Micro rather than full blogging

It has been a long time since I last blogged. Sometimes I looked back at the last entry and said to myself: it should NOT be the last entry.

In the meantime Twitter came about, and I started micro-blogging. My nick is TechTinu. You can now follow me on Twitter with interesting technology-related, and not-so tech related, tweets on a regular basis.

So there you are, blogging again, but not over here.

I am also on Facebook for those who would like to stay in touch.

Taking a rest or what?

This blog has not been update for a long time. There are various reasons for this. What I can say is that the blog will be revamped in the near future to provide a better point of reference on ICT. Until then, good bye and good luck!

The dawn of e-learning in Malta

I have just published an interview with the Minister for IT Austin Gatt on e-learning. This is the full text of the interview. An abridged version was published on i-Tech, the IT supplement of The Times.

The interview:

1. First we heard a lot about learning ICT skills in view of SmartCity, and now we have started to hear a lot about learning through ICT. What’s the difference?

If you want to earn your living in the ICT business you need to learn the trade. But technologies can help you learn anything else in the way books, maps and a good teacher can.

SmartCity – and not SmartCity alone – will generate thousands of ICT-related jobs and therefore will demand a significant number of ICT professionals who are skilled and qualified in different technologies.

Promoting learning through ICTs is a distinct effort from the promotion of professional ICT skills. Since the 1990s, we introduced in schools computers, projectors, digital cameras, electronic white boards to help teachers help our students learn. ICT is already used across the curriculum.

We now want to gear up all our efforts to maximize the use of technology by promoting a more blended approach to learning by complementing traditional classroom-based training with e-learning. ICT is already integrated in the teaching of most subjects at primary and secondary level, however, a concerted drive to increase the availability and application of e-learning technologies will be made across all of our schools.

2. Does learning through ICT simply mean giving a computer with internet connection?

“Giving a DECENT computer with a good broadband connection” is where you start.

I emphasise the word ‘decent’ because today our students are hampered by the quality of the computers they are using. Whilst Maltese schools now have some 5,000 computers for teaching and have internet access in clasrroms, less than 15% of these are Pentium 4s or beyond! It suffics to say that 31% of the computers are 486s and Pentium 1s. This is why we’re making a bold move and, whilst increasing the number of PCs in schools and classrooms we are also upgrading them to the latest high quality technologies.

Now, hopefully, all this will be in place in the coming months, allowing us to go to the next step: helping teachers find good learning resources on the web, and being able to design learning with a combination of use of technology, activities and support. Promoting the use of ICTs for learning is not merely about giving the technology, but empowering teachers and pupils to use it when it is most appropriate to meet the different needs of learners and reduce the risk of exclusion for hard-to-reach groups.

This is the vision which Louis Galea and I share and are keen to deploy.

3. On the other hand, how important is the human factor in education through ICT?

Completely. Students cannot learn with books alone. And students cannot learn with computers alone. Teachers are and will always remain the locus of learning. The transfer of knowledge relies on their sense of mission, their charisma, enthusiasm and willingness to learn new things and pass them on to their students. ICTs can only help them do this and cannot replace them at it.

ICTs can also create more room for collaborative and group work between students. We can offer a connected classroom that has a more inclusive environment, where teachers are leaders, helpers, partners and evaluators. In addition to the traditional role of subject experts, teachers become facilitators of learning and managers of their own digital classrooms.

4. MIIIT was successful in promoting more ICT education, the most recent example is the edition of myPotential. Is something similar being considered to promote the use of ICT in private learning establishments?

In fact, myPotential is entirely delivered through private learning establishments. It is the first measure of the sort and we shall strive to learn further from this programme.

The e-learning strategy will promote the adoption of e-learning technologies and blended learning amongst diverse learners ranging from primary school students to adults. We want to have as many stakeholders who have target audiences who are learners including training organizations, non-government organizations, and enterprises, amongst others. Therefore, in a way with the e-learning project we will be facilitating the use of ICT in private learning establishments.

