Schema Performs

The King Cobra's Summer - Pratham Books Storytelling at AIKYA

2011-12-17T04:39:00.000-08:00

Eight kids at AIKYA were eager to listen to the adventures of Kaala, the King Cobra. Storyteller Anitha told the story. As the kids were very young, a recollection of facts was helpful.

So, the kids repeated after the storyteller:

The King Cobra is 15 feet long
King Cobra does not have ears and eyelids.
King Cobra uses smell and its tongue to catch food.
The King Cobra does not eat food daily.
The King Cobra hatches from eggs.

And so on.... The kids had a look at the colorful picture book. They also created a forest using crayons and sketch pens. The kids drew a tree, river, a King Cobra, and birds. Finally, they mimicked a snake dance pose. It would have been nice to have a real snake charmer around. Alas, you don't find one in streets these days.

Kids drawing a forest with King Cobra

Having a look at the picture book

Trying a King Cobra pose

துரு துரு - சிறுகதை

2011-11-29T22:38:00.000-08:00

சுட்டி சுரேஷ் தன் பாடப் புத்தகங்களை வைக்க ஒரு நீல வண்ணம் பூசிய இரும்பு மேசை வாங்கினான். வாங்கிய மேசையை வீட்டினுள் வைக்காமல், தோட்டத்தில் போட்டுவிட்டு சுற்றுலா சென்றுவிட்டான். திடீரென்று காற்றும் மழையும் அடித்தது. இரண்டு நாள் கழித்து சுட்டி சுரேஷ் வீடு திரும்பினான். என்ன ஆச்சர்யம். அவன் வாங்கிய மேசை சிவப்பும் மஞ்சள் நிறமாக மாறியிருந்தது. கிட்ட வந்த பார்த்த போது தன் மேசை துரு பிடித்ததை தெரிந்து கொண்டான்.

வண்ணம் பலவிதம் - சிறுகதை

2011-11-29T22:27:00.000-08:00

கர்ம யோகி கண்ணன் வீடு கட்டி முடித்தான். புதிய வீட்டில் எந்த அறைக்கு எந்த வண்ணம் பூசலாம் என்று தன் குடும்பத்தில் இருப்பவர்களிடம் கேட்டான். "சமையல் அறைக்கு பிஸ்தா பச்சை வண்ணம் பூசலாம்," என்றாள் மனைவி மங்களம். "படுக்கை அறைக்கு பன்னீர் ரோஜா வண்ணம் பூசலாம்," என்றான் மகன் மாரி. "பூஜை அறைக்கு சாமந்தி பூ மஞ்சள் வண்ணம் பூச வேண்டும்," என்றாள் மகள் மஞ்சுளா.

"ஆனால் வரவேற்ப்பு அறையில் எல்லா வண்ணமும் பூச போகிறோம்," என்றான் கர்ம யோகி கண்ணன். அப்பா நகைச்சுவையாக பேசுகிறார் என்று எல்லோரும் சிரித்தார்கள். " சிரிக்காதீர்கள். எல்லா வண்ணமும் சேர்த்தால் வெள்ளை நிறம் கிடைக்கும். வரவேற்ப்பு அறையில் பனி வெள்ளை நிறம் அடிக்க போகிறோம். புரிந்ததா?" என்றான் கண்ணன்.

Baby's Day Out - Short Story

2011-11-29T22:15:00.000-08:00

Arun’s mother was pregnant. Arun wanted a younger brother and his mom wanted a daughter. On the day of delivery, Arun’s mom gave birth to twins – a boy and a girl! And the twins were looking similar. The doctor told them that they were monozygotic twins. Both Arun and his mom were happy now.

What Meat You Had? - Short Story

2011-11-29T22:11:00.000-08:00

A teacher was asking the students in her class to tell the different types of non-vegetarian food they have eaten.

One boy said, “Chicken.”

Another girl said, “Mutton.”

Another boy said, “Dog meat, when I went to China for a picnic with my father.”

Everyone in the class was amused and started asking the boy about dog meat!

Chicken

Mutton

Dog Curry

Which Vegetable is Green? - Short Story

2011-11-29T21:54:00.000-08:00

Vivek, Kani, and James were playing a game about vegetables.

Vivek told, “Tell the name of a vegetable that is Green in color.”

Kani said, “Drum Stick.”

James said, “Ladies Finger.”

Vivek said, “Mango.”

Kani objected saying, “Mango is an orange color fruit and not a vegetable.”

