May

17

The technology camp was conceived as an avenue to teach young Nigerian teenagers the advance aspect of Information Technology and Communication.
We came to that conclusion just after we concluded the 2011 August W.TEC Girls Technology Camp, there was a growing need to take the teaching of technology skills beyond just the girls and of course, to extend the opportunities to the boys as well as pushing up the standards a bit further than just the elementary aspect of technology skills.
We spent the whole first day to intensify our efforts towards inviting more participants from the college that hosted us, partner organisation like Ovie Brume Foundation and some of the alumni of our past programmes. Eventually we got 15 girls and one (1) boy making the total of 16 teenagers. Some stayed at the camp while others came directly from home.
Like it has always been, as the only man among the W.TEC team I spent much of time getting familiar with the girls at the camp. Thanks to the time we started the programme, some of the Laureates College students were still around in the hostel, so I had companies to gist with. I was not really bored because I liked hanging with young people; ask questions and getting to know them.
The classes were interesting with each facilitators bringing on a new scope to the learning of technology. The girls had an up-close-and-personal time with exploring the use of camera for so many things such as taking pictures, film making and editing the movies using the Window Media Video editing software. It was so hilarious that each of the girls was giggling during the video filming session, laughing at each other and making fun of themselves.
The food was great such that I was always looking forward to either dinner or lunch. In my opinion, the women at the kitchen well understood the ‘peculiarity of my situation’ so they made special provision for my quantity of food so much so that I could order for a second plate, which to my delight was what made me crown them as my mothers.
The closing day was quite interesting too; the girls were given the surprises of their lives through the gift that they were given and individual pet names that came along with the gifts. These names were given to each person depending on the personality of the individual and we applied some sort of discreet into it that not all the girls knew what the other girl got as her name, only she knows.

Apr

26

Girls learning at the W.TEC Technology CampToday – April 26 – Nigeria celebrates International Girls in ICT Day for the first time.

The International Girls in ICT (Information & Communication Technology) Day is celebrated on each fourth Thursday in April, when girls will have the possibility to get themselves acquainted with the opportunities for education and work in the ICT field. The objective is to make ICT familiar to girls, and to present to them the jobs within this sector, as well as to motivate them to opt for a career related to these technologies.

International Girls’ Day is an initiative launched by the International Telecommunications Union with the idea creating a global environment that will empower and encourage girls and young women to consider careers in the field of information and communication technologies.

To celebrate this day, W.TEC is organising a week-long Technology Camp. The camp, which takes place this week, is a technology education and mentoring programme aimed at helping girls develop an early interest in computers and other information technology. For the camp duration, the students are participating in Graphic Design, Film Production, Website Design and Computer Troubleshooting workshops.

The long-term goal is to increase the numbers of Nigerian girls and women using technology productively for learning, professional and leadership activities. As W.TEC works to achieve this mission, our programmes will focus increasingly on using ICT to create content and build useful applications.

We thank our funders and partners – Microsoft, Laureates College, Davak Systems & Technology, Sweet Media and the wonderful individuals who sponsored girls – for supporting this Technology Camp. We also thank you all for participating and supporting our programmes over the years and look forward to many more productive years ahead.

Apr

25

For the first time, Nigeria celebrates International Girls in ICT Day. The International Girls in ICT Day is celebrated on each fourth Thursday in April, when girls will have the possibility to get themselves acquainted with the opportunities for education and work in the ICT field. The objective is to make ICT familiar to girls, and to present to them the jobs within this sector, as well as to motivate them to opt for a career related to these technologies.

International Girls’ Day is an initiative launched through Resolution 70 (Guadalajara) by the International Telecommunications Union with the idea creating a global environment that will empower and encourage girls and young women to consider careers in the field of information and communication technologies.

Activities in Nigeria include:

Learn more Nigeria’s Girls in ICT Day celebrations.

Meanwhile enjoy this video put together by Facebook to encourage more women into technology careers.

Mar

24

W.TEC Technology Camp - April 23 - 27, 2012

The first W.TEC Technology Camp for 2012 is scheduled to take place from April 23 – 27 in Lagos, Nigeria. The camp, to be held on the week of International Girls in ICT Day, will serve as a platform to celebrate and encourage girls to learn and use information and communication technology for their social and economic development.

The W.TEC Technology Camp is a technology education and mentoring programme aimed at helping youths – especially girls develop an early interest in computers and other information technology. For the camp duration, the students will participate in technology workshops. The long-term goal is to increase the numbers of Nigerians using technology productively for learning, professional and leadership activities.

The camp is open to secondary school students and will cover Graphic Design, Multimedia Development and Web Design, so students must already know how to use a computer. The course fee is N20,000 per participant, which covers all the classes, workshops and meals.

To find out more about the camp and to register on behalf of your daughter or ward, visit www.w-teconline.org, email info@w-teconline.org or call +234.1.850.9782, +234.819.115. 0387, or +234.803.641.8642.

Mar

16

Adobe Youth Voices

TakingITGlobal
W.TEC is pleased to announce it’s partnership with Adobe Youth Voices and TakingITGlobal to equip young people with multimedia skills.

The Adobe Youth Voices program empowers youth (13 – 18 year) around the world to communicate their ideas, exhibit their potential, and take action in their communities. TakingITGlobal is delivering this innovative program for youth to engage in hands on media production and share their perspectives on the social issues that affect them.

AYV’s mission is to provide the tools, training, and forums to harness young people’s creativity and make their voices heard. The mission of the program is to empower youth to Create with Purpose using a media making strategy that is designed to engage youth in social change dialogue.

