Rethink education for our future generations..

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/technology/technology-in-schools-faces-questions-on-value.html?pagewanted=all


This is a very interesting article as it covers a lot of ground on the practical issues and consequences of introducing technology in a real-world classroom. It is true that some school districts spends/gets millions of dollars to update their technology division but unfortunately for some, the test results are not soaring as high as their enthusiasm with technology. I think we have to work and rethink the curriculum also. Technology is not supposed to be a silver bullet and neither can it deliver results as fast as people expect them to, particularly in the field of school education. The focus should be to incorporate the technological tools to evolve education to a process that fosters enthusiasm in learning and to address some of the issues that the educators have identified with the conventional methods. Also, the expectations should be grounded to reality as any change of this scale takes much longer to come to fruition.


When given an opportunity to reform the curriculum for Lower/Middle schools for any school district, we tech savvy teacher should seriously accept the challenge and try to make a difference in the field of education to make it more meaningful.

Digital - Natives vs Immigrants

After reading Prensky’s ‘Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants’ , I have the feeling that I was probably born in the wrong time or was ahead of my time in terms of school education. Like today’s digital natives, I always wondered during my school days that why can’t they make all the subjects and reading materials into something similar to a movie. I sincerely longed for a better visual illustration of the subject but always ended up with a somewhat intimidating fat book. That was the de-facto medium of instruction during those days and other sources like broadcasting or television didn’t have serious educational content. As a result, there was always someone to knock on my head and say “Stop day-dreaming and get back to study”. Well, in just a decade the dream has turned into reality. Before, learning or education was never supposed to be a fun and exciting exercise and it mostly came with serious pressure and tons of reading to excel in exams and to keep up with grades. I think digital natives are fortunate in that way because education have been presented to them in a refreshing manner where they get to use their common toys (digital tools) to gain knowledge, to complete classroom works and to pursue more serious projects. So when it comes to disciplined paperback classroom education, they naturally refrain from that environment since it is way out of their comfort zone.


We can’t hinder the growth which already happened in today’s generation but we should try to find a balance between the two where legacy form of education can co-mingle with the future education. Yes, it is not easy to make this happen in a day but everything takes time and change at this level is something similar to a revolution which will happen after much debate and deliberation. I think Monkey Wrench is a great example where we can see the clash between old school and new age geeks and how finally they invented something brilliant which is used popularly as a learning software. This shows that we need to accept and create new methodologies focused on digital natives and the transition is not going to be an easy one. So sooner we accept and adapt ourselves to the new ways, the more productive it will be for us and our future generations.

Information Age

“Information Age” has a profound meaning to our world as it evolved over the last few decades. The advent of technology not only changed our economy but also shaped our society in ways that even its pioneers couldn’t have imagined. To begin with, the barriers of information have been destroyed gradually, which have created a more equitable environment that fosters growth across our societies. In the past, “information” was held only by certain privileged sections that monopolized businesses and governments. Dictators and totalitarian regimes survived through centuries by spreading misinformation among masses and thrived by physically blocking sources of news and other modes of communication. However, in this age most of these empires disappeared as the people were enlightened by easy access to authentic information. Information age gives voice to people through blogs and online forums and helps them to unite over meaningful causes. The liberating power of technology came into its own in this age and we can all experience its impact over societies across the globe.

On a more practical note, our daily lives have become more efficient in the “Information Age”. Multiple services are offered online and could be accessed from the comfort of our homes. Online banking, investing, travel reservations, tax preparation, entertainment are just a few technology offerings that allow us to plan our time more efficiently and focus on our primary goals. Driving with GPS systems have freed us from the struggle to make an appointment in time. Fast networks have allowed us to work remotely and balance between a career and a family life. Higher education through long-distance programs has opened up opportunities that were unknown to our previous generation. Technology is introduced gradually in our classrooms and slowly but surely it will revolutionize the way we experience learning.

In summary, the “Information Age” is evolving and we are still finding unique ways in which it is touching people’s lives across the world. It is probably too early to predict how it will shape up our future but it undoubtedly has left an indelible mark across the global community.

Search Engines - Threat?

Are search engines a threat to democracy? A few issues that Halavais brings up definitely make us to reflect on the impact of search engines on our collective thought process. Today, we extensively use search engine for information gathering and it is easy to imagine that public opinion could be cleverly manipulated by groups manipulating the search algorithms. This might be done systemically over a period of time to an extent where the democratic system could be influenced or even challenged by a small group of vested interests. The problem is real and we have ample examples in the history (think how Hitler toppled democracy and held on absolute power with threat and propaganda). However, I believe that such concerns are not material for a few critical reasons.


Firstly, search engines are an extension of the technology environment that has enlightened our society in the last decade. People using Internet in general and search engines in particular is inquisitive people with a desire to stay intellectually well-informed. Manipulating search engines might shape some opinions but in the longer term people will recognize these attempts to influence and will discard them in the same way as they pass over propaganda columns. Freedom of speech and expression is an essential element of democracy and Internet provides a perfect platform for people to present their viewpoint. As a result, no attempt to control or influence opinion that can threaten democracy by search engines or other forums will be sustainable.


