hand, it creates a whole new problem to the environment and the things that depend on it, including us.  In actual fact, we are polluting our soil when dumping waste into the soil and that very soil may be the one that will feed us with fresh organic food.  We pollute our oceans, destroying the marine life which we catch to feed our families.  We pollute our bushes with man-made waste when we throw them into the bush.  We contribute to climate change through the fumes that go into the atmosphere when burning waste and even pollute the air that we breathe.

In my opinion, everyone should now look at fully adopting sustainable practices into their daily lives.  Every educational institution should promote sustainable practices in their courses to help students develop sustainable mindset before joining the industry.  All organizations, whether private or public should embed sustainable practices within their organizations and ensure everyone take ownership of what they do.  The government should also seriously make it a priority to support and openly promote awareness on sustainable living and make those available to everyone through mass media. Apart from these, recycling waste materials may be a way to save the planet since recycling will enable the use of waste to reproduce rather than demanding to extract more from the planet because much of what is created is extracted from the environment.  If most developed nations have profound ways to recycle waste to promote sustainability, I believe developing nation can also learn from them and probably introduce recycling plants or even export recycling materials overseas where they can be re-processed.

Loneliness, the greatest threat to Societies

source:https://abm-website-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/dddmag.com/s3fs-public/embedded_image/2016/08/ddd1608_alzheimers_2.jpg

Every person is born of a family, and there are several families that make up a society.  Within a society, people depend on each other for help and support.  Having people around you gives a sense of inclusiveness and belonging.  Moreover, it may also enable the feeling of being loved and respected.  The experience of being part of a society is diminishing in most societies today.  This created a vacuum of isolation that makes people starting to feel Lonely. Monbiot (2014) claims that loneliness has become the greatest threat to humans than any other causes and is destroying our societies.  Human beings used to have an interdependent history and lived in societies for centuries however this may not be the case for the age we are heading into. As revealed by Independent Age (cited in Monbiot 2014), a recent study in England shows that loneliness is increasing at an alarming rate and had already severely affected 700,000 older men and 1.1 million women.  This signals a warning for us to be aware of the dangers we may face when we start isolating ourselves from our societies. It may be evident that the surfacing of technological advancements have influenced people's ideologies of being in the race for fame, wealth and discovering new knowledge. Monbiot (2014), claims that people are competing against each other for their desire to pursue more which lead to individualism. For example, we may have recently experienced the increasing number of individual entrepreneurs striving to innovate new technologies such as drone technologies, 3D printing technologies and futuristic automobile like the flying cars which have taken technology to new heights.  These desires may have one similar objective and that is to stand out from the competitive crowd so people continue to push technology beyond its limits.

Apart from these, technology boom may also have greater impact on users and create isolation, especially when people develop the addiction to watch television and engage themselves with virtual experiences.  Monbiot (2014) states that TV is a cause of loneliness because it makes people want to isolate themselves to television and this promotes individualism. Furthermore, people detached themselves into virtual reality environments in the hope to discover new experiences which may have neurological consequences.  There are potential risks associated to it such as virtual reality sickness (Stein 2016) and existential hangover (Searles 2016) which may require them to seek medical attention and if the person is alone, this may possibly lead to other serious side effects.  

While much of what the author had presented may be categorized as pull-factors because they attract people to individualism, there are also other push-factors that may force people to live an individualistic life such as those created by family negligence.  Suster (2015) states that loneliness can be caused by certain parental abandonment during childhood years that can lead to depression, resulting in deaths.  He gave examples of two very skilled musicians namely Amy Winehouse and Kurt Kobain, who took their own lives at the age of 27 as a result of depression and loneliness.  This demonstrates the importance of parental love to embrace and encourage societal engagement.

It can therefore be concluded that people and societies depend on each other for human race to live happily.  If humans are driven by their desires for recognition, wealth, new experiences or for their academic integrity, they should also learn to appreciate and maintain the values and morals that will bind and keep them intact for a prosperous living by interacting with their societies.  In addition, parents are responsible to provide tender care and love to their children and ensure they grow up in a conducive environment that will refrain them from loneliness leading to depression.

PNG Art Evolution

My Painting

Art from a tree trunk or bark and an engraved rock or a cave to a touch screen or a tablet, shall we call it the evolution of art?  This is exactly how the name came about when a group of Papua New Guinea artists met together to collaborate and contribute to the economic development of their country through art in a small way.  

