eFOCUS MAGAZINE _issue1o

OUR TEAM 

KIMONA GORDON 

A very talented and creative communications 

professional that always aim to surpass every 

expectation and shatter all the boxes that fail 

to contain her. 

She has taken on the role as one of the editors 

for this magazine and brings her personal flair 

and appreciation for colours and imagery to 

the fore. 

NICHOLAS SAMUELS 

There is an air of mystery surrounding Nicholas 

and his abilities. He is a technologist by day, a 

caring and dedicated father by night but finds 

time to continue to innovate and find solutions 

to all sundry of problems he encounters. 

He has also taken on the role as one of the 

editors for this magazine paying special attention 

to details. 

2 

eFOCUS MAGAZINE

ASHA-DAE ALERT 

Relatively new to assisting executives in the 

corporate world, Asha Dae decided to take the 

leap in the world of communications. 

Her experience in the field has captivated 

her to share creative ideas and get involved 

in outreach activities within the field of Public 

Relations. 

CHRISTOPHER LAMBERT 

Christopher has a technology background 

being one of the company’s gatekeepers and 

has an eye for design which he hones from the 

maintenance of the company’s website. 

He is enthused to take on a variety of different 

challenges each day which is always an 

opening to grow his skill set in web design and 

graphic design. 

eFOCUS MAGAZINE 

3

CONTENTS 

02. OUR TEAM 

06. MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (ACTG.) 

07. UPDATE ON THE STATUS OF THE TABLETS IN SCHOOLS PROJECT 

10. ROBOTICS AT JAMAICA COLLEGE: THE NEVERENDING JOURNEY 

14. VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS IN THE CLASSROOM 

15. TECHNOLOGY - THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 

16. ENTER KRISTOFFERSON – UCA’S VISIONARY 

18. JOBS OF THE FUTURE 

20. BRAIN TWISTA 

21. AUGMENTED REALITY – THE NEXT BIG THING 

4 



5

MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF 

EXECUTIVE OFFICER (ACTG.) 

Over the past 12 years, 

e-Learning Jamaica 

Company Limited 

(e-LJam) has played its 

part in transforming 

the teaching and learning environments 

in Jamaican public educational 

institutions through the use 

of Information and Communication 

Technologies (ICT’s). 

To keep our stakeholders informed, 

e-LJam is relaunching our Newsletter 

entitled ‘eFocus’. 

eFocus is a technology-based online 

magazine that will highlight the company’s 

activities which have impacted 

the educational system through the 

use of technology. It will also have 

a mix of other interesting features 

and provide a platform to showcase 

talents and accomplishments 

of individuals, groups with special 

emphasis on teachers and students 

that have been making a profound 

contribution to the field. 

It is our earnest hope that you 

find encouragement, comfort and 

inspiration as you peruse our online 

presence. 

Enjoy!! 

Izett McCalla 

6 


UPDATE ON THE STATUS OF THE 

TABLETS IN SCHOOLS PROJECT 

Teachers were immersed in hands-on activities which had them engaged as 

content creators 

At the request of the Ministry 

of Science and Technology 

(MSET), e-Learning Jamaica 

Company Limited (e-LJam) is 

collaborating with the Ministry 

of Education, Youth and Information 

(MOEYI) along with the Universal 

Service Fund (USF) to implement the 

Tablets in Schools (TIS) Project in 

selected public educational institutions 

over the next eleven years. The rollout 

of the TIS project will see the use of 

tablets as the major support strategy 

in the teaching and learning process. 

The Government of Jamaica will be 

providing tablets to selected public 

schools which serve pre-primary and 

primary aged students throughout 

Jamaica as well as the ten (10) teachers 

colleges, and twenty-two (22) State 

Care facilities for a total of 1,106 

institutions. 

e-Learning Jamaica Company Limited’s 

(e-LJam) training unit has been 

providing support in the delivery of 

Mind Set Change training for School 

Administrators, specifically principals, 

vice principals and senior teachers, 

during the period November 21, 2017, 

to February 8, 2018. These intensive 

3-day sessions were conducted in 

partnership with the National College 

for Educational Leadership (NCEL). 

These sessions were geared towards 

equipping school administrators with 

the skill set necessary to lead/guide the 

transformation process and facilitate 

the wide-scale use of technology 

within their institutions. Participants 

were exposed to content covering six 

modules: 

• Mind Set Change for ICT Integration 

• Visionary Leadership for ICT 

Integration 

• Instructional Leadership for ICT 

Integration 

• Professional Leadership for ICT 

Integration 

• Organizational Leadership for ICT 

Integration 

• Ethical Leadership for ICT Integration. 