Vivek laughed and said, “Ha ha, but I was talking about the Mango that is not ripe. It is green. “

Mango

Drumstick

Ladies Finger

Got my Certificate for Art Therapy Introductory Workshop

2011-11-12T04:13:00.000-08:00

Simple

2011-10-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

Pratham Books Story Telling on 24th at Chennai

2011-09-24T03:52:00.000-07:00

Pratham Books Banner

The storytelling session went on well at the AIKYA centre in Chennai. The audience of 20 people included special children, parents, and special educators. All the stories were narrated in Tamil and Tanglish! Pratham Books' Champion Anitha started the session with a brief about Girl Child Day. Next she told the story "Subbu, the Signal." At the end of the story, the children recollected the traffic lights of green, orange, and red and what each color meant.

The next story was "Ting Tong." The boy in the story tries to sleep but is disturbed by various noises. At the end of the story, the children were asked about the various noises that disturbed their sleep. One boy was quick to mention "generator noise"...rrrrrrrrrrr..... Another boy barked like a dog. Ting Tong story was a favorite of parents too. Parents felt that the story was simple and children could easily understand it.

Story Teller Anitha with the audience

The next story was "En Udal Pesuvathai Kelungal"( Hear my body speak). At the end of the story, one of the boys told a lot of noises like coughing, sneezing, snoring, and clicking fingers etc that was not part of the original version :)

A boy answering questions after 'Subbu the Signal' story

After the warm up with the three short stories, everyone was geared up to hear the "Ulta Pulta Girl" story. Everyone laughed when they heard that the Ulta Pulta girl could not bear the stink of dog poo.

The children were glued to their seats and listened to the stories keenly. Parents were eager to know where they could purchase Pratham books in Chennai. On the whole, it was a successful event. Three cheers to Pratham Books and all the participants.

Video: Excerpts from the Storytelling session:

External Evaluation of Eureka SuperKidz initiative in Villages

2011-08-02T02:44:00.000-07:00

Eureka SuperKidz employs innovative teaching methods to improve the learning skills of school kids in village schools from standard 1-8. A three hour class is conducted after school to improve the Math, English, and Tamil skills. The program started in 2008 and has now expanded to over 500 villages in Tamilnadu. The target is to reach kids in 1000 villages.

The external evaluation team conducted the research with students who attend Eureka Superkidz program and students from similar social background who attend only government schools. The latter group was named the Control Group. It was found that the "Accelerated Learning" offered by Eureka centres far exceeded the "Natural Progress" in government schools. The students who attend Eureka Superkidz program learnt skills at the right age and class. But the kids in the Control Group lagged behind by 3 to 4 years in learning a new skill from the time it was introduced in a particular standard at school.

Read the complete report here.

Art Therapy Certificate Course - Aug to Sep 2011

2011-07-25T05:58:00.000-07:00

Learning Outcome: Participants will be able to

·      Identify the continuum of trauma events and experiences

·      Utilize art in the trauma narrative process

·      Describe the unique qualities of art in the treatment of   trauma

·      Identify the application of trauma art therapy in various setting

Dates: It is mandatory to attend all classes 3rd Aug, 2011 to 1st Sept 2011

3,4 (Wed, Thurs) - Using various art techniques

10,11(Wed, Thurs) - Introduction to art therapy

17,18 (Wed, Thurs) - Art therapy in Trauma

24,25 (Wed, Thurs) - Art therapy in Trauma

31 Aug, 1st Sept (Wed, Thurs) - (Art therapy in Trauma )

Participants are free to submit their project in their own time. Students will complete 60 hours class work and 20 hours of practical work including preparation and writing up the project, in all the students will complete a minimum of 80 hours during this month.

Course fee and for who: Rs 15,000/ only. This course is open to all mental health and healthcare professionals and students; no previous experience with art therapy is required.

For Registration contact telephone – 42080810/ 9884100135/ 9884700164
--
www.centerforcounselling.blogspot.com/2008/02/our-work.html

Eureka SuperKidz - Bridging the Gap Between City and Village Kids

2011-06-02T02:38:00.000-07:00

Kids in villages/ poor families lag way behind their city counterparts. The reasons for this knowledge and skills gap are many. Lack of good schools, good teachers, after-school training at home are few of the prominent reasons. And poor homes do not have toys, games, and books that encourage play-way method of learning.

So, Eureka conducts after-school program for the village kids for 2 or 3 hours. The program is named Eureka SuperKidz. Eureka is developing content for these classes. The content is simple and has lot of examples, experiments, worksheets, illustrations and is written in a conversational tone.

Eureka is looking for volunteers to write content for Maths, Science, English, Tamil or any other subject of your choice. You can write the content in English. Translators will convert the content into Tamil or Hindi based on regional needs.

