Links and blog roll

Some miscellaneous interesting/inspiring/comment-worthy links:

1. Follow up to Mitch Resnick's talk (that I discussed here) :
2. Engineers quit jobs to teach kids
3. Fun algebra class

Also there are some interesting reads in my blog roll! I try as much as possible to find things like this. If you have a blog or know of a blog that belongs in that roll, do send me a comment! 

Technology as a tool for learning

I watched a video some time ago of a 2 year old kid who keeps tapping on a magazine and pushing it around. The kid was clearly confused that the magazine was not really doing anything. It was not moving, there were no funny noises coming out of it. The magazine was not worth paying attention to. "Where's that iPad!"

Kids are surrounded by technology and there is a need to understand that their world is different from ours was when we were their age. It is important to create a learning environment for them that will allow them to express themselves in a better manner.

Mitch Resnick of MIT says that kids should be taught how to code at a young age in his talk. He says that children must learn to code in order to use code to learn.

I have experienced in the past and continue to experience even today that I understand a concept better when I have coded it. This maybe because I spend a long time in trying to split the problem into simple language - essentially into the program's pseudo code. When I taught people to code I often asked them to think of the computer as a stupid machine that needed to be told in an extremely simple manner how to do a task. This enhances the understanding of a particular concept in leaps and bounds.

This of course does not mean that kids begin to be trained as software engineers in kindergarten. Children can be provided with a means for them to express themselves and learn through doing rather than reading textbooks. Honestly, textbooks no longer have an appeal to kids who play with tablets and game stations. I saw some textbooks recently in which there was a lot of colour and figures and even cartoons. Yes, the ones from NCERT that are subject of a lot of controversy. Controversy or not, they are far off from the dull textbooks that I used in school. But they do not do much towards providing interactivity.  And this is the point of my argument.

Everything boils down to interactions. What can be lectured about for hours can be demonstrated in 20 minutes and learned through doing in less than that! The easiest way to do this today is through technology. Right?

Translating this to children who do not have access to computers or even a TV is tough. There are three aspects to the problem: (1) introducing rural and urban poor children to technology, (2) encouraging these kids to use technology to learn, (3) to teach children to code so that they can use technology to implement their learning and expand their knowledge further.

 Towards the first aspect, some projects have seen small successes with solar powered projectors using cheap parts from used phones, torchlights and computers etc. (low cost and sustainable) and as gadgets get cheaper, people will gain access to them as is seen from the ubiquity of mobile phones today. Again, this projector idea is a means to get information as a sort of virtual teacher across to students. Yet the role of a teacher is beyond providing children with information. The teacher is also someone who evaluates the progress of a child and guides him/her to what he/she should do to improve. The interactive nature of a teacher's presence is absent here.

The second aspect of the problem - the use of technology is still a tricky matter. There have been some examples of cheap used computers being donated to children in rural areas. But with selfish and greedy software manufacturers constantly withdrawing support for primitive software, access to the internet becomes a challenge. There is the issue of lack of electricity in many places, poor internet connections and so on. Of course many more issues to this problem than this simplistic example that I provide.

The third aspect of the problem requires that people work towards creating software and creative solutions that help children learn coding. Scratch is a great idea, but how far it can go for these rural/poor settings where a computer for each kid is still a far cry, is a question. Finally, there is also the question of the use of English on the net and in these kind of software. This can be a serious hurdle for many.

Well Educated

What makes one well educated? In trying to frame a follow-up question to this I came up with the following:

1. What must be done to equip him with skills and ability to do good for himself and society?
2. What must be done to help him understand the world around him?
3. What must be done to help him acquire morals, ideals and integrity?
4. What must be done to give him the achieve and rise to his potential?

I think many such questions can be asked in order to define what a well educated person must be and have.

Before solutions are given, it is good to define our problem in an inclusive and precise manner. 

Emotion and practicality

I seem to be very famous for my arguments. There is yet another friend I had an argument with about why he thinks women are very unfit for managerial or any other positions. Well it does seem like an argument from the Stone Age and do not wish to discuss the issue with anybody. I believe in equality in all forms. Everyone is equally capable of things. (In case you wish to argue on this point, please leave me out of it. I am in no way interested.) But it was his underlying logic that interested me deeply. He says that it is the emotional nature of one particular category that made them unfit for managerial positions, because they not only made people uncomfortable with their emotional outbursts but also spread the tension to others. That was, I say, so right! People who bring personal emotions into work or into their workplace create havoc (irrespective of their gender, age, ethnic origin etc.) This is because people are not strong enough to control their negative emotions and allow them to cloud their thinking capacities.

There is nothing bad about emotions in general. We do not need to become emotionless monks or unfeeling tyrants. Love, affection, kindness etc are some emotions that do a great deal of good to us and others around us. I feel heartened by the show of passion that some groups in the country show even if it is extremely negative and aggressive, because it shows that they are not devoid of emotion. They in fact are just filled with some distorted form of emotion or passion that is drilled into their minds by people who benefit from this kind of show. (I am talking about some violent agitations or communal riots that keep happening here all the time) So what really causes these people to come to blows and destroy and kill mindlessly is their inability to control emotion.

A friend who asks not to be named (who will be referred to as Future Politician or FP from now on) says that it is the vulnerability of the uneducated and ill-informed that causes them to be highly impractical. They tend to be easily influenced and gravitate towards anything and anyone that promises some immediate benefits. They do not look at long-term interests, simply because they do not know how to. (That is another reason why there is a need for education or at least increasing awareness of rights and duties etc.) FP also suggests that we start educating people especially on how to choose their leaders. This will take us a long way in deciding how our politicians will have to behave to please people and remain in power. I must add that this process of educating people must be free from influence of any political party otherwise it will bring us back to square one. Thank you FP.

And for the skeptic few who wonder why all this bothers them at all and why should we bother about changing anything... Well people, we are all connected directly or indirectly. Whatever affects me will affect you in some way or the other. So don't just shrug your shoulder. Your future depends on what happens to your fellow humans. Try to make their lives different to better your lives.

Thanks Hari for your comments. It was heartening and encouraging to see that someone agrees with me. I was getting a little bogged down by negative criticism. I will respond to them soon.