The Ministry of Education Youth and 

Information (MOEYI) supported the 

sessions through Education Officers 

from the various regions whom 

engaged the participants in robust 

discussions as they created policies 

to support the use of Information 

Communication Technology (ICT) in 

their respective schools. Over 360 

Administrators successfully completed 

this training exercise. 

Having successfully completed 

the Mind Set Change training, 

administrators were tasked with 

the delivery of a revised Mind Set 

Change training to include all teachers 

in each school. This has exposed 

approximately 3500 teachers to the 

following topics for over eight hours: 

• Mind Set Change for ICT Integration 

• Instructional Leadership for ICT 

Integration 

• ICT Integration and Professional 

Leadership 

• Digital Citizenship for ICT Integration 

The completion of the Mind Set Change 

teacher training saw heightened 

preparations for the delivery of Basic 

ICT training to over 2400 teachers 

in all project institutions excluding 

the Teachers’ Colleges. The Basic 

ICT training saw us engaging the 

Institute of International Recognized 

Qualifications (IIRQ), the local 

representatives of City and Guilds, to 

train just over 150 Trainer of Trainers 

to deliver ‘Start IT User Level 3’ across 

the project institutions. The trainers 


7

were drawn from a pool of IT Teachers 

at the secondary level or primary level 

teachers displaying key competencies 

indicating that they could deliver Basic 

ICT training to their colleagues with 

further training. This training was 

conducted over a period of six weeks 

for a total of 45 hours of face-to-face 

interaction with an assigned trainer 

and another 15 hours of independent 

work. The course was competencybased 

and teachers were required to 

submit a physical portfolio comprising 

8 key tasks to their trainers for grading 

and certification by City & Guilds. 

The completion of the Basic ICT 

training was a prerequisite for the 

Technology Integration Training 

which all teachers need to complete. 

The week of July 2-6, 2018 saw 

approximately 90 teachers from 

Regions Four (Hanover, St. James 

& Westmoreland) and Region Six 

(Clarendon & St. Catherine) being 

trained over three days in the 

Technology Integration content 

covering: 

• Getting Started 

• ICT & Pedagogy 

• Digital Citizenship 

• Designing and Producing 

• Communication and Collaboration 

• Research, Critical Thinking and 

Problem Solving. 

Teachers were immersed in hands-on 

activities which had them engaged 

as content creators while they 

explored different components of 

the Technology Integration Training 

manual. Having successfully completed 

the three days of training, these 

trainers were tasked to deliver an initial 

two days of training involving the use 

of existing technological tools (laptops, 

desktops and smartphones) to their 

colleagues for 12 hours. Teachers 

were exposed to content covering ICT 

& Pedagogy and Digital Citizenship 

over days one and two respectively. 

An additional four days of training 

involving the use of tablet computers 

is to be completed by all teachers from 

Regions Four and Six in late August of 

2018. 

The training team will provide ongoing 

coaching and support to the teachers 

as they integrate technology into 

their lessons. The team will also host 

meetings with the Curriculum team to 

discuss the operation of the project 

in the schools. They will also be given 

6 hours of troubleshooting training 

to deal with issues relating to the 

equipment they will receive. 

8 



9

ROBOTICS AT JAMAICA COLLEGE: 

THE NEVERENDING JOURNEY 

There is a space for all our members irrespective of their skillsets 

The main aim of The Robotics 

Club is to inspire creative 

young minds to build 

work-efficient robots to assist 

humans in work and play. As 

well as building an innovative team to 

surpass previous members and 

elevate to the World Championship 

overcoming any obstacle which we 

will face in the process. 

The Mission of the Jamaica College 

(JC) Robotics Club is to entrust our 

knowledge to the future members of 

our club in order to maintain sustainability. 

In addition, strive to achieve 

excellence in all aspects of the 

competitions. 

As a science-driven institution, JC 

seeks to embrace the best practices 

while integrating technology and 

realizing value from the resources 

available. Appropriate use of technology 

encourages achievement and 

student success. Projects embarked 

upon by JC include the implementation 

of the Information Communication 

and Technology (ICT) Steering 

Committee, integration of a school 

management system, subscription to 

an electronic library, upgrades to the 

core networks infrastructure and the 

training of all staff members in the 

relevant technology as desired. 

The Jamaica College Robotics Club 

was formed in 2009 as an initiative to 

inspire high school students to be 

science and technology leaders in 

their pursuit of higher education and 

ultimately their careers. It also 

engages students to cultivate 

engineering and technological skills 

through innovative thinking. Since its 

inception, The Robotics Club has 

been an active part of the school’s 

community giving club attendees/ 

members, and to a lesser extent the 

rest of the school’s population, an 

opportunity to apply what is being 

taught in the classrooms. This 

programme has reignited an interest 

in science, technology, engineering 

and mathematics (STEM) based 

courses in accordance with the way 

the world is currently focused. 