5. MIIIT has promised to give refurbished computers formerly used in the civil service to persons with disabilities, persons with special social needs etc. Did the ministry consider giving some of these computers to organisations/establishments which have education as part of their mission statement?

Yes. In fact in the coming days we shall be launching a call for expression for interest for NGOs, clubs and churches to apply for the provision of the fully functional PCs at token prices. I believe that these associations are king-pins in our social ecosystem and hence deserve to benefit from this programme directly.

6. A national e-learning strategy is being drafted and consultation exercise with stakeholders and interested parties is being undertaken right now. Why have a national e-learning strategy?

Because that is the link between having a vision (which we have) and realising it. There are some scatterred e-learning efforts undertaken by some local stakeholders that are early adopters, however the efforts are fuelled by enthusiasm and risk falling through if they are not backed up by a coherent strategy. We need to define our strategic thrust with regards to e-learning and drive this project on a national scale.

You speak of the success of myPotential and other projects. Really the key there was to go beyond having an ambitious vision (which is of course where one must start) but to have a coherent, thought out plan to execute it.

7. What is the first feedback gathered from this consultation exercise?

Early days yet. The challenge I see ahead of us is to identify the best way to work together to build on the good will that everyone has. But speaking already of what the consultation exercise is telling us would not give enough time for people who are still digesting the vision we have expressed and who still need to articulate their thoughts. A consultation exercise is a process that needs its own time and I don’t want to emaciate it by jumping the gun too soon.

8. Why do you think e-learning in Malta is still in its very early stages when you take into account that we have very good broadband take-up rate and our schools are all equipped with internet access?

e-Learning is not all that new in Malta. There are some good, but independent, examples of good practice in e-learning in Malta. For instance, the University of Malta is working on a project with schools, teachers and pupils as part of a European project that will examine the use of Personal Digital Assistants in learning; and the Institute of Tourism has set up an e-learning centre that offers on-line support for its students.

There is lots of work to do to promote a concerted effort to increase the use of e-learning. Our focus in this area will be primary and secondary schools. Technology is not just about the cables and boxes, but it is about people. There is much more we can do to support teachers develop the necessary pedagogical skills to use ICT across the curriculum, whilst ensuring that we enhance the link between them, students and parents. We are focusing on this strongly now.

9. What do you think will be the main benefits of having the Maltese educational system with a strong e-learning component?

Brighter, savvier, more articulate children for whom technology is a fact of life they know how to exploit to live full lives.

When used well, e-learning can be particularly motivational and engaging for all learners including the more challenging pupils. Everyone learns in different ways and at different rates. Through e-learning, teachers can develop pedagogies that personalize learning to reflect these differences and give greater opportunities of success in e-learning. Though we do not suffer distance problems, e-learning overcomes distance and builds links between learners and teachers that go beyond the classroom and school hours, and our shores.

Moreover, the e-learning deployment will drive technologies further into homes and will facilitate the e-engagement of parents into the information society. Essentially, it is the fulfillment of our vision throughout these last six years.

10. Is it true that MIIIT and the Ministry for Education will provide a national e-learning platform and all primary/secondary school teachers will have to provide notes and courseware on this platform?

That is only the basic proposition of what we have in mind. Although we are still at the strategy development stage, we are after integrating the full educational cycle involving parents, students and teachers into a single cutting-edge virtual educational space. This means that students will be able to access resources from multiple schools and colleges, teachers will be able to share courseware and collaborate in its development whilst parents can monitor the educational progress of their sons and daughters in real time.


11. Students have been eagerly waiting to collect the third Microsoft package of software at a nominal price. While Vista and Office 2007 were officially launched in late January 2007, these students have not yet got this package. Why?

Maltese students are among the first in the world to be using Vista. They are certainly among the first in Malta. The package is available for collection as we speak. The product for the home user was launched after that of the business users and our delivery depended entirely on Microsoft’s.