A Booklet about Newton's Law of Motion

A conversation in the lesson

An experiment in the lesson

People who are interested in writing content can contact any of the following AID India staff:

Ms. Radha - radhaa@gmail.com

Ms. Mangayarkarasi Angamuthu - mangai.angamuthu@gmail.com

Mr. Selvanganapathy - aid.selva@gmail.com, +91-9790951652

Story Telling Workshop by Jeeva Raghunath

2011-04-10T15:32:00.000-07:00

Jeeva Raghunath enthralled students/audience with her six-hour power packed Story Telling training session. Jeeva, who has 13 years of experience in Story Telling, emphasized that all the five senses should be brought into play while telling a story. And emotions are an integral part of any story. When Jeeva told a story, she sang, did mimicry and little acrobatics.

While narrating the story "Priya's Day", Jeeva transformed a sheet of newspaper into the different characters of the story. The newspaper morphed into a moon, a wall, a tree and more as Jeeva tore the paper and made characters/shapes that were a part of the story.

Very popular in schools, Story Telling is catching up in the corporate sector too. Life skills and good habits are made a part of a story that can entertain and inform a child as well as an adult. For more info visit Jeeva's website.

Jeeva Raghunath in action

Schools do not Sell Blueberry Icecreams

2011-03-24T08:20:00.000-07:00

BLUEBERRY STORY
A Businessman Learns a Lesson
by Jamie Robert Vollmer
"If I ran my business the way you people operate your schools, I wouldn't be in business very long!" I stood before an auditorium filled with outraged teachers who were becoming angrier by the minute.
My speech had entirely consumed their precious 90 minutes of in-service. Their initial icy glares had turned to restless agitation.
You could cut the hostility with a knife.
I represented a group of business people dedicated to improving public schools. I was an executive at an ice cream company that became famous in the middle 1980s when People Magazine chose our blueberry as the "Best Ice Cream in America." I was convinced of two things.
First, public schools needed to change; they were archaic selecting and sorting mechanisms designed for the industrial age and out of step with the needs of our emerging "knowledge society."
Second, educators were a major part of the problem: they resisted change, hunkered down in their feathered nests, protected by tenure and shielded by a bureaucratic monopoly.
They needed to look to business. We knew how to produce quality. Zero defects! TQM! Continuous improvement! In retrospect, the speech was perfectly balanced equal parts ignorance and arrogance.
When I finished, a woman's hand shot up. She appeared polite, pleasant - she was, in fact, a razor-edged, veteran, high school English teacher who had been waiting to unload. She began quietly, "We are told, sir, that you manage a company that makes good ice cream."
I smugly replied, "Best ice cream in America, Ma'am."
"How nice," she said. "Is it rich and smooth?"
Sixteen percent butterfat," I crowed.
"Premium ingredients?" she inquired.
"Super-premium! Nothing but triple A." I was on a roll.
I never saw the next line coming. "Mr. Vollmer," she said, leaning forward with a wicked eyebrow raised to the sky, "when you are standing on your receiving dock and you see an inferior shipment of blueberries arrive, what do you do?"

In the silence of that room, I could hear the trap snap. I was dead meat, but I wasn't going to lie. "I send them back."

"That's right!" she barked, "and we can never send back our blueberries. We take them big, small, rich, poor, gifted, exceptional, abused, frightened confident, homeless, rude, and brilliant. We take them all: GT, ADHD, ADD, SLD, EI, MMR, OHI, TBI, DD, Autistic, junior rheumatoid arthritis, English as their second language, etc. We take them all! Everyone! And that, Mr. Vollmer, is why it's not a business.
It's school!"
In an explosion, all 290 teachers, principals, bus drivers, aides, custodians and secretaries jumped to their feet and yelled, "Yeah!
Blueberries! Blueberries!"
And so began my long transformation.
Since then, I have visited hundreds of schools. I have learned that a school is not a business.
Schools are unable to control the quality of their raw material, they are dependent upon the vagaries of politics for a reliable revenue stream, and they are constantly mauled by a howling horde of disparate, competing customer groups that would send the best CEO screaming into the night.
None of this negates the need for change. We must change what, when and how we teach to give all children maximum opportunity to thrive in a post-industrial society.
But educators cannot do this alone; these changes can occur only with the understanding, trust, permission and active support of the surrounding community.
For the most important thing I have learned is that schools reflect the attitudes, beliefs and health of the communities they serve, and therefore, education means more than changing our schools, it means changing America.