There is no specific requirement for 

students to join the club. However, a 

requirement to be a part of the 

competitions is that you have to be 

an affiliate of a US organization. The 

Jamaica College Old Boys Association 

(JCOBA) New York Chapter registered 

our JC through their company in New 

York. They (Old Boys) brought the 

idea to the then Principal, currently, 

Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, Minister 

of Education, Youth and Information. 

Some outcomes we hope to achieve 

through participation for the lower 

school members is exposure, 

networking and building rapport with 

persons outside of Jamaica. For the 

upper school members, it is the same 

with the added opportunity to secure 

scholarships for colleges and universities 

overseas. 

Over a nine-year period, the team 

has entered competitions to not only 

challenge themselves but to prove to 

the world that talent exists right here 

in Jamaica and have won approximately 

twenty awards. The competitions 

typically are not about who 

comes first, second or third but 

rather to showcase talent. This 

season the team won over five 

awards and last season over four 

awards. The Inspire award was won 

in 2013 and 2018 which is a top 

10 


award given to a team demonstrating 

multiple criteria outlined in the chart 

to the right. 

One of these competitions is the 

FIRST Tech Challenge which is a world 

championship competition for 

students in grades 7-12 to develop 

lifelong skills such as problem-solving, 

organization, and team-building by 

designing, building, and programming 

robots to perform prescribed tasks. 

FIRST Tech Challenge is more than a 

robot competition; in addition to 

robot matches, teams are also 

eligible to win judged awards. 

Choosing award winners is a difficult 

task. The judged awards represent a 

positive way to recognize teams who 

embody important values like 

gracious professionalism, teamwork, 

creativity, innovation, and the value of 

the engineering design process. 

As a result of the experiences shared 

during these competitions, the 

majority of the boys remain a part of 

the club and the team. Some of the 

coaches are past members of the 

team like the programming coach, 

technical coach and advisors from 

the 2013 team who won the 1st 

inspire award. The support for the 

club is overwhelming as is the 

number of persons wanting to join 

the club. As a result of this, there are 

now two meeting times, one for lower 

school and one for upper school as 

the space in the lab doesn’t allow for 

one meeting. Members of the club 

are boys with interest in technology. 

However, how the club is structured, 

there are different departments, 

namely, Engineering, Technical, 

Technical Writing, Marketing and 

Public Relations Departments. This 

means that there is a space for all 

our members irrespective of their 

skillsets as they cover quite a range 

for all with interest in the club, even 

those that might not have been 

originally thought to be associated 

with the disciplines typically associated 

with a technology-based club. 

There are four main areas of expertise 

required for competitions which 

are the actual building of the robots, 

the programming which enables the 

robot to move, drivers for the bots 

that navigate the courses to complete 

the required tasks and the Computer 

Aided Design (CAD) which is the 

creation of the 3D Design of the 

robot in soft copy. These are all 

requirements and must be submitted 

prior to competitions. Initially, 

everyone wants to be a driver of 

course, but engineers and programmers 

are excluded as they have their 

own tasks to do while the driving is in 

progress. As a result, members have 

in-house competitions to pick the two 

best drivers for competitions. The 

team matures significantly with the 

challenges provided at these competitions 

as the boys are allowed leverage 

to explore. Coaches cannot be seen 

interacting with the members of the 

team during this time and if there is a 

problem they have to fix it on their 

own. Prior to the competition, however, 

assistance is provided with the 

programming aspect as the language 

taught in the syllabus is not the 

language used in the competition. 

They are given homework and provided 

with different links to expand 

their knowledge. 

A challenge faced by the club though, 

is that there are not enough resources 

to facilitate learning and interaction 

with a very hands-on approach. Due to 

lack of space and components, the 

resources are only used by the 

competition team. In light of this fact, 

the bots created cannot be retired/ 

preserved at the end of competitions. 

A disassembling ceremony is held at 

the end of the year where the robots 

are disassembled and the parts that 

can be reused for the next competition 

are safely stored until the next 

competition. Unfortunately, the robots 


11

get damaged during each competition 

and we lose components. When 

this happens, it diminishes the 

available resources and components 

for the next time we compete. It is 

the hope, however, to get to a point 

where the robots can be retired so 

that the club can look back and see 

how far they have grown and how 

much has been achieved through the 

hard work and dedication of its 

members. 

As a testament to the work and 

achievements of the club, there have 

been placements in TTech as they 

have taken some of our boys for 

internships. The Gore Foundation, on 

the other hand, wants to start a 

robotics camp and has asked some 

of our members to be a part of the 

camp and assist with training. The 

Liguanea Sports Club also invited the 

members to be facilitators of a 

Robotics programme/summer camp. 

