Use Technology to Become Creators – BCJ
By: , June 2, 2013
The Full Story
Assistant Executive Director of the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica (BCJ), Karlene Salmon Johnson, is urging young people to use the power of technology to bring their creative ideas to life.
Mrs. Salmon Johnson, who was addressing students of the Jones Town Primary School in Kingston yesterday (May 30), at their career day event, told the students that they already have a “natural ability” for using electronic devices such as I-phones, I-pads and blackberry phones.
“As soon as you see them you know how to use them because you are what we call the digital generation. It comes naturally to you,” she said.
Giving examples of young Jamaican creators, Mrs. Salmon Johnson mentioned a team from the Northern Caribbean University (NCU) that won first place at the 2010 World Microsoft Imagine Cup in Warsaw, Poland. In 2007, she said, another NCU team placed third in the software design category of the competition in South Korea.
She noted that the NCU students were competing with persons from “well-equipped and well-resourced,” countries such as the United States of America, France, Russia, China and Japan.
“Even though we don’t have some of the same advantages as some of these developed countries, our youth are showing that we are as great as, or even greater than them,” she said.
Mrs. Salmon Johnson also spoke to the students about careers in the virtual economy and cautioned them against putting certain information on social network sites such as Facebook, which could negatively impact their future.
The presentation by the BCJ was the second by the BCJ during Child Month in May, under the theme: ‘Children’s Care and Protection: A Fi Wi Mission’. A similar presentation was made at the New Day Primary and Junior High School in Kingston at their Career Day on May 21.
Meanwhile, a team from the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) joined the BCJ at Jones Town Primary. The students were shown how to take pictures using a professional camera by JIS photographer, Melroy Sterling.
CONTACT: E. HARTMAN RECKORD