12. When the government started to install PCs in public primary schools in 1995/1996, over the years there was regular criticism of the fact that primary teachers were given a laptop computer each and classes equipped with PCs but this hardware was not utilised very well in some cases, and in other cases they remained switched off almost all the time. How this can be avoided with the installation of new PCs to be leased?

The laptop for primary school teachers initiative was a one-off initiative that was necessary but was not planned to keep up with changing technologies. The leasing of PCs for schools will enable schools, teachers and students to have the latest technologies available at school at all times and therefore the problem of outdated technology will be solved.

Of course we can provide the equipment, finance its maintenance, train people to use it, and create the framework to make it useful. Teachers will have to want to use it though. Many do. But it is not the onset of technologies that has distinguished enthusiastic teachers who use all tools available to them to teach their students from others less so.

Having said that, the decisions taken way back in this sector are the primary driver for the success story we are reaping today.


13. Which e-government services are currently being offered in the educational sector? Are you satisfied with their use? Are there any new e-government services in the educational sector planned for the future?

There are quite a few. To mention some, there are the application for part time courses with the University and the examination results. Application for exams and the notification of Matsec results this year rose above 90% take-up. A 90% take up is not only encouraging but should be the benchmark for all e-government and m-government services. This figure also indicates the way in which the coming generation is technologically savvy, an important change from the present generation.

There are new e-government services in the educational sector that will be rolled out, these are currently being identified in the context of our drive for a new wave of services. I can tell you that we will be very shortly launching the application to join MCAST full-time courses on line.

14. You said “If we want ICT and eLearning to be ubiquitous in our schools we have to push for content in Maltese”. What will be done to push for content in Maltese in the ICT sphere?

This objective, along with all others, is being developed in the strategy. Current policies in education have spaces for English and Maltese. Our bilungualism (as well as our comfort with English) is an important aspect of the nature of our education and the preparation of our young. That reality should be reflected in our eLearning processes too.

15. Anything else you would like to add?

eLearning is a tool. The end we want is to equip our young with all the tools they need to live a full, prosperous life in the future; to be prepared with the skills and resources the information society and economy of the future requires of them. We can get there. We will get there.

Strengths and weaknesses of ICT skills training revealed

The vendor-specific courses offered by the local training providers satisfies by and large the demand for ICT skills posed by service providers but there is still a shortage of high-quality ICT resources. Service providers also want a mix of knowledge and practical skills whereas training providers focus more on the former.

This is the picture that emerges from a study on the demand and supply of ICT skills in Malta, compiled by consulting firm KPMG in co-operation with the Ministry for Investment, Industry and Information Technology (MIIIT), published last week.

The study was based on interviews carried out in the last six months with 11 local training providers and 23 ICT service providers.

"While the results of the study are quite positive with respect to the local ICT sector, it is very encouraging to observe the extent to which the local industry has expanded," Hadrian Sammut, senior advisor at KPMG, told i-Tech.

"In the process it created numerous jobs and areas of specialisation, providing countless opportunities for anyone seeking a rewarding career within the ICT sector."

This study reveals, among other things, that:

The demand for certified technical personnel in Malta experienced consistent growth over the last four years;

The local demand for certifications evolved to cover a wide spectrum of ICT roles and areas of specialisation;

Seventy per cent of the projected demand for vendor-specific certifications will be related to Microsoft-based products;

Training is spurred mainly by government's incentive policies, the rapid growth of the local ICT sector, the contribution of the Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology, as well as the launch of the SmartCity Malta project; and

There is a need for persons with no ICT skills to learn foundation ICT skills before endeavouring to follow vendor-specific ICT certifications with the intention of pursuing an ICT career.

"The study demonstrated quite clearly that training centres are enhancing the number and level of courses currently available in anticipation of the launch of SmartCity," commented Mr Sammut.