Funny Exercises for Practice

2011-02-22T05:12:00.000-08:00

I came across a funny flowchart in Facebook. I was laughing at the funny logic. Hoewever, i was wondering if the flowchart will be a good exercise for sudents learning Shapes and Smart Art in MS-Word. Instead, of giving a monotonous example for practice, i think students will be engaged and interested in completing a funny exercise. Or will it distract them? Have to try...er..DO!!!

Funny Exercise

Monotonous Exercise

Feet Work - Blended Learning Checklist

2011-02-08T00:14:00.000-08:00

Once you finish learning theory in a Blended learning course, you are very eager to either apply your skills at work or observe. So, a finishing touch for a blended course can be a field study that the learner undertakes. When you say field study, the learner has to be on their feet, navigating their job areas, responsibilities, and workflow.

Suppose you have developed a course on Hotel Management. And you want to equip a service staff/learner with more on-the-job skills. You can prepare a checklist and ask the learner to fill up their observations. The learner can do the study at their own work premises, and also study the same features in a competitor's store. At the end of the study, you can ask the learner to write a conclusion or come with a new or alternate service model. For example, refer the checklist given below. A sample parameter is filled to help the learner start off. There is no limit on the number and type of parameters you can design in the checklist for field study.

Construction of Reusable Learning Objects - 5 Types of LO

2011-01-23T05:36:00.000-08:00

Learning Objects (LO) are small reusable chunks of digital media. Each LO will pass on learning about a subject or a topic. LO are digital entities or digital files that you can deliver or share over the Internet. The digital media can be a jpeg photo, an audio file, a video file, or a webpage that opens on the fly.

Since the main purpose of LO is reusability, you need to put a lot of thought when you construct a learning object. When you say constructing, it means deciding if the LO will be used for instruction, testing, practice or reference. If the LO has to reusable, you need to have minimum context-specific testing inside the LO. Inter-operable LO can be used or shared across courses. Intra operable LO can be reused within a course.

You have to know the different types of LO before you construct or design a LO. The five types of LO are:

1. Fundamental – An individual digital resource uncombined with any other, the fundamental learning object is generally a visual (or other) aid that serves an exhibit or example function.

2. Combined-closed - A small number of digital resources combined at design time by the learning object's creator, whose constituent learning objects are not individually accessible for reuse (recoverable) from the combined-closed learning object itself. A video clip exemplifies this definition, as still images and an audio track are combined in a manner which renders these constituent pieces unrecoverable (or, at least difficult to recover). The Combined-closed learning object may contain limited logic (e.g., the ability to perform answer sheet-referenced item scoring) but should not contain complex internal logic (e.g., the capacity to intelligently grade a set of item forms or case types) since this valuable capability would not be reusable in other learning objects. Combined-closed learning objects are generally single purpose, that is, they provide either instruction or practice.

3. Combined-open – A larger number of digital resources combined by a computer in real-time when a request for the object is made, whose constituent learning objects are directly accessible for reuse (recoverable) from the Combined-open object. A webpage exemplifies this definition, as its component images, video clips, text, and other media exist in reusable format and are combined into a learning object at request-time. Combined-open learning objects frequently combine related instructional and practice-providing Combined-closed and Fundamental objects in order to create a complete instructional unit.

4. Generative-presentation – Logic and structure for combining or generating and combining lower-level learning objects (Fundamental and Combined-closed types). Generative-presentation learning objects can either draw on network-accessible objects and combine them, or generate (e.g., draw) objects and combine them to create presentations for use in reference, instruction, practice, and testing. (Generative-presentation learning objects must be able to pass messages to other objects with assessment logic when used in practice or testing). While Generative-presentation learning objects have high intra-contextual reusability (they can be used over and over again in similar contexts), they have relatively low inter-contextual reusability (use in domains other than that for which they were designed).

Generative-instructional – Logic and structure for combining learning objects (Fundamental, Combined-closed types, and Generative-presentation) and evaluating student interactions with those combinations, created to support the instantiation of abstract instructional strategies (such as "remember and perform a series of steps"). The transaction shells of Merrill's Instructional Transaction Theory (Merrill, 1999) would be classified as Generative-instructional learning objects. The Generative-instructional learning object is high in both intra-contextual and inter-contextual reusability.

Happy New Year 2011

2010-12-31T18:11:00.000-08:00

Inviting Entries for Book of Miracles - Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul

2010-11-26T01:02:00.000-08:00

Publishing house: Westland

Please send your stories to: rakshabharadia@gmail.com

Last dates for accepting submissions: 28^th February 2011. (Raksha will close as soon as she selects 101 stories for the same).