On the 13th of August 2016, 6 Papua New Guinean artists held an Art Exhibition at the Royal Papua Yacht Club in Port Moresby as part of their drive to promote Art and also raise some money to support a worthy cause.  The group was named "PNG Art Evolution" because it fitted well with most of what the group had showcased and also their theme.  I was among the group and was fortunate to coordinate this exhibition along with each member of the group taking responsibilities in various task.

The exhibition showcased art styles ranging from painting, ink drawings, prints, interactive artworks, digital artworks (PNG Fonts), relief art (sculpture), digital art including live art demonstrations.

Participating artists at this exhibition include; Larry Santana, Philemon Yalamu, Albert Joseph, Anderson Habiri, Pax Jakupa and Andrew Santana.  This group of artists represented the different generation of active-practicing artists who are motivated to excell through out-of-the-box thinking and practices.  Though there are many existing artists with similar ambitions, the 6 decided to collaborate and spearhead a new generation of artist who can set long term visions and work towards them.

Four of the Group Members who participated

With the theme "Retrieving the Past, Shaping the Future through Art", the group exhibited varieties of art  from contemporary art to modern art that are practiced in Papua New Guinea.

Since I was part of this group and my personal ambition was/is to see visual art be appreciated by everyone, I decided to do an interactive presentation which I refered to as interactive art or an iArt for short.

The interactive art on tablet (left)

In one of my painting titled "A Nation with Many Cultures", I integrated the artwork into a simple interactive application to allow viewers to interact with the art on a touch monitor and tablet.  This was the first ever interactive art presented in Papua New Guinea that breaks the notion of viewers being spectators or will always be spectators.  This iArt and other similar application to be created in the future, is aimed at changing the perception of viewers from being observers to become participators in the art process.  I wanted to let everyone know that we are all artists in one way or the other and we should be seeing art from a new dimension rather than the old fashion way.  In the past, artists in PNG created their artwork such as paintings, sculpture, crafts etc, then display their work for others to see however, I think this should be the thing of the past because with technology nowadays, we have to take the advantage and take our viewers through the experience of feeling art themselves.  This idea therefore came into play during this exhibition.

Just like I expected, my audience for the exhibition was not the type.  Alot of viewers saw the work however only few reacted to it with great interest and wanting to learn more about it.  The fact that technology is something alot of people are still learning, innovative ideas in PNG pertaining to technology would only be appreciated by those who acknowledge technology. 

The iArt software CD

The interactive Art (iArt) comes as a package that include a painting, an application (software) and a tablet to promote the concept.

What happens is that, whoever purchases the painting, takes the software and the tablet as a bonus.  Whereever the painting is displayed, the software can also accompany it so viewers would be able to use the virtual painting to interact and learn more about the art. 

Thankfully, this first ever interactive art for PNG is now in a new home with the Genia family and will one day become a history, I believe.

Reaching Out - Online Learning

I was invited by a senior staff of Pacific Adventist University (PAU) here in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea in early 2016 to be a guest lecturer to one of their courses "Mass Communications".  I was asked to give presentations on New Media as a component of mass communications.  Since it was one of my intentions and passion to share digital knowledge with students throughout the country, I accepted the invite.  I however, reasized that my schedules were extremely tight so I had to think of a way to make it possible for all parties-the students, the university and for myself.

Philemon Yalamu presenting on "The Evolution of Presentations"

I resolved to online learning so I immediately logged into my Edmodo account and set up a classroom then invited the students.  I liaised with Mrs. Rebecca Thomas, the Associate Lecturer of the School of Arts and Humanities to get the lectures and online sessions going and eventually got everyone online.  I actually organized few pre-sessions with the students weeks before meeting them face-to-face.  Since its going to be the first time for me to meet these students, I thought it would be better to give them some experience using an online classroom prior to giving them online exercises which will prepare them for their presentations assignments. 

Edmodo - the online classroom

I have been using online learning in some of my private lectures with some of my corporate clients and therefore had experiences of how effective learning can be.  In fact, alot of time I've committed myself to multi-tasking and found that time is always against me.  Using organised lessons for my private classes as well as outreaching online lectures had helped me achieved much of what I intend to do.  At the time of my engagement with PAU, I was also doing full-time lecturing at the University of Papua New Guinea and also traveling to other provinces to assist with the GBV Data Collection training with UNDP, and this idea fitted well.  