"At the same time the demand for vendor-specific certification is similarly increasing, mainly as a result of people seeking qualification in order to be in a better position to compete for prospective employment within the SmartCity project."

The survey indicates that ICT service providers clearly prefer to employ academically qualified personnel. In fact, 93 per cent of the overall respondents claimed that they actively support their employees in getting certified.

Training providers said the courses they offer are in response to the high demand that exists locally for the skills obtained through these certifications and the employment opportunities that can be availed of following the successful completion of the respective certifications.

The vendor-specific course offerings supplied by the local training providers satisfies by large the demand for ICT skills posed by service providers. However, the KPMG report revealed that local service providers feel the need for a wider variety of vendor-specific certifications including HP, IBM, Macromedia, SUN Java and JBOSS.

Furthermore it transpired that there is a discrepancy between service providers' expectations and the overall quality of certified personnel. Service providers stated that they expect certified personnel to possess a good balance of theoretical knowledge and practical experience but argued that training providers provide more of the former.

The training and service providers interviewed held that there is a shortage of high quality ICT resources. With the burgeoning demand for ICT skilled resources, the number of ICT professionals supplied by the University of Malta falls short of market demand, though it is increasing gradually. Since MCAST was set up, the number of vocational ICT-skilled persons increased significantly. In addition to these graduates, there are the vendor-specific certified individuals by the local ICT training providers.

Higher investment by local training providers to offer a wider variety of higher-end certification is needed to ensure that the market demand for specialised ICT skills is satisfied. Nevertheless so far foreign employees represent 13.4 per cent of the total workforce currently employed within the local ICT sector surveyed.

The service-providers pinpointed a number of trends and factors, which may impact upon the demand for vendor-specific certified personnel. These include attaining quality using fewer but more qualified technical resources; the current growth of the local ICT sector, with the emerging presence of international players and the local companies that are also active in the foreign markets; the need for more academically qualified personnel than is currently available; and the trickling ICT brain drain of Maltese certified personnel seeking more lucrative work abroad.

Another thing that emerged from the KPMG survey was the universal approval of the ICT education and industry initiatives undertaken by the Maltese government, through MIIIT, to support and promote the information society.

"We are launching an auditing exercise to analyse the delivery of ICT training in Malta to ensure that the demand from industry is satisfied to the best possible level by the local training providers both in terms of quality and quantity," a ministry spokesman said.

The ministry's myPotential training support programme was considered as "appropriate and successful" by the organisations interviewed.

In fact, the ministry spokesman confirmed that the second year of myPotential - with a far broader programme of initiatives and areas for certification - would be launched shortly. MIIIT is also working with SAP to set up a new academy to join Microsoft, Cisco and Oracle's academies at the University and Mcast.

"We have reached and exceeded our 2006 target for over 500 new ICT specialists a year and we are stepping up our access streams to double that number within the next three years. SmartCity as well as other ICT employers in Malta will find in Malta the pool of specialised, skilled, qualified and certified resources they need," the ministry spokesman reassured.

Source: i-Tech - The Times

Malta shows a mixed performance in information society development

Public and private investment in information and communication technology (ICT) is bearing fruit, finds the Commission's annual progress report on i2010 – the digitally-led strategy for growth and jobs. Technology is fuelling innovation and productivity, and there are signs of fundamental change in markets and user behaviour, as Europe moves towards a knowledge-based economy.

The country factsheet on Malta however says that "Although data is incomplete, Malta shows a mixed performance in the few available indicators for information society development".

The factsheet says

"The percentage of broadband subscriptions is just below the EU average and has shown slow growth compared to previous years. Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) accounts for more than half of all broadband connections. Despite only slightly below average broadband penetration, a market for paid audiovisual online content has not materialised so far, possibly due to the market's limited size and average broadband speeds.

eGovernment supply for citizens is measured as the highest in Europe, whereas enterprise supply is slightly below normal. The number of enterprises interacting online with public authorities was higher in 2005 than the EU average of 2006. Schools are very well connected, scoring second in Europe, but the availability of computers and teacher use in classroom is only average.