Other members have been speakers/ 

presenters at conferences such as 

the Jamaica Teacher’s Association 

(JTA) Annual Conference, e-Learning 

Jamaica Company Limited’s Technology 

Day, TTech, Excel Community 

College etc. 

On a lighter note, a fun part of the 

process is getting to name the bots 

before they are entered into the 

competition. The names of the robots 

for this year were Scorpion and The 

Butcher. They were decorated with 

vinyl with the logos of our sponsors. 

The Scorpion was given the name 

after building the robot for the super 

regionals in Pennsylvania, it started to 

look like a scorpion. The Butcher is 

named after Mr Butch Hendrickson, 

owner of the National Baking Company, 

our major sponsor. 

Sponsorship is a vital part of achieving 

what we have done year after 

year. Ability alone can only take us so 

far, but without the financial assistance 

and support from sponsors, we 

would not have been able to turn up 

and represent our school or nation at 

these events. In all the years we have 

been competing, this year, in particular, 

we really felt the love and support. 

We felt the support from JC as 

they helped with fundraising and in 

cases where the boys were pulled 

from classes, they were given 

supplemental papers to make up for 

test and exams. 

With regards to corporate Jamaica, 

this year we had a few companies 

willing to come on board. This year 

one of our biggest contributors was 

the National Baking Company and 

Gary ‘Butch’ Hendrickson has also 

committed to refurbishing the JC 

Robotics Lab which should be 

completed by mid-September of this 

year. Others include the Gore 

Foundation that provided the airline 

tickets, TTech for helping to prepare 

the team for interviews, Burger King 

for providing food at the airport, the 

JCOBA for providing transportation 

and registration, the Port Authority 

and Jamaica Broilers as well. The 

Engineering Department of the 

University of the West Indies has 

helped to coach the members of the 

team. 

Additional funding will always be appreciated 

as we compete against first 

world countries. Our competition has 

the advantage of better support from 

their school and interest groups, 

funding and access to a greater 

variety and quality of parts and other 

components needed to build the 

robots, practice with and test them 

prior to competing in events. We 

acknowledge the love and support 

received to get the team to the competitions, 

house and feed the team 

keeping us healthy and well cared for. 

But we also recognize that if we had 

better equipment and components, 

we could build a better robot and 

compete head-on with our first world 

counterparts. 

Going forward we are committed to 

continuous growth in the development 

of the boys with the honing 

of their skills, like problem-solving 

and critical thinking, as they learn 

and develop while playing their roles 

in the projects, fostering a greater 

involvement of STEM in Jamaica and 

the exposure of our members to 

first-world technology. 

Again, we love and appreciate all the 

support from which we have benefitted. 

As we grow, as we develop and 

as we hone our skills and recognize 

that competing in these events is 

not just about the JC Robotics Club 

but that we represent our nation, 

Jamaica, we thrive to consistently improve 

our performances and reforge 

our dedication in each iteration to 

show the world that we are here to 

compete as equals! 

Much love from us to you as we 

continue to look forward to your 

continued support in our future 

endeavours. 

12 



13

VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS IN THE 

CLASSROOM 

Experiences can be shared without leaving the classroom 

Davia Bryan-Campbell 

Have you ever wondered 

what it would be like to 

climb Mount Everest or 

to navigate out in space? 

What about exploring 

inside a volcano or taking a trip to 

the Great Wall of China? All of this 

is possible in the classroom with 

Virtual Field Trips. A Virtual Field 

Trip is a collection of images, videos 

and websites or other digital media 

which enhances students learning 

through the interaction of content. 

It is also a guided exploration in 

which students can participate 

in interactive video conferencing. 

These field trips enable students 

to experience real-life activities in 

a simulated environment. It allows 

individuals to relive educational 

experiences or other memorable 

moments. Virtual Field Trip 

provides an avenue through which 

experiences can be shared without 

leaving the classroom. This results in 

a reduction of the costs and logistics 

that would have become necessary 

when planning a trip for a group of 

students or individuals. 

Virtual Field Trips can provide a 

host of experiences for students 

across various disciplines or 

subject matters. Students can 

use applications on their mobile 

technology to take or view 360 

photos taken at a specific place such 

as Green Grotto Cave. Students can 

also participate in more interactive 

Virtual Field Trips that includes 

audio and video using 360 view, for 

example, a trip to Mars. Interactive 

video conferences is another way 

in which students can gain new 

learning experiences like interacting 

with other students from other 

countries to learn about their 

culture and participate in street view 

activities. They can also conduct 

interviews with professionals in 

different fields across the world. 