Secondly, with all its criticisms on ‘aggregating’ or ‘trivializing’ important issues, Internet forums always strive to bring out the truth. It is not the benefit of having a forum but it is our own inquisitive nature and passion for facts that is brought to fruition by the social forums. I agree that the noise levels are sometime annoying but at least there is a way now to voice your opinion and find like minded people who otherwise would be silent or diffident in a public forum.


Finally, on the point of homogenizing content, I still think that the benefits of the online tools far outweigh the pitfalls. It’s true that online interaction promotes homogenizing or aggregation but that is true even for offline collaboration. It’s hard to “design by committee” and there’s often an obstacle to a coherent and unifying thought process when multiple groups are involved and that’s not something particularly specific about how we use Internet as a community.


In summary, I believe there are bigger threats to democracy than search engines. Democracy is not perfect and there are countries with democracy that display a rising gap between haves and have-nots. Poverty, lack of education, regional conflicts, corruption, nepotism are a just a few elements that are an obstacle to the idea of an ideal democratic system. Search engines have the potential to influence naïve populace and even opinionate a large group but in the final analysis such concerns may be overcome by the human intellect which has proven to rise above such attempts of subversion.

Graphics in Education

• When do you prefer animated graphics to static ones?
• Why do you prefer one to the other?
• How beneficial are they for you?

I personally prefer animated graphics for learning and understanding complex tasks that require special skills to accomplish. In everyday life, we refer to books that provide both graphics and text to explain several concepts that I need for my education or primary profession. However, beyond that there is a wealth of subjects that could be learnt only through an instructor or by an animated sequence. Here are a few examples:

-         YouTube video explaining how to assemble a stroller or a piece of furniture. Surely it’s possible to follow the manual instructions but it’s a lot easier to understand when someone physically explains it and reminds you of the potential road blocks

-         YouTube video explaining how to tackle a plumbing problem. Specific instructions can save a lot of time and money in this case

-         Educational videos for my 2 year old son to learn alphabets and numbers. Books and pictures can do the job but the videos hold his attention

-         Lessons on specific skills like playing piano, perfecting a dance move or mastering a tennis stroke

These are just a few of the several situations where I prefer an animated video over a book or manual. Most of the consumer goods these days also come with a DVD disk that covers assembly, troubleshooting and maintenance instructions which are more efficient.

I prefer videos when it is easier to learn by watching or by following instructions than by trying to comprehend a subject matter through written text. There are several areas where the books are the only way to learn better and faster as it is impossible to use graphics and animations to teach certain concepts in literature, political science, education and mathematics. However, the progresses of internet websites like YouTube, Wikipedia, Google have immensely changed the fundamental way in which I learn today.

Learning through animation and videos has been tremendously beneficial for me. As I mentioned in the examples above, I would have to go through a lot of difficulty to learn many things that I currently do through videos on the internet. In addition to the above examples, animation has also helped me understand abstract principles which would have been otherwise taken me longer to grasp. In my last course, I had to understand the ‘stable marriage problem’ for my final project and the Wikipedia website had an accompanying animation sequence which helped me easily understand the steps of the algorithm.

My choice of educational and interesting video clip.

Link:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEFKfXiCbLw&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

I definitely recommend this video titled "Pay Attention" to all of us who are excited about technology and its potential in changing the classroom of future. The video makes a spirited appeal to educators to pay heed to the world around us which is changing at a rapid pace with the advent of technology. The impact of technology applications in our society have changed our daily lives, our habits and preferences over last decade and have brought about fundamental changes in the way we learn. However, our schools have seen little change or innovation in this period and still rely on the conventional mode of teaching in classrooms using the same tools and techniques of last century.

The video reminds us of the myriad ways people learn and empowers themselves naturally everyday using technology. It exhorts the teachers of today to find inspiration from the basic facts about the success of internet, mobile technology and other tools and appeals them to use these in enriching education. The video also takes an opportunity to present cautionary facts on the dropout rate of our schools and attributes them to the inability of our education system to engage students through their curriculum. I really enjoyed the simplicity of the central theme of the video which asks us to care and contribute to bring about a change. It doesn't really take a big effort to bring a difference but only it needs all of us to collectively "pay attention" to be a better teacher.

NPR Science podcast on advanced Tornado technology

Podcast URL:

http://www.npr.org/2011/06/17/137199914/advanced-tornado-technology-could-reduce-deaths

NPR (http://www.npr.org) website hosts a wide variety of podcasts on current events, science, arts, health and many other topics of interest which are both informative and educational. I chose this particular posting as it discusses a very relevant topic of interest. Tornados this year alone has killed hundreds of people in US and the science to track and forecast its destruction path is relatively new. However, research in this area, particularly in the invention of early warning systems can save numerous lives and minimize property damages. This podcast introduces a new radar system developed and deployed by CASA (Collaborative Adapting Sensing of the Atmosphere). It discusses how this new system is designed in a simple, intuitive manner and gives a firsthand description of how it worked during the recent Tornado events.

While listening to a podcast, the NPR website also lists the related stories and other recent podcasts in the same section. The audio controls are in a pop-up window which also allows you to add the current podcast into your playlist that you can access as a registered member (registration is free).The content of the stories and the convenience of use makes NPR one of my favorite websites.