User skills levels in ICT in the workforce are among the highest in the EU. Expert level skills are, however, now below average. Enterprise connectivity and technology use was in 2005 generally already above the EU average of 2006, so it seems safe to assume that Malta here performs above average.

The ICT sector in Malta is well-developed and the government aims at attracting more ICT companies: a National ICT Framework aims to make Malta a better place to invest and various measures are improving digital skills among workers.

The SmartCity@Malta initiative aims to attract "knowledge-based activities by leading global players in the field". The project has attracted foreign direct investment and is expected to create over 5000 mostly ICT-related jobs.

Digital Skills: A number of initiatives that address employment in the ICT sector and general ICT competencies are being implemented. They include an eWork Framework, a National ICT Skills Framework, ICT certifications for students and the unemployed, fiscal incentives to encourage education in ICT and science, an ICT student placement programme, and academic initiatives developed in partnership with Microsoft, Cisco, SAP and IBM."

Full reports available here.

Our daily lives will be run by small computers

Forget the icon of the white, box-shaped computer, think networked processors, collaborating with each other to perform defined tasks, without human intervention. This is pervasive computing."

This explanation is the introduction to a document brimming with insights, ideas and future scenarios on the significant developments in information technology in the next few years and how these will have an impact on the social and economic aspects of society.

This text has emerged from a series of workshops held during 2005 to explore the potential social and economic impacts of pervasive computing. The participants were drawn from the international networks of the IBM Research Laboratories, the Swiss Re Centre for Global Dialogue, and Ta-Swiss.

Pervasive computing sees the next stage of man-machine interactivity as letting the machines get on with things themselves, collaborating with each other and being able to understand the different contexts in which they operate. It is a challenging vision that moves beyond current models of human interaction with computers and communication devices.

Pervasive computing is:

• Small: Ongoing miniaturisation of components, moving to invisibility;

• Embedded: Components are placed on or within other devices, objects or living beings;

• Networked: Flexible capacity to exchange data and software components with other devices and platforms;

• Context sensitive: Collect and exchange data on their environment and the host object via sensors;

• Adaptive: Implement changes and modifications at the software and object level;

• Collaborative: Ability to discover other objects and interact with them to establish cooperation on the software or information level;

• Network Volume: Sufficient in number and regularity of interaction to create network behaviours.

"This list of characteristics is interesting in how unremarkable it is. It indicates the extent to which the trajectory of the technology used in pervasive computing has already been determined, even if the implementation remains problematic. In this sense, pervasive computing is not about the introduction of a single technology, but about a potential qualitative change that may arise through an increasingly integrated technological environment," explains the document.

The document also provides different scenarios where pervasive computing is at work in our daily lives.

One of the scenarios is the office of the future. "Jamie Johns has his own office. When he walks into it the electronic name plaque on the outside wall switches from 'Jamie is out' to 'Jamie is in' and a signal light turns from blue to green. An electronic sensor, picking up signals from a chip embedded in his ID card, adjusts the desk chair, the table, even the temperature, according to his preferences.

"Urgent memos -'Jamie, I need you for a presentation in five minutes' - flash on the wall or, perhaps, on the table top. Nearly every surface can operate like a computer screen. As he logs onto the computer he sees which members of a work team are available. If he does not want to be bothered he simply touches a screen, and the outside sign shifts to 'Jamie is busy' and the outside signal light changes to red.

"The overhead lights and technology controls are embedded in a movable structure that holds a projector with a 180-degree range to beam memos, spreadsheets or any other image onto the wall, table or floor."

Another scenario, from a more leisurely sphere of life, is the ski resort.