Students and teachers can benefit 

from Virtual Field Trips given the 

ease of manipulation, which makes 

classroom activities more fun and 

interactive. It also allows for more 

creativity and innovation to be 

displayed in a classroom setting. 

These field trips can be created then 

shared between classes or even 

worldwide. Access to Virtual Field 

Trips created by others has been 

made easy through YouTube and 

other websites or social media. 

There are a number of websites 

and applications that can be used 

to create and view 360 panoramas 

and 360 virtual reality content with 

teachers and students across the 

globe. Examples of some of these 

sites and applications are Google 

Expeditions, Google Street View, 

Google Cardboard and Cardboard 

Camera, Discovery Education, 

YouTube and 360 videos. Students 

and teachers can also design and 

make VR Cardboards to view 360 

videos on their phones and to have 

immersive experiences in a simple 

and affordable way. Templates and 

instructions are available online 

to assist teachers and students to 

create their own VR Cardboard. 

The learners of the 21st century 

are able to engage in experiences 

otherwise seen as impossible 

because of prohibitive costs or 

other logistical issues by using 

Virtual Field Trips to engage the 

learners. The learning opportunities 

afforded through Virtual Field Trips 

allows for boundaries and barriers 

to be removed by incorporating 

technology in the classroom using 

the gamut of basic resources 

available. 

14 


TECHNOLOGY - THE FOURTH 

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 

The technology era is being labelled ‘The Fourth Industrial Revolution’ 


Melissa Warner 

Technology is changing the 

employment, entrepreneurial, 

and career landscape 

across the globe. Recent 

statistics indicate that 65% 

of children entering primary schools 

today will work in career fields that 

currently don’t exist. Changes within 

the job market are expected to 

accelerate by 2020, where office 

and administrative functions, along 

with manufacturing and production 

roles, will see dramatic declines. 

Conversely, business and financial 

operations along with digital computing 

power, biochemistry and mathematical 

functions will experience an 

incline. The central driver for many of 

these transformations is technology. 

Artificial intelligence, 3D printing, resource-efficient 

sustainable production, 

and robotics will factor into the 

ways we currently make, manage and 

mend products or deliver services. 

There has also been a notable 

transition from the traditional office 

format, to remote working, co-working 

spaces and teleconferencing as 

the principal driver of change. Concurrently, 

advances in mobile and 

cloud technologies that allow remote 

and instant access have been singled 

out as the most important techno- 

logical driver of the changes. These 

have been enabling the rapid spread 

of Internet-based service models that 

facilitate interconnected workspaces 

not tied to one place, but many. 

There will also be an influx of new job 

descriptions within the workforce, i.e. 

Data Scientist and Business Intelligence 

Analyst, which will require 

new skills in digital technologies 

from cloud architecture to social 

media. Many jobs will be automated 

or supplanted by machines. People, 

however, will always be the organizing 

force behind technology, bringing 

together technological resources and 

the direction of those resources to 

solve business problems while creating 

opportunities. 

The technology era is being labelled 

‘The Fourth Industrial Revolution’, 

as it will enable traditionally closed 

business models to decentralize 

economies and transition towards a 

more inclusive and accessible model, 

where personally owned assets, from 

cars to spare bedrooms, will expand 

entrepreneurship while diversifying 

revenue streams. This model will 

reshape how we do business either 

individually, or as companies globally 

as the increased connectivity to 

power, innovation and economic opportunities 

will create a more energy 

efficient, and connected world. 

Share your Technology articles 

with us for your chance to get 

published in the NEXT e-Focus 

issue by submitting them 

to: info@warner-co.com Share your 

technology 

articles 

with us 

for your 

chance 

to get 

published 

in the NEXT 

e-Focus 

issue by 

submitting 

them to: 

info@warner-co.com 

15

ENTER KRISTOFFERSON – 

UCA’S VISIONARY 

Technology will indefinitely have a great impact on the UCA 

Hello, my name is 

Kristofferson Nunes 

and I am a Millennial. 

I’m saying this to help 

readers understand that 

having a career in technology for 

me, personally, is something I saw 

as inevitable. I was born into an age 

where technology was just started 

to advance, still is advancing and will 

continue to advance. Technology will 

indefinitely have a great impact on 

University & College Ambassadors 

(UCA) and its clientele because 

we are currently existing in this 

age of technology. When UCA first 

began, it was created with a target 

audience in mind. These people 

whom my company are geared 

towards are all millennials who 

were born or matured into this age. 

Although face to face interactions 

are not a cancelled alternative to 

reaching people, technology is key 

in promoting UCA, attaining the 

audience and keeping them there 

(especially with regards to the age 

bracket of our student market). 

