Tuesday, December 15, 2009

From Closed Books to Open Doors - West Africa’s literacy challenge :: Oxfam GB

From Closed Books to Open Doors - West Africa’s literacy challenge :: Oxfam GB
"In West Africa, there are 65 million young people and adults who cannot read and write – more than 40% of the population –  and 14 million children aged 7 to 12 who are not in primary school. Illiteracy is shutting these people off from the jobs, economic opportunities, good health and engagement in democracy that are their rights. The consequences for them, their communities and their countries is devastating."

Book Making Project Takes off in Ghana


Read the nice write-up about our Ghana Bookmaking project from the Applied Linguistics and Literacy in Africa and the Diaspora Research Network. (It is at the bottom of the newsletter page under the FOCUS ON...WESTERN AFRICA section).

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

6th Pan African Reading For All Conference in Tanzania

This summer Jonathan Thurston had the privilege of presented the Ghana bookmaking program to teachers from all over Africa at the International Reading Association 6th Pan African "Reading For All" Conference hosted by the University of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. 





Part of the presentation involved a demonstration on how to make books using RealeWriter.



Looking forward to the next conference in
Botswana, 2011!


Sunday, September 13, 2009

Ghana Bookmaking Project 2009


Come visit the new website
http://www.makingbooksinghana.org/
where you can see videos, pictures, and read about
the new authors we worked with this summer in Elmina.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

See what other people are saying in the YPWC June Newsletter

Please click the link to see the YPWC news letter mentioning our bookmaking program.


Young People We Care (YPWC) is a registered youth-led, non-profit organization that is headquartered in Ghana and has satellite offices in the UK, Canada and USA. The organization is operated by young people (ages 15–30) and adult allies working on youth and development related issues worldwide. At YPWC, we are passionate about sustainable development, the realization of the Millennium Development Goals and the promotion of a culture of peace and universal human rights for all.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

the I.S.A.B.T. Coconut (our new newsletter)


Akwaba!

Spring is here, and in the spirit of growth and change we are sharing
our first edition of the I.S.A.B.T. Coconut (our new newsletter).





Click here to download the newsletter.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

2009: The International School of Art, Business, and Technology in Ghana

2009
2009 is shaping into a fine year with several promising projects in the works.


Global Goodness
I.S.A.B.T. has entered into Sponsorship Agreement with Global Goodness to help them bring 8000 books to Ghana. Expected delivery date July 2009.

http://www.ggoodness.com/

Making Books In Ghana
Professor Thurston has a summer course scheduled with Bloomfield College, “Making Books in Ghana.” this coming July. Bloomfield students, with special guests, will travel to Ghana to help Ghanaian students make their own books, and train teachers in the use of the book making technology so the project can continue on in the schools. We hope to eventually partner them with schools here in the U.S.

http://campus.bloomfield.edu/cat/international.asp


I.S.A.B.T. in Tanzania
Professor Thurston will be traveling to Tanzania this August for the International Reading Association's Pan African Conference. Teamed with several other educators who use RealeBooks, they will be presenting the bookmaking project and RealeBooks to African Educators from all over the continent.

http://www.reading.org/General/AdvocacyandOutreach/InternationalOutreach/AfricaOutreach.aspx

2008: The International School of Art, Business, and Technology working in Ghana

2008

The year of 2008 was very exciting for I.S.A.B.T. As a new organization we have made significant of headway towards obtaining our mission.

29 G4's
In the Spring of 2008 I.S.A.B.T. received secured a donation of 29 G4 Mac computers and Monitors to bring to Ghana from the ITS Department of Albright College. These computers are in storage while we arrange for shipping. Expected delivery for the computers is July 2009.


Bookmaking Pilot Project in Ghana
President Thurston traveled to Ghana to start a pilot project titled, "Making Books in Ghana". Using simple technology (a laptop and printer) and special bookmaking software (RealeWriter) he worked with students to write, create, and print their own unique stories into books.



You can read the books at
http://ghana.realelibrary.com

Engage in an interactive presentation of the project and view Thurston's Journal at
http://makingbooksinghana.org

or watch videos at
http://www.youtube.com/user/jonthur



Donation of a video conferencing unit to the Cape Coast Poly Tech University in Ghana.




President Thurston was also able to donate a state of the art video conferencing system to the Poly-Tech University in Cape Coast. This is part of our global studies initiative. We plan to begin international video conferencing exchanges using this technology.

2007: The International School of Art, Business, and Technology in Ghana

2007

In the Spring of 2007, Jonathan Thurston, Trudy Obazee, Sarah Philbrick, and Rex Otu, inspired by the enthusiasm and dedication of the students and teachers of Ghana and bound together with a dedication towards building global educational bridges, founded the educational Non-Profit organization titled;

“The International School of Art, Business, and Technology in Ghana” in the United States, and non-governmental organization status in Ghana under the same name.

During this year, Professor Thurston and Professor Obazee both received research grants to study the Ghanaian educational system in relation to the American systems titled;

Albright College Research Experience Grant: “Improving the Education of African Students through the study of technology and its usage in education.”

and

Albright College Professional Development Grant: “Comparing the American Educational System to the Ghanaian Education System in regards to Primary and Junior Secondary School”



The research involved traveling to Ghana and interviewing both teachers and students at three schools in Ghana; Brenu JSS, Elmina Methodist JSS, and Teshi-5 SS.

Part of our summer work also involved bringing donations of books, school materials, calculators, and writing supplies to each school.

2006: The International School of Art, Business, and Technology in Ghana

Dear Friends,

I am going to attempt to catalog our projects from the past few years by breaking it down into year by year segments, starting with 2006.


2006

Jonathan Thurston (Assistant Professor and Department Chair of Digital Media Program at Albright College) takes a class of Albright College students to Ghana the summer of 2006 to study West African Folklore and History in a video documentary format.

http://www.albright.edu/albrightian/archives/11_02_2006.pdf

The class students were also able to help transport 8 much needed computers to Ghana to assist the NGO Women in Progress with the philanthropic efforts in Ghana.
http://www.womeninprogress.org/