Prezi - interactive presentation software

The contents of what I delivered online were derived from researches based on concerned subjects as well as personal experiences.  I believed in interactive learning (computer interaction) and therefore tried as much to get students involved in online learning as one of the means. The process of learning which the students were taken through involves various modes of computer interactions such as videos, online classroom, email and via interactive applications such as using Prezi.

Students and Staff participating at one of the presentations

For this lot of students, I started off by developing a step-by-step guideline for them to follow along.  I uploaded it on the tutorial page of my website for them to download and follow along.  I also sent the links for the log-in page to their emails so they can directly access the page to get in.  Within the first 24 hours, half of the students gained access to this online classroom and posted something on the noticeboard.  There were few who found it difficult at first so they had to contact me for more help.  I've also noted that students were having difficulty accessing the internet using the network provided by the university so some of them used their mobile devices to log into the classroom.  

By the end of the second week and just before our first contact, everyone was able to log into the online classroom.  I then posted a task for the students to follow prior to our contact which over 90 percent of them did.  Just a few of them who did not complete the task were guided through during our first contact.  The reasons behind them not completing was due to technical limitations which we sorted out with the Information Technology department of the university.

Students and Staff listening to one the presentation

The moment came for me to do my first presentation.  There was a good number of both students and staff, though it was small about 20 altogether in one of the labs.  The first presentation I did was on "The Evolution of Presentation" where I talked about the different periods and stages of presentations from the traditional blackboard presentations to whiteboard, to analogue projectors then to digital projectors and gave a brief insight of where the future presentations might head us into.

There was total concentration in everyone and I felt satisfied when the presentation was over.  We had questions and answers then ended the session.  The lecturer for the course gave assurance to the students that there would be another lecture in the coming weeks to proceed on where we left.  It confirmed to me that the presentation had influenced these students and my motivation to share digital knowledge was elated by the spirits I get from such interactions with the institution.  

Mobile App - GBV Data Collection

Gender Based Violence is one of the Global issues affecting communities today. In Papua New Guinea, various efforts have been made to curb this issue amongst the Government, NGOs, Churches and other Donor agencies. An interesting project recently being piloted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) here in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is aimed at easing the burden of collecting Gender Based Violence (GBV) data throughout the country, available for access by the National Government, United Nations (UN) and World Health Organisation (WHO).  This pilot project is currently underway and selected provinces (National Capital District, Morobe, Milne Bay and East New Britain) are now undergoing workshops aimed at training Frontline GBV organisations to supply data to a central hub which will then be generated and used by the Government, UN or WHO.

As of 18th March 2016, I was contacted by the UNDP office here in Port Moresby to coordinate and manage the National GBV Data collection project, which is currently rolled out.  The contact came after a nomination made by the current Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, who is our head of school here at the University of PNG.

With the help of improved technology today that requires little knowledge on programming, one can develop a mobile application for any specific use and install it on any mobile device for use.  This is exactly what happened in this UNDP-led project where Gerald Okello, a health specialist from Uganda currently working in Madang as a volunteer with the Voluntary Service Organisation (VSO), worked on transforming the application from traditional paper-based format to electronic format, deploy-able on mobile devices.

During the implementation of this GBV Data Collection (Pilot) project, I was invited to travel to various provinces with international Health specialist (VSO) and GBV/FSV Case Management Specialist and Coordinator (UNDP) conduct training on the use of the mobile app that was created.  Participating agencies dealing with GBV issues were taken through a session on how to enter data, track progress and do other tasks with the app using the tablet.  Following this session, members were given a tablet, bounded by an agreement with UNDP to take ownership of each of the tablets and information collected.
 

As of the beginning of May 2016, I am managing the National GVB Data Collection project, updating UNDP on progresses and results of incoming data as well as generating reports and statistics on collected data.

To me, it's an amazing project to work on especially managing and coordinating the records of incoming data from over 50 field workers (for the pilot project only, which will increase to over hundreds of workers during main project) and having manage data on-the-move and at your finger-tip.

Developing Contents for Universal Learning

I'd like to re-iterate again that this blog has nothing to do with any body or any organisation that is/ are named within the posts of this blog.  Everything posted are my first-hand stories about my engagements in the drive to support the title of this blog site "Providing Digital Opportunities for the disAdvantaged - share the knowledge to develop the region".