I have noticed that once someone 

likes an idea, they tell someone, who 

tells someone and soon enough 

everyone will know. People will 

follow us on social media pages 

because they want to be a part of 

our community. This is the best way 

to engage with them and include 

them in our community. Through 

these media, we use various aspects 

of technology that people respond 

to besides having to read text on 

a screen and so we engage them 

visually. Consistent engagement 

within our community through the 

use of technology allows them to see 

us and when they see us they will 

know us. It is similar to you not being 

able to forget an image you have 

already seen. 

UCA constantly uses technology to 

allow people to see us and allows us 

to register our brand in their minds. 

As such, they think about us and 

keep us in their thoughts. If they 

think about us then they will talk 

about us. When they talk about us 

they indirectly promote our brand 

and communicate to others what we 

represent. 

Technology not only helps with our 

promotion, but it also aids in our 

innovation. Whenever there is a new 

idea or method to reach or further 

expand our market, one of the 

first things we need to ask is “How 

can the technology we have at our 

disposal make it better, different or 

unique?” Our access to information 

through this allows us to reduce 

replication and sew more seeds of 

originality. This keeps us aligned 

with our vision and takes UCA as 

a brand above and beyond. When 

people see the difference, originality, 

unorthodoxness and innovation in 

our approach they pay attention. 

That attention gives us more than 

just promotion, it takes us to another 

level of branding. UCA and its use 

of technology won’t stop here. As it 

advances, we must also advance. 

- Kristofferson Nunes 

16 



17

JOBS OF THE FUTURE 

Demand for tech workers continues to grow at a pace that’s unmatched... 

Nicholas Samuels 

Technology plays such a 

significant role in our everyday 

lives that it is almost impossible 

to picture going even a 

day without it, let alone a 

whole weekend dedicated to spending 

time with the family. Today a simple 

thing like our cell phones are so 

powerful and keeps us so connected to 

our apps, social presence and getting 

our news and updates that we tend to 

forget the original purpose of a cellular 

phone in the first place, to keep in 

touch with people. 

Given all these advances, it is only 

logical that there must be people to 

support, develop and continue to 

create these technologies and devices 

that we are so accustomed to using. 

Apart from that is the management 

and maintenance of all the software 

and platforms that we have grown so 

accustomed to that drive our businesses 

and personal lives. 

Due to the importance of technology, 

we find that companies are all undergoing 

a form of digital transformation 

which inevitably increases their use and 

dependence on technology. Some of 

the technologies further driving the 

technologies of the future are artificial 

intelligence (AI), augmented and virtual 

reality and the Internet of Things (IoT). 

“Demand for tech workers continues to 

grow at a pace that’s unmatched in 

other industries, (Rayome, 2017)” said 

Raj Mukherjee, senior vice president of 

product at job search site Indeed. 

According to CompTIA chief technology 

evangelist James Stanger, “We’re going 

to see a lot of defined job roles either 

being radically redefined, or even just 

go away. I think an IT skillset will remain 

valuable, but it has to be in regards to 

business. Too long, those things have 

been kept in siloes. (Rayome, 2017)” 

It is interesting to hear this commentary 

and even scarier to realize just 

how true it is. Think about it, our 

children going to school now are being 

prepared for jobs that won’t exist by 

the time they are ready to enter the 

world of work, they will have to learn 

new skills. “As whole industries adjust 

and new ones are born, many occupations 

will undergo a fundamental 

transformation, says the World 

Economic Forum in its 2016 report, The 

Future of Jobs. It continues to say that 

“Technological trends such as the 

Fourth Industrial Revolution will create 

many new cross-functional roles for 

which employees will need both 

technical and social and analytical 

skills… (World Economic Forum, 2016)”. 

This drives home the point that 

technology is a part of our lives now 

and will be the driving force of our 

future. It is important that we recognize 

this and it is for this reason that the 

Government of Jamaica (GoJ), the 

Ministry of Science and Technology 

(MSET), the Ministry of Education Youth 

and Information (MOEYI), e-Learning 

Jamaica Company Limited (e-LJam) and 

the Universal Service Fund (USF) are all 

partnered to enable the teachers of 

our nation to use and integrate 

technology in their lessons. This allows 

the children the opportunity to 

interface directly with the different 

technologies and in so doing make 

technology a part of their everyday lives 

while reinforcing that our way of 

thinking and problem solving should 

incorporate the use of technology to 

enhance our solutions, create opportunities 

and make them better. There is 

no future in which technology will not 

be included in every job that will exist. 