The write-ups will carry the contributor’s name. Westland pays Rs 1000 per story and two copies of the book. We carry a 3-4 line profile on all contributing authors. We accept blogged and published work too provided the authors get the reprint permissions. The copyright of the stories stays with the author. Multiple entries are welcome, (have carried up to five from a single contributor). We accept poems too (provided they have a story in them).

Recipe for a Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul - Book of Miracles

A Chicken Soup for the Soul® story is an inspirational, true story about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. They are personal and often filled with emotion and drama.

Chicken Soup stories have a beginning, middle and an ending that often closes with a punch, creating emotion rather than simply talking about it. A story that causes tears, laughter, goosebumps or any combination of these. A good story covers the range of human emotions. The most powerful stories are about people extending themselves, or performing an act of love, service or courage for another person.

Guidelines

1. Tell an exciting, sad or funny story about something that has happened to you or someone you know. Make sure that you introduce the character(s).

2. Tell your story in a way that will make the reader cry, laugh or get goose bumps (the good kind!) Don’t leave anything out — how did you feel?

3. The story should start with action; it should include a problem, issue or situation. It should include dialogue and the character should express their feelings though the conflict or situation. It should end in a result, such as a lesson learned, a positive change or pay-off.

4. Above all, let it come from your HEART! Your story is important!

Story Specifications

Stories should be non-fiction, ranging in length between 300-1200 words.

Chapters/Themes

Signs from above

The healing power of a prayer

Love from beyond

His/Her messenger

His saving grace

Angels amongst us

Answered prayers

Everyday miracles

Divine appointment

Feel free to send in stories even if they do not fit in the themes mentioned above.

Click here to read Raksha's tips for writing a Chicken soup story.

ICON Participates in Beyond Horizons Career Fair at Stella Maris

2010-11-19T07:48:00.000-08:00

Icon Technical Writing training centre participated in a career fair 'Beyond Horizons' organized by the career guidance group of Stella Maris college. About 20 institutes had set up stalls. Many students were hearing the term Technical writing for the first time. They were also curious about the different type of career options for them once they complete the 120 hours course at Icon. So, it was a fruitful effort for ICON in spreading awareness and enthusiasm about Technical writing amongst students of Stella Maris.

Gomathy talking to students

Icon students placed in MNCs

How is Khan Academy Different from Existing Learning & Teaching Models?

2010-10-29T05:33:00.000-07:00

Khan Academy is run by Salman Khan, an MIT student with hedge funds and maths background. Khan's 1500 + videos on the internet (Youtube) have got maximum views -- more views than MIT videos. And the reviews and feedback from highly satisfied students are great. Bill Gates has donated a huge sum for the Khan academy.

How is Khan academy different from existing learning or teaching methods? First, you can start thinking about the many traditional constituents of a classroom( ILT) that Khan academy does not have. There is no physical presence of teacher or student. There is no fixed or standard syllabus. Khan uses a black board instead of a white board. There is no instant two-way communication between learner and teacher. So, Khan's tutorials are asynchronous and also free.

Second, you can compare Khan's video's with the standard e-learning courses. There is no interactivity such as click, select, or drag-and-drop. But still the student is engaged with the content flow and really learns. The learner can jump from one video to another to brush up his/her basics. An educational video or course does not contain assessments or quick checks. So, there is no online practice. But a learner clears any challenging exam after viewing Khan's video. Now, isn't that really interesting and intriguing.

I think it's time to rewrite and formulate new concepts and principles for learning based on Khan's academy.

Sal Khan at Gel 2010 (founder, the Khan Academy) from Gel Conference on Vimeo.

Absolutely Brilliant Instructional Design

2010-08-02T04:45:00.000-07:00

Mae Jemison on Teaching Arts and Science Together

2010-07-27T05:13:00.000-07:00

Mae Jemison claims that ideas are like potential energy. U need to execute ideas to transform them to kinetic energy. Mae Jemison also wonders if we are creating enough ideas for the next generation to experiment and create upon! Thought provoking indeed.

Does the Learner or Audience Know?

2010-07-23T08:44:00.000-07:00

The Hindi movie Raavan came with a lot of hype and hoopla. The movie revolves around the character of Raavan,an evil king in the famous epic Ramayana. However, the film Raavan did not seem to make an impact on filmgoers, inspite of actor Abhishek’s histrionics. Abhishek’s superstar father Amitabh blamed social media for sealing the fate of a movie before it is screened. He also expressed anguish over random editing of the scenes where Abhishek brings out the shades of the character Raavan.

