Let us be a partner of this Marathon........

                   New experience of writing exam in word file, checking its originality through a plagiarism checking tool, converting it into pdf version and uploading it on the moodle in a given time frame was entirely a different experience altogether. It was 10th October 2013 when I had to write my second mid-semester exam for 'Introduction to Experiential Learning & reflection and Education' paper of M. Tech. (Ed. Tech.). Before this experience, I had always been appearing for pen-paper test. But this time it has been a feeling of living in real time with 21st century natives.

                  Is the perspective of education in India changing? I think yes. It is not the only evidence of the beginning of new era of spreading knowledge in such a way in 21st century. Pioneers in education have already set numerous benchmarks in this direction. Educating through a blend of different tools and techniques and developing an unique examination system to assess the learning is the hallmark of leading educational Institutes in India and NIIT University is the foreman of all.         

                 We can also be the local change agents. I mean, we should begin with ourselves first and then spread the new knowledge and experience with others and motivate the learning environment. Use of technology, as a vehicle, to bridge the gap between content and pedagogy is in the midway of its development in this century. Let us be a partner of this Marathon, update yourself, walk with the walk and enjoy learning through new styles....   

paper.li link for this week

http://paper.li/LearngEngineers/1379295860

The Pale Blue Dot

“Pale Blue Dot” is a famous photograph of planet Earth. It was taken by Spaceship Voyager 1 from a distance of 6.4 billion km from Earth.

This is an excerpt from a speech by Astronomer and Astro Biologist Carl Sagan, which I find very humbling and would like to share with you all:

Seen from about 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles), Earth appears as a tiny dot (the blueish-white speck approximately halfway down the brown band to the right) within the darkness of deep space

We succeeded in taking that picture (from deep space).And, if you look at it you see a dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you’ve ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity – in all this vastness – there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

It is up to us. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.

—Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

The beauty of Kashmir and the missing fast food

My sister and I recently had the opportunity to visit Srinagar and Pahalgam in Kashmir.  It was a God sent vacation that the two of us decided to go on. We visited Kashmir after a good many years. We had last been there as children, on a family vacation. It was a ‘Going back down memory lane’ trip.

The scenic beauty of Pehalgam is unparalleled. No other hill station that I have visited in the hill state of Himachal can compare to the beauty of Kashmir, largely because of its untampered beauty. It retains its natural beauty and has not been converted into a concrete jungle by greedy developers. 

What caught me by surprise was the fact that I did not come across a single fast food joint. There was no KFC or Dominoes or Pizza Hut outlet to be seen. Unlike Chandigarh, and other places in India I am sure, these outlets thrive and are a great favourite among youngsters.  Fast food has become an integral part of our lifestyles.

I inquired from the taxi driver if there were any fast food outlets in Srinagar or Pehalgam. He gave me an amazed look as though  he thought I was craving for them.  I assured him that I was not dying without fast food and that I was just curious.

I then started looking for overweight Kashmiris, and not surprisingly, I hardly saw any! They were all slim and trim and physically fit. I could give the credit to the amount of walking people there do and the healthy food they eat. On reaching back home, I goggled for outlets of  fast food joints in Srinagar and Pehalgam. I found two outlets of Cafe Coffee Day in Srinagar and none in Pehalgam. Apart from these, there were no other fast food joints that I could locate.

I don’t want to delve into the reason for the missing Fast Food, but the effects were quite visible. “What would I have done if I lived here?” I thought to myself.  I would have landed up making my favourite pizzas and pastas at home. It is easier said than done!!!

Paper.li link for this week

1. Animoby- easily create presentation
2.100 free writing prompts for your students
3.8 new great educational web tools-ET and mobile learning
4.Top 5 educational TED talks by kids

follow the link

http://paper.li/LearngEngineers/1379295860

Assessments...

Yesterday I went to my younger daughter’s school for parent teacher meeting. As I was walking down the corridor I overheard a father scolding his small boy. He had probably seen the son’s assessment sheets in which the boy had not faired well. I vividly remember the expression on the child’s face. He wore a frightened look and was on the verge of crying. Is this all that a parent ought to do about his child’s performance?  To see the report card at the end of term and get angry at the child. Would it not be better to monitor the child’s progress more often, be a partner in his learning, motivate him and help him work on his weaknesses on a regular basis.

I remember another incident in which a mother was talking to her friends. She said “I don’t bother, I am not a stickler for marks”. This child wasn’t doing well on the academic front either, she still isn’t.  It is  good not to get disturbed on seeing the marks on a test but tests are a good indicator of the learning of the child and they  must given due importance. If the marks are not good find out (from the child or teacher) where the child needs help and take remedial measures immediately. Be partners in your child’s learning. Especially so in a day school! They say a stitch in time saves nine.