Well for this post, I will share one of my participation at a UNICEF funded workshop which was supported by the Department of Education (PNG) for the digital practitioners here in Papua New Guinea. The workshop invited participants from different sectors who went to Madang to develop Early Childhood Learning materials for children under different age groups.

I was again invited by the Department of Education (Papua New Guinea) to participate with other fellow content designers in a workshop in Madang. This was the second time; similar workshop was conducted in 2014 where I sent 2 representatives (Amos Manasau & Jessy Joe) to participate in that workshop.  Last year (2015), I went there myself and participated at the workshop in order to understand the concepts behind Universal Basic Education (UBE), which this workshop emphasized on.

I got a request from the Department of Education (Media and Communications division), to nominate at least 10 graphic designers/ illustrators in my network to attend this workshop.  Instead of nominating, I posted a notice on one of our social network groups on Facebook (PNG GFX Designers) and 5 young designers volunteered to go along with me so I sent their details to the facilitators and they organised tickets for all of us except one, who lives in Madang.  The five were former students from the Arts and Design program at the University of Papua New Guinea who are attached to various organisations during the time they were taken to the workshop.

The idea of involving these young men and women was to expose them to some of the approaches and requirements of designing reading & learning materials for early childhood learning, in particular considering universal learning.  Additionally, I thought this would be a great experience for them to participate in a collaborative project at the workshop so that they gain some experience working in a team, doing a project within pressing deadline.

During the workshop, we were all placed into groups of 5-8 members comprising various working groups ranging from Production of Books, Videos and Animations.  My group was one of two groups that were tasked to produce an animation at the end of this 30-40 hour project.  In our group were two other members whom I took with, Anderson Habiri and Brian Aiere.  Anderson and Brian were recent graduates and animation is something totally new to them. They were to do illustrations and graphics for our animation however, that also required them to have fair knowledge on animation so they can develop characters appropriate to be animated.  I had to fill in this gap by giving an overview of what we should expect and where each of us would fit in, outlining our specific duties as illustrators and animators for our project.  I had to also take them through basic concepts of animation and how frame by frame animation works as well as showing them some tweening animation basics.  We also have other members who fitted in for sound and children's psychology & behaviour.

The vector drawings in (above) with the fills (below)

For me, that was going to be fun exploring animation as an introvert/ animation enthusiast however getting into my suit as a perfectionist and a number 1 in the Enneagram,  I was worried as time was very crucial for us to come up with an animation product.  Unlike other groups, our group needed more time to complete the compilation however the workshop trainer, Barbara Kolucki assured us that we can still get something done within the time frame.  She stressed that based on her previous experiences with various other places around the world where she conducted the training.  Sure we can, however it won't be to our satisfaction or to a professional standard, I thought.

The workshop's project challenge began and all the group went straight onto planning and execution of their respective projects.  We had a day to do our interviews, investigate and record any audio; basically to gather raw data - and the next day to start developing our illustrations and trace them to vector.  
Back at our table, our group came up with the script.  I then did a quick storyboard to guide us in developing our images for the main poses.  This is shown to the group for approval, then to the trainer, to get the OK to continue.  We got our green light from the trainer so everyone started working on their tasks.  The illustrators worked on the illustrations whilst our sound designer, Josh Tamanabe worked on scheduling the young students of Kranket Primary School to be recorded.

Original Quick Sketches I did for our storyboard

We spent few hours trying to figure out how our illustrators would come up with the poses for our animation.  It was very challenging, considering the time constrains versus the limited knowledge our illustrators have to develop illustrations for animation so our next option was for me to guide them through thumbnail illustrations which they followed to refine.  This approach turned out well so we progressed.  We got all the illustrations done manually, got them traced (vector graphics) and brought into our animation program for manipulation and animation.  

We had almost a non stop period from 3pm that day till 3pm the next day, completing all our timeline and synchronizing sound with the animation.  We added sub-titles to help those students who aren't able to hear (the deaf) and finally converted the versions to various platforms for distribution.

In our final presentation, we presented our production on various outputs representing those that can be played on a computer, using online (youtube & website) and on mobile/ android devices. Just to make it a little bit interesting, I added a matrix code to a card, printed it and used it as our access code to see the video.  This is to show how technology can be used to directly access the video through scanning using a barcode scanner.

The matrix code added to a card for our presentation