6 World Education Blog

The twentieth century saw much technological advancement in many social spheres ranging from the discovery of the radio, the aeroplane, the atomic bomb and the apex was the going to the moon. All these technological advancements had adverse impacts on the life style of the communities around the world. However, most importantly, is the invention of the Internet and the intranet which historic achievement has greatly impacted on the academic life of many universities around the world. The period of the 1990s ushered in a new world order; the beginnings of the idea of globalisation and its immediate impacts on higher education developments. Globalisation represents the international system that is shaping most societies today including university programs. It is a process that is “super charging” the interaction and integration of cultures, politics, business and intellectual elements around the world.

This paper examines the effects of globalization in terms of technological transformations on the development of universities. The pursuit of technological transformation in higher education has become widespread in Sub-Saharan Africa with the extensive pervasiveness of global networks like the Internet and Intranet as institutions struggle to prepare students for effective participation in the emerging global knowledge economy. Technologically based education is further seen as a way to address the increase in the world demand for tertiary education. The one new university per week is required to keep pace with world population growth but the resources necessary are not available. For instance, since the time of the overwhelmingly increased student enrolments in many public universities in Uganda from the 1990s and onwards, existing resources and infrastructure have not increased commensurate to the same increase in the student capacity. Lecture theatres and libraries are flooding and infrastructure and instructional materials and staff are all constrained with the alarmingly increased student populations. Higher education must develop more cost-effective methods so that public resources can be increased and effectively utilized. A lecture theatre in a public university that sits over 300 continue reading

We have all heard it. The real estate bubble has burst or is at the very least deflating. Homeowners in approximately two-thirds of the country are watching their home equity melt away. While bemoaning the fact your equity loss is painful, there is still time to look sensibly for housing deals and act accordingly if we begin reassessing how we view real estate.

This article is the first of a series that will provide an explanation of the phenomenon of the housing bubble, why it had to burst and perhaps most importantly, how we should now approach housing as the housing market corrects. Rest assured, the long term picture of rising property values will return as it is fundamently still your best and most important investment. However, in the meantime we need to take stock, just as we would any investment, and assess which way to go from here.

Unless you are a professional investor, most people view their home as a place to live and raise their family while paying bills using wages earned in a growing local economy. Perhaps it is time to look at your home for what it really is a commodity. And just as any commodity, whether it is common stock, pork bellies or real estate, it is subject to the same economic principles that will make its price increase one day and fall the next. The only real difference is the amount of time it will take for the housing market to respond to those factors influencing its price.

What is it that causes your home to have value? The obvious answer is and always will be how much demand is there by potential buyers of your home. Think of it a like selling art. Its selling price is determined solely by what others will pay for it. If the art looks as if it were scrawled on the back of an envelope, you will have few buyers. Conversely, if the art has mass appeal, much like the famous Currier and Ives prints seen so frequently on classic Christmas cards, then there will be more potential buyers.

The greater the number of potential buyers creates the demand (as defined in economic terms) for your home. If you are located in an area where the local economy is brisk, companies are expanding, everybody is enjoying an increasing standard of living, there will obviously be greater demand for housing in the area as more job seekers move to the community in an effort to cash-in on the local continue reading

Beijing has been the world’s focus of attention for international events in 2008: the Olympic Games in August, and the Paralympic Games in September. From October 3rd to 8th, Beijing will host the 2008 World Folk Song Festival, featuring performers from 25 different countries and 13 Chinese provinces.

The six-day extravaganza will be held at Beijing’s colossal National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), a 600,000 sq. ft. facility nicknamed “The Egg”. A reflective pool in front of the majestic dome gives the illusion of a gigantic egg suspended in mid air. For one week, the NCPA will echo with songs from around the world and will introduce Chinese audiences to some of the finest folk music and traditions from around the world. Sones de Mexico Ensemble will perform live in concert in the National Centre for the Performing Arts Theatre on Monday, October 6th at 2:00pm. The group will give a performance presentation in the NCPA Conference Hall on Tuesday, October 7th, at 3:00pm.

Sones de Mexico Ensemble, a Mexican independent folk group and arts organization from Chicago, whose 2007 album “Esta Tierra es Tuya (This Land Is Your Land)” garnered both GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY nominations last year, received an unsolicited invitation from the Festival selection committee in late May.

Juan Dies, a co-founder of the group, said “I was just as surprised as anyone else that we would have been selected, especially when we discovered that we were the only group attending from the United States.”

Besides their “norteno” homage to Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land”, the group is mainly known for preserving a tradition of folk songs collectively known as “son”, from Mexico’s diverse cultural regions, performing them with a preservationist’s care on a collection of over 70 acoustic instruments.

In an interview for China Radio International, Chen Ziming, an expert on folk music and also a professor in the Central Conservatory of Music, said that the festival is a good chance to broaden people’s understanding of world folk music and to change the long-time focus solely on European music.

When asked about his selection criteria, Ma Wenjie, the organizing committee’s liaison to the American continue reading