The partner organizations are carefully selected and receive the tools and training required to implement local youth media programs. The partner organizations deliver exciting programming for the youth in their communities with the goal of creating meaningful multimedia artwork that is youth-created and educator-facilitated. We are extremely excited about this opportunity to bring cutting-edge graphic and video production skills to the teeming youth population here in Nigeria.

W.TEC will deliver an exciting multimedia-focused curriculum through its annual Girls Technology Camp and a series of other programs over the next year.

If you or your organisation are interested in collaborating with W.TEC or nominating young people to participate in this program at W.TEC, please get in touch with us at info@w-teconline.org.

Mar

15

The International Girls in ICT Day is celebrated on each 4th Thursday in April, when girls will have the possibility to get themselves acquainted with the opportunities for education and work in the ICT field. The objective is to make ICT familiar to girls, and to present to them the jobs within this sector, as well as to motivate them to opt for a career related to these technologies.

International Girls’ Day is an initiative launched through Resolution 70 (Guadalajara) ITU with the idea creating a global environment that will empower and encourage girls and young women to consider careers in the field of information and communication technologies.

Anyone can celebrate this day and activities can include career talks, opportunities to visit ICT-related companies and laboratories to see how exciting working in technical fields can be.

Who organizes it?
Typically ministries of Communication and Women Affairs, Education, National Regulatory Authorities, Private Sector Companies, Academic Institutions and NGOs.

Learn more about Girls in ICT Day and see how you can participate and motivate a young lady to explore technology.

Mar

14

Volunteers are needed for April W.TEC Technology Camp for teenagers. Do you enjoy working with young people? Are you able to teach basic computing concepts? Are you patient and do you work well in team?

We are especially interested in people with graphic design, video production, website design, social media and people who are able to troubleshoot.

If so, this might be for you. Learn more about the W.TEC Camps at www.w-teconline.org. Contact us at info@w-teconline.org.

Mar

9

The Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre – W.TEC is looking for volunteers, who can help with Training, Writing Proposals and Curriculum Review/Development.

Volunteers should meet the following criteria:

– Interested in supporting girls and women to learn and use information technology e.g. computers, software, internet, e-mail, social media, hardware
– Comfortable using computer and internet applications – for word processing, creating presentations, creating spreadsheets, social media, web development, programming
– Good communication and interpersonal skills
– Able to manage their time and work assignments efficiently

We are based in Lagos, Nigeria and are looking for volunteers who can work remotely on developing and reviewing proposals and programme curriculum. We can also accomodate volunteers in our office, if they reside in Lagos. Our training work is done in Lagos, so volunteers for training must be based here, at least for the duration of the programme.

The volunteer(s) would ideally work for up to 5 hours per week whenever there is a proposal to be submitted. On average, we have at least 1 proposal a month.

To apply or for more information, e-mail info@w-teconline.org

The Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre, W.TEC, is a Nigerian non-governmental organisation working to empower girls and women socially and economically, using information and communication technologies (ICTs).

Our work is carried out through projects and workshops, which help to build technology skills and literacy among women. Learn more about W.TEC at www.w-teconline.org.

Feb

22

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence is a global campaign, which focuses primarily on generating an increased awareness of the negative impact of violence on women and children as well as society as a whole. It takes place annually from the 25th November (International Day of No Violence against Women) to the 10th December (International Human Rights Day), and for these 16 days organisations and groups all over the world organize activities to draw attention to gender violence and push for ways to eliminate it.

 

W.TEC at the 16 Days of Activism

As part of this campaign, the Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre – W.TEC organised a seminar series at 10 Lagos-area secondary schools on

“Staying Safe Online.” This workshop series, which 1,710 students participated in, highlighted many of the risks posed to them when using the Internet. The workshop also provided tips to prevent many of these threats from occurring.
With the support of the Eti-Osa Local Government Education Board, W.TEC was given the permission to make contact with some selected secondary schools in Lagos Island to interact with their students on how to use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools without getting exposed to dangers that can be associated with it.

 

Initially we thought the topics at hand will be too elementary to the students, but alas we were shocked at the low level of knowledge of computer use by these young boys and girls. But be that as it may, preparing materials for the seminar was done with utmost attention to details and audited by the entire W.TEC staff, as we considered many factors that will make it easier for an average teenager to understand the import of the message we were trying to pass across.

W.TEC at the 16 Days of Activism

The entire workshop was divided into three sections; with each of the 3 W.TEC presenters assigned a section. Then came the first day of the workshop series, on the 25th of November at Aunty Ayo Senior High School. The Executive Director, Ore Somolu did a quick introduction on the subject matter and went on to inform the students in attendance of our set objectives and significance of the 16 days events to womanhood. She reiterated W.TEC’s commitment to educating the Nigerian woman and sensitizing her on the need to keep her safe while working on the internet. She then introduced the rest of us into the podium for our presentation.


We all did our very best throughout the 16 days to make the young women and men in 10 schools in Lagos understand that ICT tools are beneficial to use, and help in relating better with families, friends and colleagues. We also went on to project the potential dangers from using tools such as email, social networking sites and mobile phones which included cyber bullying, hacking, amongst others, and how young people can prevent or limit these risks.

W.TEC Staff during the 16 Days of Activism

However one of the highlights of the seminar series was one of the girls in Aunty Ayo Senior High School who had been to the W.TEC Girls Technology Camp in 2011. As an alumnus, she was so happy to let the rest of her colleagues know that she was part of our programmes.

Feb

8

The Minister of Communication and Technology, Omobola Johnson, spoke recently about encouarging Nigeria’s emerging software development community.


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