“By 2020, more than a third of the core 

skill sets required for most jobs will 

include skills that aren’t considered 

crucial today. Nearly nine in 10 workers 

anticipate having to develop new skills 

all throughout their lives to keep up 

with the changes. And the most crucial 

skills they’ll need, according to many 

experts, are cross-disciplinary ones. 

(Krueger, 2017)” The reality of this is 

that fields that had nothing to do with 

each other before may now start to 

collide and begin to complement each 

other on the way to creating the new 

solutions of the future. A specialist in 

Artifical Intelligence might be required 

to team up with specialist doctors or 

farmers to create applications, robotic 

arms that perform complex surgeries 

or even miniature bots that will enter 

the body by swallowing a pill for 

example that will perform complex 

operations without ever having to cut 

the skin or do invasive procedures. The 

same is true for every industry that 

exists including biochemists, engineers, 

information systems experts, medical 

specialist, agricultural specialist, 

geospatial engineers, etc. 

Is there a future for you? Will you be 

employed or replaced by a robot? What 

skill sets should you consider acquiring 

for the future? Fortunately, there is a 

list of future jobs that you might want 

to consider below to help you figure 

out which career path might best suit 

you as described by ZDNet and the IT 

Career Finder. 

Computer Vision Engineer 

These professionals build and improve 

computer vision and machine learning 

algorithms and analytics to detect, 

classify, and track objects. 

Machine Learning Engineer 

Machine learning engineers are 

advanced programmers who develop 

AI machines and systems that can learn 

18 


and apply knowledge. These professionals 

perform sophisticated programming, 

working with complex 

datasets and algorithms to train these 

systems. 

Network Analyst 

Network analysts in the coming years 

will combine their technical skill set 

with an understanding of how to apply 

it to provide real-time trending 

information on network traffic, and 

what those insights mean for the 

business. 

Security Analyst | IT Security Specialists 

Cybersecurity professionals are already 

in great demand, and that will continue 

into the future, as attacks grow more 

sophisticated and technologies to fight 

them advance. 

Cloud Engineer 

Cloud engineers will develop solutions 

at scale that are a mix of both in-house 

technology and outside systems going 

beyond Amazon engineers working on 

AWS or Microsoft engineers working 

on Azure. 

Mobile Application Developer 

Across both end users and vendors, 

app developers will be in large demand 

in 2020, Meneer said. “It’s really the 

intersection of where technical 

capability comes to face the business 

need, (Greenspan, 2018)” he added. 

This could be a higher level role than 

simply coding, according to Forrester 

analyst Andrew Bartels: The developer 

may be someone who identifies a need 

and designs what the code would look 

like, and sends it off to someone else 

to do the actual coding. 

Business Intelligence (BI) Analyst 

BI analysts gather data from a number 

of sources, including internal software, 

competitor information, and industry 

trends, to develop a sense of where 

the company stands in the industry 

and how they can both grow and cut 

costs. 

DevOps Lead 

As more app developers and business 

analysts come on board, DevOps 

teams will also need to be expanded to 

oversee and coordinate work between 

those groups, Bartels said. 

These professionals bring skills in 

development and project management 

that are required in many companies, 

even outside the context of software 

development, Meneer said. They may 

be found under different titles in the 

future, but the skillsets will continue to 

be in demand. 

Database Administrator 

Database administrators will become 

more in-demand by 2020, particularly 

as companies move toward more 

software offerings that include AI, and 

the ability to create AI-powered models 

User Support Specialist 

As technology becomes deeply 

integrated into the operations of 

business units, more employees will 

need assistance from support specialists, 

especially as the workforce 

transitions, Meneer said. “As companies 

go through digital transformations, 

suddenly they find their operations 

increasingly interwoven into these 

systems,” he added. “You’re going to 

need the professionals who can 

support that (Rayome, 2017).” 

Software Engineer 

The demand for software engineers will 

rise along with technological advancements 

and the proliferation of 

emerging network technologies. As the 

sophistication and adoption of 

electronic data-processing systems 

continue to rise, the need to implement 

and upgrade to these new 

computer systems will fuel job creation 

for systems software engineers. 

Video Game Designer 

Beyond the booming market for 

traditional console and PC games, the 

increased popularity, processing power 

and graphics capabilities of mobile 

devices have unlocked a new world of 

employment opportunities for game 

designers, artists and programmers. 

Video game designers with mobile 

software development expertise will be 

especially sought after as smartphones 

& tablets, such as the iPhone and iPad, 

continue to change how video games 

are accessed and played. 

Web Developer 

As the number of products and 

services available online continues to 

grow, web developers and designers 

will enjoy increased job opportunities. 

The proliferation of social media, social 

networking and other Web 2.0 

communities will boost demand for 

web developers as businesses look to 

engage a new generation of customers 

and spur a competitive advantage in 

these rapidly growing platforms. 