"A ski resort lends itself well to pervasive computing," the document explains. "There are a lot of optimisation problems, such as how to queue most effectively, especially for the long cable car trip up the mountain. There are issues of tracking people and equipment for safety, payment and to avoid theft. Finally there is also a desire to hide all this computing because people go to ski in order to experience a 'natural' environment, even if it is within the infrastructure of mass tourism." In a pervasive computing ski resort equipment will be "tagged" with the individual's identity. It will check with its owner's other processors (mobile phone, credit card) before unlocking the bindings, and sound an alarm if the boot is not applying full pressure to the ski due to a fault or snow stuck to the bottom of the boot. According to the type of ticket bought, the equipment will give access to the services available.

At the top of the cable car there may be a group of teenagers in the snowboarding park reviewing their jumps on a giant screen. Another board could be flashing red dots against the mountain. On approach, two dots expand and text appears indicating the dots are your two children, out with their ski teacher. The identity check indicates they have no avalanche training and have not cleared the trip with the authorities or their insurer. A ski guide is already on his way to indicate the dangers.

Special ear implants are available and a wireless system allows you to choose what type of music you want from Mahler to Dolly Parton, Eminem to Kool and the Gang. It is now time to ski.

In the evening, on returning to the hotel, the data house system transfers information collected and stored in the ski boot through the day. Lying in a steaming hot bath it is possible to review the day. Data has been collected through the sole of the boot indicating that dehydration is an issue, due to the dry cold and that there is an imbalance in leg strength that is affecting the ability to ski. It makes some suggestions about exercise to correct this. It also correlates this information with the chip monitoring long-term blood pressure and indicates that the altitude is having a good effect. It must be time for a fondue.

However, there is a darker side.

"Is loss of privacy the price that must be paid for the benefits of pervasive computing?" asks the document after explaining the potential benefits of this new technology stream.

"There was a consensus that there is much work to do to improve our understanding of what is worth fighting for within the current framework of privacy, and of how pervasive computing will influence this framework. It is also clear that the better the implementation of pervasive computing, enabling clear standards and generating clear benefits, the easier it will be to exploit technologies to protect existing privacy concepts and principles," the document concludes.

This article is the last in a series reporting on the recent visit of a Maltese delegation, including i-Tech, to IBM's Industry Solutions Lab in Zurich, Switzerland. This was organised as part of the vertical strategic alliance between the Maltese government and IBM.


http://technology.timesofmalta.com/article.php?id=2622

Interesting experience at IBM's Zurich research labs

There are a number of opportunities for joint research projects between Maltese organisations and IBM, especially within the framework of the European Union's FP7 funding.

These are being followed up by the Ministry for IT. The opportunities were explained during a two-day visit by a Maltese delegation to IBM Industry Solution Labs in Zurich, Switzerland.

Members of the delegation hailed from the Information Technology Secretariat within the Ministry for IT, MITTS, Philip Toledo Ltd, Computer Solutions Ltd, the Maltese Lotteries and Gaming Authority, St Martin's Institute for Information Technology. I was invited by the Ministry for IT to join the delegation and report on the visit. A series of articles is being prepared for publication on i-Tech.

The visit was a result of the vertical strategic alliance between the Maltese government and IBM and is one of several planned visits to enable Maltese IT-related organisations, including the government, to exploit the possibility of joint research projects with IBM.

The IBM research lab in Zurich is the European branch of the company's research network that employs some 3,500 people in eight labs across the world. For the last 50 years it has been at the forefront of research on innovation, twice winning the Nobel Prize. It was the top recipient of US patents in 2004.

In Zurich the Maltese delegation was briefed on the latest trends in research, with particular focus on security and privacy. IBM's speakers gave an overview of the Global Technology Outlook and the Global Innovation Outlook, IBM's research efforts in current trends in information technology. Exhibits also showed research applied to different aspects of everyday life. These included the latest application of research in biometric identification and the use of RFID for the location of persons and goods.

I would like to thank Dieter, Karin, Nicole, Sid, Robert and Maurizio and other personnel at IBM for their hospitality and support during the visit.