What was peculiar about Raavan’s character? Raavan is said to have 10 heads, each head depicting one of the 10 evil qualities he has. The ten heads represent passion, pride, anger, greed, infatuation, lust, hatred, jealousy, and selfishness. Raavan exhibits the evil nature of any of the 10 heads as the situation demands. Yet another interpretation exists for the the heads of Raavan( thank god, there aren't 10 different interpretations). Raavan's description as a ten-headed person means that he has thorough knowledge of the four Vedas and six Upanishads, which made him as powerful as 10 Hindu scholars.

However, the fans watching the movie Raavan saw Abhishek jumping from one erratic behavior to another. And sometimes they were confused about what he was upto! During the editing of the movie Raavan, the scene where Abhishek is shown with 10 heads has been cut off. Amitabh believes that the viewers would have understood why Abhishek behaved erratically if the corresponding head(or all the 10 heads)was shown before each scene.

Replying to Amitabh, Maniratnam, the director of the movie, said that he assumed that all moviegoers were intelligent enough to understand that Abhsihek was enacting the 10 shades of Raavan. However, it is evident the viewers were not able to correlate Abhishek’s acting with the 10 heads and they missed the point. The movie crew and a intellectual majority would have understood the reason behind every histrionic of Raavan. But, the majority of the masses were groping in the dark. So, the editing crew had made assumptions about the smartness and comprehension of the audience.

The same scenario holds good when an (Instructional Designer)ID designs a course. The ID and SME understand the source content and how the topic will flow. But, the learner is in the dark. The ID has to remember that he/she is writing the course for a newbie of the subject and that they are not writing a course for the approval of SMEs who guide course development. So, the graphics, audio, animation, and text sequence has to be designed keeping in mind the learner, who is usually a newbie to the subject you are e-teaching!

The ID must conduct a learner analysis or audience analysis. Learner analysis help to tailor the course to the learner's capabilities and needs. So, learner analysis saves the average learner from groping in the dark!

Appalling Statistics About Number Of Graduates

2010-07-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

In India, out of every hundred students, only 12.4 reach college, i.e only 12.4% of high school passouts enroll in colleges. In Africa, just over 6% of school students enter college.Worldwide, on an average, just 23% of school students enter college.

The statistics is appalling as we can see that almost 75% of the world population does not get a college education. And how many of the college goers really get quality education or understand all the subjects they opt for at studies. Stunning and sad educational scenario indeed!

The following movie clip from Swades(with English subtitles) highlights the barriers to even school education in Indian villages.

A Time Table for Training - Can U Fix the Dates?

2010-06-30T06:53:00.000-07:00

When i was handling corporate training, i had to draft a yearly training timetable/calendar with topics and dates. I used to draw up a time table with days and not dates. Say, i would allot 5 days for a micro-controller training in June and would specify 5 days.

Our HR manager will insist that i specify the exact dates like June 15th - June 20th. He would tell that Indian Railways trains never start on time, but they still allot a start time for every train. A vague example, but he was trying to drive home his point.

I was still convinced about just specifying days. There are many reasons for not fixing the dates. First of all, you never know when the engineers will be busy with projects. If engineers from one regional office are free, the engineers in other regional offices maybe busy. The trainer may have personal or other professional commitments. Or it could simply be a lack trainers with adequate subject knowledge. Or there could be nation-wide bandh or a bomb blast.

Nevertheless, in a fire-fighting scenario, allocating exact dates never worked. Whereas, allocating days was safe. If i could not have a training in the first week of June, i can slot the training for the 2nd week of June! But,the training is never canceled for want of attendees.

My HR manager and I looked up the yearly training calendar(brochure) of a well-established mechanical firm in India. Hooray, they had just allocated days and not dates!

Alvin Toffler's Thoughts About Education

2010-06-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

Do You Want To Write A Chicken Soup Story?

2010-05-25T08:06:00.000-07:00

Chicken Soup For The *****!!! Soul is a very popular series of short story collections. The 101 real-life stories for a specific group( e.g, mother's soul) are heart-warming, inspiring, and touching!

Recently, Raksha Bharadia, the editor of the Indian Chicken Soup series conducted a workshop on how to write a Chicken Soup story. The workshop took place at Landmark book store in Nungambakkam, Chennai, India.

Raksha Bharadia is looking for stories for the new Indian series about Golden Soul (old people aged above 60). The story should have 300-1200 words. You can e-mail your stories to rakshabharadia@gmail.com. You can also send caricatures or illustrations. People reading your stories should feel that they are not "alone" in facing a challenge.

If your story gets published, Westland gives you Rs.1000 and two copies of the chicken soup book.

Raksha Baradia said that for a chicken soup story content was most important. Language comes later. Raksha listed the steps given below to write a story.

