Monthly Archives

March 2009

Social Capital: We only have 24 Hours in a day

By | Mind Media and Learning | No Comments

This time when I traveled to US, it took me 40 hours. In my span of almost 2 days of travelling with 2 other passengers, I hardly talked to them. Looking back I feel that the small screen provided in front of my seat along with the remote was the culprit. But was it? The other 2 persons travelling with me were Indians and I had felt that I knew enough about my own country. I was travelling by Emirates and so had access to Arabic music and movies which I had not had much access to before. I found it more interesting to learn and experience something new.

Hollywood movies have played a great role in my life. Back at home, my family might have thought that I was wasting time, but it has taught me to some extent about the American culture. Now when I am in US, the online experience that I carried along with me has tremendously helped my face to face communication. So was that time really a waste?

When we do research, we do literature study and begin our research from where others have left and carry it forward. There is no point reinventing the wheel. You cannot afford to spend your whole life and experiment all the facts that have been stated already. You take the results to be true. Similarly we can learn through other’s experiences and need not experience it all ourselves. I am sure that this learning might not be as effective as learning by creating mistakes . The choice is yours. It is for you to choose if you want to go in depth or explore laterally. Games can help you socialize or you can choose to go to a football field yourself. After all there is only 24 hours at your disposal.

Music: Do I understand it?

By | Nature and Design of Compelling Experiences | No Comments

 

The first thing s that we learn in early childhood are rhymes. Why? I never questioned. But looking back today, I find that music is a language that a child understands more than anything else in that stage. During my time, T.V was not that pervasive but in present situation I have seen my nephew, glued to the T.V whenever there is a song playing. What compels a 1 year old kid to pay so much of attention.

I think music is a language. We feel it more than we can speak about it. Traditional education has always taken help of music to overcome hurdles. Even the Math Tables that I memorized had a particular tune to it.

I can’t say I know a lot about music but this is what I have discovered for myself; set a tune to something and it is easy to repeat it, humm it. In this act of ours, we are putting a structure to the system that allows for easy repetition. Repetition or practice as we know is the crux of moving short term memory to long term memory. Am I seeing a bridge somewhere?

Presence, Learning and You: It isn’t fun running alone

By | Mind Media and Learning | No Comments

Securing 3rd rank in a class puts you in high esteem in front of others. But when they learn that there were only 3 members in the class, the scenario changes completely. It isn’t fun, winning a race where you run alone. The win really makes no sense even though the records might speak highly of you.

I have been a 100 meter sprinter in school and college. I used to practice against the clock. But on “Sports Day”, I would have better timing than ever. Personally I perform better when I compete against others. I have never figured out till date,”Where from that extra energy came????”

Private tuitions can teach you a lot but we still prefer sending our children to schools and classrooms. Presence surely allows for better learning. Presence also brings in a scale of competitiveness which allows for better calibration of talent.

Michigan State University is the first place where I have taken online classes. I think the presence of others and their comments motivates me but I am not sure if it resulted in cognitive learning. The subjects I have taken online are mainly arts subjects and thus am in no position to quantify the learning. If I would have taken differential Calculus or Algebra online, I would be in a better position to quantify my cognitive learning.

I am also not sure if presence in FTF communication is always helpful if the syllabus is not designed properly. You may be discussing in small groups consisting of your near friends. However the syllabuses in India don’t require you to discuss much and thus Social Constructiveness was a word that I heard only after coming to US. Books and teachers were the one I would look for help in case of a confusion. It is here, that I am truly exploring the potential of presence.