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6 Ways Your Child Can benefit from Early Exposure to Technology

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New and emerging technologies have always been associated with the younger generations. Older people tend to be set in their ways, leaving tech-savvy millennials in the forefront of discovering and embracing new devices as they arrive on the scene.

 

Younger people learn more quickly and that goes for technology in the same way it goes for everything else.

 

A major question posed by the Research and Development Unit of Yudala, Nigeria’s fastest growing online and offline e-commerce outfit is: what age is suitable for kids to be exposed to technology?

 

This is a question all parents have to answer during their children’s formative years: the decision on when a child can be allowed access to technological gadgets such as laptops, tablets and smartphones.

 

Instructively, recent studies show that active or interactive technology and screen time can actually help develop and improve your kid’s learning, when used appropriately.

 

After a review of the Kids Legacy Tab, a new product designed by Nigeria’s foremost technology company, Zinox Technologies Ltd., the Research and Development Unit of Yudala arrived at a number of ways children can benefit from early exposure to modern technology:

 

Develop Maths Skills

Research show that younger children are more interested in the short-term goals of games, which are essential in problem solving.

Logic games, obstacle courses and other applications on tech devices go a long way to help build your child’s basic mathematic skills by imbuing them with the capacity for quantitative reasoning.

For parents, this is very important as the phobia or apathy often expressed by most people for Mathematics is often a result of wrong or late to exposure to its usefulness in the analysis and interpretation of real-world quantitative information.

 

Improve Language Skills

The benefits of technology for kids especially at an early age are numerous. One of such areas is in the aspect of developing their language skills.

Designed as a critical foundational tool targeted at children from the ages of 3 – 13, the Kids Legacy Tab ranks as one of the most fitting gadgets to introduce kids to technology and new ways of learning such as word pronunciation.

There are many such applications and games to help boost their vocabulary and teach them to look for word meanings when they come across an unfamiliar word.

 

More Visually Attentive Kids

Exposure to games and other relevant applications on tech devices can help raise a generation of more visually attentive kids.

This is because a significant amount of attention to detail is required on the part of kids when exposed to visually-stimulating contents on tablets and other entry-level gadgets.

A device such as the Kids Legacy Tab which comes pre-loaded with over 50 educational and fun games can help build the requisite attention to detail and capacity for visual attention in children.

 

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is a buzzword that is becoming increasingly relevant in the contemporary work-place.

Most organizations today prioritize the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically.

This quality can be developed in your child right from an early age through exposure to technology. There are numerous emotional intelligence apps pre-loaded on tablets which teach kids what emotions are, how they work, and how to use them and manage them for social interaction and learning.

Among other things, these applications teach a child how to recognize other people’s emotions, to discriminate among the different feelings, and to label them appropriately.

Armed with this insight, your child can learn from an early age how to refrain from emotional outbursts and undisciplined loss of self-control, thus leading to a well-rounded personality.

 

Build discipline and self-motivation

Exposing your child to technology from an early age is a sure way of building discipline and self-motivation, two qualities that are ultimately crucial to your child’s future development.

A lot of games and activities on tech devices such as the Kids Legacy Tab often require the user to complete a task in order to progress to another level.

To complete the entire course requires a huge dose of mental discipline and personal resolve. As a result, exposure to these learning apps inadvertently challenges a child and pushes him/her to strive to go the extra lengths in order to enjoy the thrill and satisfaction that comes from achieving.

Your child, therefore, develops a disciplined mindset that sees challenges as surmountable as long as he/she keeps trying to overcome them. This is effortlessly transferred to real-life situations.

 

Develop New Talents

Technology can help unearth hitherto-hidden skills and talents in your child. From being exposed to playing certain musical instruments or skills such as painting on the screen of a tablet, for instance, your child can develop a keen interest which may see him/her becoming proficient at these activities.

With the aid of technology which bridges the gap, you may not even have to pay the hefty fees of enrolling your child in a physical music or painting class to learn.

There are loads of apps that your child can take advantage of to learn and become the next Mozart or Leonardo da Vinci.

Early exposure to technology has the potential to unlock amazing new interests in your child which, coupled with the natural curiosity in kids, can transform your child into a whiz-kid.