The future is so bright it is blinding. 

There are so many opportunities and 

so many different paths to take. The 

best part about it is that there is a path 

for everyone. I hope this article helps 

you along your path. 


19

BRAIN 

TWISTA 

Are you smart 

enough to solve 

these puzzles? 

20 


AUGMENTED REALITY 

– THE NEXT BIG THING 

It is a good way to render real-world information and present it in an interactive way 

We all grew up playing 

games at some point in 

our lives be it board, card, 

imaginary or console 

games. The one thing that 

the industry has never failed to do is to 

keep innovating and ensure that there 

are many new ways for us to entertain 

ourselves. I remember when the Atari 

was originally released, followed by the 

consoles released by Nintendo and 

Sega. As kids, those blew our minds 

and captivated us. Microsoft and Sony 

entered the gaming realm as well and 

blew our minds. The point is, with 

each successive innovation, the level 

of interaction, detail and immersion 

increase significantly. 

Virtual Reality (VR) has been around for 

some time now and there have been a 

few applications of the technology. In 

most cases, VR was implemented for 

a self-contained system, application 

or game. It has been great for training 

simulators as well as applications 

for the military, healthcare, fashion, 

business, sports, construction, 

education, media and the list goes on. 

This was especially great for modelling 

and testing prototypes which leads to 

huge cost savings compared to having 

to build/create them in real life which 

uses materials and resources and it 

also takes even more time and money 

to do. VR, however, takes a long time 

to develop, costs and technological 

limitations. Virtual reality systems 

are expensive and time-consuming 

to develop. There are also issues of 

ergonomics when it comes to the gear 


and equipment used as sometimes 

it requires a very large space or so 

many pieces and wires to interface 

with the system. There is also the 

issue of motion sickness that can 

be experienced as a result of the VR 

application/simulator. 

Who remembers Pokemon Go? 

Nintendo found a way to release an 

app that for a few months took over 

the entire world using Augmented 

Reality (AR) and had people going 

outdoors and having tons of fun. AR 

uses computer-based algorithms to 

augment sound, video, graphics and 

other sensor-based inputs using the 

camera of your device on real-world 

objects. It is a good way to render realworld 

information and present it in an 

interactive way so that virtual elements 

become part of the real world. “AR 

displays superimpose information in 

your field of view and can take you 

into a new world where the real and 

virtual worlds are tightly coupled. It is 

not just limited to desktop or mobile 

devices. As mentioned, Google Glass, 

a wearable computer with an optical 

head-mounted display, is a perfect 

example” (Aggarwal, n.d.) 

Just imagine walking around in the near 

future wearing some type of device 

that allows you to interface with an 

application that uses AR. As you look 

at different objects, the application 

could be feeding up information on 

objects as they are seen or displays its 

digital double allowing you to interact 

further with them. Some real-world 

applications of AR are seen below 

from Real-world Applications of AR 

(Aggarwal, n.d.) 

• AR applications can become the 

backbone of the education industry. 

Apps are being developed which 

embed text, images, and videos, as well 

as real-world curriculums. 

• Printing and advertising industries 

are developing apps to display 

digital content on top of real-world 

magazines. 

• With help of AR, travellers can access 

real-time information of historical 

places just by pointing their camera 

viewfinder to subjects. 

• AR is helpful in development of 

translation apps that can interpret text 

in other languages for you. 

• Location-based AR apps are major 

forms of AR apps. Users can access 

information about nearest places 

relative to current location. They can 

get information about places and 

choose based on user reviews. 

• With the help of Unity 3d Engine, AR 

is being used to develop real-time 3D 

Games. 

The possible applications of AR in 

health care are huge. Imagine surgeons 

in the middle of surgery streaming a 

live feed of the operation to medical 

students in real time online with the 

possibility of superimposing additional 

information as the surgery progresses. 

“… pharmaceutical companies could 

change the way drugs are marketed. 

Using AR technology with a tablet or 

something similar, one could watch 

how the drug works in 3D rather than 

reading the drug label (Meskó, 2016).” 

Google is currently working toward the 

development of a digital contact lens 

that would use AR technology. One 

feature they are hoping to successfully 

create in the lens is the capability to 

check blood glucose levels from a 

person’s tears, revolutionizing diabetes 

care. 

The future for Augmented Reality is 

bright and it is just a matter of time 

before this technology becomes 

integrated as a part of our everyday 

lives. 

- Nicholas Samuels 

21

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AND IMPROVED 

https://www.elearnja.org 

elearnja.org 

Address: 36 Trafalgar Rd, Kingston 

Phone: (876) 929-4044 

22

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