View Recording
System & Device Check
About the Class
Dr. Nellie Deutsch in conversation with Ken Banks
Dr. Nellie Deutsch
Ken Banks
About Ken Banks
Ken Banks graduated from the University of Sussex, UK in 1999 with honors in Social Anthropology with Development studies and between 2006 and 2007 he was based at Stanford University as a Visiting Fellow on the Reuters Digital Vision Program.
He is the founder of kiwanja.net which helps social innovators and entrepreneurs to make a better use of technology in their work. He is also the creator of FrontlineSMS, a software which enables users to connect mobile devices to computer and turn it into a communication hub without an internet connection.
With an experience of more than 19 years working and living in Africa, Banks is well-known in the community of technology & design innovation, and has been honored with many International awards, such as the prestigious Cambridge News Business Excellence Awards (2012), Pizzigati Prize for Software in the Public Interest (2011), Ashoka Fellowship (2011), Member of the UK Prime Minister's Delegation to Africa (2011), National Geographic Emerging Explorer (2010), Tech Awards Laureate (2009), Pop!Tech Social Innovation Fellow (2008) and Faculty Member, Reuters Digital Vision Fellow at Stanford University (2006) and still the list goes on.
Ken devotes himself to kiwanja.net- “where technology meets anthropology, conservation and development.” kiwanja.net focuses on projects which lower barriers to entry and put the power of technology in hands of those who need it most. The full focus is on the end user, typically grassroots non-profits and innovators who are often overlooked in today’s high technology- driven development sector. Some of these projects are:
1. FrontlineSMS - an SMS service which has been specially designed for the rural areas of developing countries that were unable to use technology. Today it is being used in over eighty countries around the world in a wide range of non-profit activities.
2. Means of Exchange project which looks at how emerging, everyday technologies can be used to democratize opportunities for economic self-sufficiency, rebuild local communities and promote a return to local resource use.
3. Silverback is a mobile phone game which takes advantage of the game-playing features of today's mobile phones, and over eight levels teaches people about gorilla conservation.
kiwanja.net partners with a number of organizations like UNEP, Fauna and Flora and The Grameen Technology Center in their endeavor to spread technology in every corner of world.
For more information on Ken, visit kiwanja.net
Get in touch with Ken Banks:
Twitter
About Dr. Nellie Deutsch
Nellie holds a Doctor of Education (Ed.D) in educational leadership specializing in curriculum & instruction and is an E-Learning Professional Development Specialist.
She is the founder of Integrating Technology for Active Lifelong Learning (IT4ALL), an online informal network of volunteers that provides free and low-cost professional development workshops for educators around the world. The hands-on workshops help teachers learn to integrate technology into blended and fully online classes for private and public courses.
Language of instruction:
English
Keywords: wiziq conversations, wiziq