A note of caution: It is important to mention that parental supervision is key. A child should not be given a tablet without supervision.

Handing over a tech device to your child requires a great level of responsibility so, as a parent, be sure to trust your instinct.

However, the fact is allowing children have access to tech devices can benefit them in many ways.

As a parent, you may understandably be nervous at first, but there are some real, tangible benefits to be had from exposing your child to tech devices such as tablets.

Most experts recommend not more than a half hour of screen time per sitting for a child. This is bearing in mind that tablets may be addictive for children because it allows quick, instant access to everything in the real world.

As long as parents do their best to monitor, protect, and prepare their children and usage doesn’t get out of hand, technology exposure can provide great opportunities for children to grow and develop that you may not have anticipated.

 


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Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

E-Business

StarNews, Global Black Economic Forum Launch Business Competition In Partnership with MTN & USAID

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Africa’s leading video streaming platform, StarNews Mobile and the Global Black Economic Forum (GBEF), have announced a call for applications for the launch of their Business Competition in Lagos, Nigeria.

Held in partnership with MTN and United Nations Agency for International Development (USAID), the initiative will empower Nigeria’s most promising businesses that are classified as Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with invaluable investment and partnership opportunities from the USA.

Held over 10 weeks between April 8th to June 14th, hosted exclusively on the StarNews Biz Channel on the StarNews platform, this competition offers a platform for emerging entrepreneurs to showcase their ventures and gain national visibility.

With subscribers voting for their favourite candidates, the top 20 contestants will seize the spotlight and make their mark on the business landscape.

The StarNews Business Competition in partnership with GBEF delivers a unique opportunity for thriving Nigerian SMEs to access mentoring, funding, partnerships and socio-economic development tools through the Global Black Economic Forum.

With the prospect of securing cash prizes through StarNews worth up to NGN5,000,000, getting access to StarNews’s network of investors and the opportunity to gain national visibility by having their business on the StarNews web platform.

The top three winners will also receive coaching from GBEF’s Academy for Advancing Excellence and become part of GBEF’s ecosystem of global leaders committed to social and economic justice across the Black Diaspora.

Previous speakers at GBEF convenings from the entertainment sector include Wyclef Jean (Haitian Musician & Activist), Debra Lee (Former CEO of Black Entertainment Television – BET) and Ceci Kurzman (Founder of Nexus Management Group). Applications will close on April 5th 2024.

Speaking on the competition’s launch, Guy Kamgaing, Founder and CEO at StarNews Mobile, says “The StarNews Business Competition is a passion project close to our hearts at StarNews Mobile.

It’s about discovering the most promising business entrepreneurs and creators in Nigeria, opening up global opportunities for them and providing them with the resources and tools to achieve their goals.

By partnering with MTN, USAID and GBEF, we want to be a platform of empowerment for these SMEs by helping them give back to the communities that are supporting them.”

According to the US Embassy and Consulate for Nigeria, over 80% of Nigerian startups are incorporated in the United States and more than 60% of venture capital funding in Nigerian startups accounted for by the US.

In 2023 alone, Nigerian startups raised a total of $398mn however, this signalled a 66% funding decline compared to 2022 due to the global economic downturn, reinforcing the massive need for a fresh injection of capital and business support for Nigeria’s emerging SMEs.

Alphonso David, President and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum notes that, “Our partnership with StarNews Mobile is a critical resource as we continue to build the collective strength of entrepreneurship across the Diaspora.

“Building a sustainable ecosystem of Black entrepreneurs in the United States and across the African continent is essential to create a future that makes economic opportunity and economic freedom a reality for all.”

A sister company to ESSENCE, GBEF advances its work by convening global summits and conferences, bringing together world leaders, business leaders, entrepreneurs, celebrities and civic leaders to address the most challenging problems facing our communities.

GBEF’s Academy for Advancing Excellence facilitates workforce and leadership development strategy, addressing the talent pipeline & employee lifecycle, providing leadership development & coaching, and conducting institutional assessments & research.

GBEF also develops and implements economic and social justice policy recommendations with partners ranging from civil and human rights organisations to government entities and corporations that advocate for economic opportunity, social justice, and health equity through thought leadership, advocacy and litigation.