Step 1: Identifying a Topic

What was the difficult phase of your life and find one word that describes that phase.
Identify a self-realization that can either be positive or negative.
Who are the top influences in your life and why?
Have you encountered any paranormal situations or miracles?

Once you identify a Topic, you can look at the topic from different perspectives and start writing the story from any one of the perspectives.

Step 2: Writing Stage

When you write the draft, do not censor your emotions and words. Let the words flow. Good stories are not about fancy words. So put your internal sensors to sleep. Do not write and edit at the same time. Start your writing with an attention grabber such as a problem.

Step 3: Re-writing Stage

Add details and thoughts about the defining moments of the story. Write about alternative methods for solving the challenge or problem. Check if you have been honest and if the story flew from your heart.

Step 4: Editing Stage

Cut off repetitions. Remove words that will make the reader run for a dictionary. Check if there is a flow between sentences and paragraphs.

Step 5: End the story with a Catchy Note

So, what are you waiting for? Send a test mail to Raksha Bharadia and shoot of your stories to her. She keeps all the stories safely and uses them for an appropriate soup heading :)))

The Story Of A Technical Newsletter

2010-05-19T09:14:00.000-07:00

Writing Technical Newsletters is fun and challenging too. There can be numerous sources for a newsletter - Subject Matter Experts (SME), product brochures, catalogs, textbooks, user manuals, websites, product demo videos/ presentations, trainings,lab sessions, and other newsletters.

The initial source of all information is the Subject Matter Expert /Line Manager. And they review the final content too. Line Managers disapprove of too much theory or examples that is never implemented in the field. Content that does not directly lead to money in the business is taboo for Line Managers and Business Unit heads. Sometimes, content that is sensitive and controversial is cut off. However, a writer has to strike a balance and bring about coherence and clarity in the subject presented.

Click here to view a newsletter on Cables.

Few enthusiastic business heads will take you to the field or workplace. I once visited Spencer Plaza and CTS where Building Management Systems(BMS) with huge chillers, fire alarm systems, and IP-based security systems were implemented. I worked on a BMS software project too. It was interesting to write a newsletter after seeing and implementing the systems in the field.

Click here to view a newsletter on BMS written after site visits.

The feedback for the Technical Newsletters was that they were too technical! Directors wondered if people had time to read and understand 10 page content. So, i was advised to come out with short newsletters. Again i had to strike a balance and come out with two versions of each newsletter - 10 pagers for seniors and single pagers for freshers.

Click here to read a single pager of the BMS newsletter.

You need to keep in mind the font style of the company too, e.g. Times New Roman, 12 pt , and 1.5 lines spacing.

Click here to view a newsletter on Fibre Optics with a crossword puzzle.

Is Onscreen Text (OST) A Must For e-learning Courses?

2010-05-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

Few months back i was watching the Hindi movie Page 3. I had turned on the subtitles in English as i do not understand Hindi. Most of the time i was busy reading the interesting and important subtitles and missed out on the actor's expressions and nuances. I am planning to see the movie again without subtitles to enjoy the acting in detail! Even though the subtitles or Onscreen Text(OST) helped me in understanding the story or context, it sure distracted me from enjoying the picture to the fullest.

This incident led me to think of Modality Principle. Modality principle says that you should not overload the visual channel simultaneously with different types of information. Sometimes, e-learning courses have an animation running and you have Onscreen Text(OST) supporting the animation. The OST is like a transcript of the audio. In such situations, the learner can ignore OST and focus on animation along with audio. Or the learner is distracted by OST very near or on the animation.

There are four options to deal with OST:

The replay and pause buttons are there. So, you can replay the animation or pause the screen to read the OST in detail.
The OST can appear after the animation or vice versa. So, the learner need not simultaneously view the animation and OST.
You can do away with the OST that is a repetition of audio and include text pointers to important parts of the animation.
Or you can include a retractable transparent screen with the OST that can be toggled as shown in the TED video below. The subtitles can be turned ON/OFF.

A funny animation on Photosynthesis without distracting OST:

Click here: An animation with a balance of OST and audio.

What Is Instructional Design (ID)?

2010-05-06T00:29:00.000-07:00

Instructional Design(ID) is the design and development of instructional materials and learning activities to meet learning needs.

Why do we need ID?

Information is not Instruction. So we need an ID model to convert information to learning material.

If you do not provide adequate practise, knowledge, structure, and guidance, people do not learn!

Is ID a copyright of flash-based e-learning course?

No. ID has been existing from the time teaching and learning started. The science of ID evolved much later and was lapped up quite well by the e-learning industry.