Launched in 2017, StarNews Mobile empowers African content creators with the unique opportunity to monetize their work through a subscription model, boasting over 4 million subscribers and a thriving community of more than 120 content creators.

With a strong presence across six countries including Cameroon, Nigeria, Côte D’Ivoire, Congo, Benin and Ghana, the platform has also established key partnerships with major telecom operators such as MTN and Orange.

To-date, StarNews Mobile has secured over $8mn in funding with its most recent raise – a $3mn pre-Series A funding round in October 2023 – led by Janngo Capital with participation from French football players Aurélien Tchouaméni, Jules Koundé and Mike Maignan.

 


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Companies Invest More than $100,000 Yearly to Upskill their Cybersecurity Teams – Study Reveals

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Over 70% of businesses pay more than USD $100,000 for additional training annually to keep skills of their cybersecurity employees up to date, a recent global Kaspersky study has revealed.

However, the surveyed companies also highlighted that there was a lack of relevant courses covering new challenging spheres in the educational market and stated that training does not always bring them the expected result.

In its recent study ‘The portrait of the modern Information Security professional’, Kaspersky examined the topic of the global cybersecurity staff shortage, analysing the exact reasons businesses lack cybersecurity experts, and identifying the ways they evaluate and upskill their cybersecurity workforce¹.

According to the research, companies are investing significant amounts in upskilling their cybersecurity teams: 43% of organisations globally say they usually spend between $100,000 and $200,000 per year on information security courses, while 31% even invest over $200,000 for training programs. The remaining 26% state they usually pay less than $100,000 for educational initiatives².

However, cybersecurity practitioners also note that the educational market is struggling to keep up with the rapidly changing industry and fail to deliver the necessary training programs on time.

Survey results for the Middle East, Turkiye, Africa (META) region shows that the scarcity of courses covering new challenging spheres (48%) was the main problem for those searching for cybersecurity training.

50% of respondents from the META region also stated that trainees tend to forget what they learned because they had no opportunity to apply newly acquired knowledge, therefore the courses were useless to them.

The need for special training pre-requisites such as coding and advanced mathematics, which were not specified at the pre-registration stage were also problematic for 37% of practitioners from the META region.

“With a constantly evolving threat landscape, businesses should continually improve the skills of their cybersecurity personnel in order to be well prepared for sophisticated cyberattacks.

“Developing high-profile specialists within the company and building internal expertise can be an effective strategy for organisations that aim to retain existing employees and allow them to grow professionally, instead of constantly hunting for new candidates and checking their professional backgrounds and practical skills.

“For organisations served by Managed Service Providers it is also important to maintain a pretty high level of expertise internally and use the same language when discussing the scope of services and Service Level Agreement with them,” comments Veniamin Levtsov, VP, Center of Corporate Business Expertise at Kaspersky.


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Heirs Insurance Launches User-friendly Website for Stakeholders

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Heirs Insurance Group, Nigeria’s fastest growing insurance group, has launched a new website that delivers the most user-friendly insurance experience in the industry.

Heirs Insurance Launches User-friendly Website for Stakeholders

In addition to its features that aid simple navigation, the website also personalizes the insurance experience taking customers through a short journey that enables them to make decisions quickly on the best insurance plan to support their personal and business success, or access competent insurance advisors to speak with.

According to Ifesinachi Okpagu, chief marketing officer, Heirs Insurance Group, the website, www.heirs insurance group.com, embodies the ethos of the brand: the delivery of simple, quick, and accessible insurance service that delights customers and brings the uninsured much closer to taking up insurance plans.

She said: “Today’s customers want simplicity and this new website delivers on that request, ensuring that people find the right insurance solutionsfor their needs in a few minutes. We are empowering customers to take control of their lives, their businesses, assets, and their most cherished people.” Heirs Insurance Group has been at the forefront of pioneering a new era of insurance solutions since its launch with the roll-out of various initiatives including a seamless mobile app, USSD; Prince, its intuitive chatbot; InConnect, its partnership portal Digital Experience Centre; and more. With the launch of this website, Heirs Insurance Group solidifies its position as the leading digital insurance company in Nigeria, democratising access to insurance for all.


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