B.Ed( Bachelor OF Education) is a university course in India for undergraduate teachers and the B.Ed syllabus includes Blooms taxonomy and Gagne's nine events of Instruction! And a whole host of B.Ed trained teachers have been teaching (ILT) in Indian schools for nearly three to four decades.

What Is Instructional Design?

View more webinars from ejars.

A Course Map

2010-05-03T00:06:00.000-07:00

A Course usually contains two modules. Lesson is the amount of learning in one sitting and the Lesson duration has to be fine tuned to 20 or 30 minutes. And a Lesson contains not more than six Topics, say 3 Instructions + 3 Simulations. Each Topic contains a set of Frames. And each Frame must not contain more than 80-100 words.

A learner can take a test at the Course level(summative evaluation) or Topic level(formative evaluation).

Can a course exist without modules? If you have modules you can reuse the content at module level. Modules also help in establishing the prerequisites for a learning unit.

However, If the course needs exploratory learning, you can omit modules and directly have topics.

Instructor Led Trainings(ILT) - Pros and Cons

2010-04-25T05:35:00.000-07:00

Recently, i started working as a freelance trainer for technical writing. I returned to proper classroom or ILT after many years. So, after a few classes i was musing about the pros and cons of ILT vis-a-vis other forms of training.

Pros:

Personalization: I was calling out the names of the participants atleast four or five times in the class. I wonder if we can get this amount of personalization in asynchronous trainings!

Discipline: When i worked as a faculty in Bitech, i was a very strict teacher. There was a disabled boy who would always walk in 45 mins after the class started. I never let him inside the class. I wonder if it helped in disciplining his punctuality in the long run :)

Change of Topic (Flow Control): If one of the students was absent, i had the control to take a less heavy subject and postpone an important topic for a full-attendance class.

Energy Breaks: If i saw more than one person yawning during theory class, i quickly switched to a lab session or started a breathing exercise. Rain clap also helps :)

Pace and Focus: As a trainer i perform a direct Learner Analysis on the first ice-breaking introductory session. So, i can quickly judge the different student knowledge/skill levels and hence fine tune my pace, focus, and delivery styles.

Learning from Students: A teacher is a facilitator and coordinator and need not always be a "know all" . I learn from students when i train them or put them on a hands-on session! And students sometimes adjust their questions according to faculty skills too :)

Cons:

Hmmm... all of us know the cons - money spent on travel, senior faculty, administration are a few.

9 Gems For ADD Phases of ADDIE...

2010-04-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

After reading the book,"Graphics For Learning" by Ruth Colvin Clark and Chopeta Lyons,i developed a checklist of nine parameters. These nine headings and subheadings can be used as a guide for Analysis, Design, and Development(ADD) phases of the famous ADDIE model.

Click here for the ADD quick reference.

You can add/modify/save the contents of the Excel file.

Convey Facts With Aesthetic Value

2010-04-06T07:26:00.000-07:00

One of the essential features of documentary is the ability to convey facts whilst creating aesthetic value. It's no easy task, often the story overtakes the 'look' of the film, even more often vice versa. That task becomes even harder when translated to a two minute short film - how can a film maker tell you about their world in two minutes, whilst also creating a visual experience for the viewer? Our winner, Wash, Rinse and Dry managed just that feat. Beautifully and simply shot, it has a very clear stylistic approach - a visual metaphor married to a poetic written narrative. That style provides a suitably 'washed-out' backdrop for a powerful and universal story of how we escape the tougher moments in life. As recession continues across the world, it is films like this which will help audiences empathise with, and understand the plight of, the unemployed.

Click here to view the other documentaries of the BBC My World short film contest.

Shikshamitra - An Alternative Learning Centre

2010-04-04T19:45:00.000-07:00

Shikshamitra, based in Calcutta, India bring the joy of painting, singing, dancing, and paper art into teaching and learning. This learning centre focuses on all-round development of the individual, especially for kids who are creatively wired but socially challenged and deprived!

Click here to view Shikshamitra Blog

Few snapshots:

Informal Learning - A Video By Jay Cross

2010-03-28T05:18:00.000-07:00

Cognitive Tea Breaks In E-learning Courses!

2010-03-27T05:24:00.000-07:00

Tea breaks for an e-learning course! Wacky? Why not? Most of us must be familiar with Cognitive Overloading while learning. We include quick checks in courses to break the monotony every 15 minutes or so. But what if drag-and-drop also becomes monotonous for an experienced e-learner?

I was thinking if we could have jazz and song breaks every 15 minutes. Of course, the song, T-shirts, and tattoo marks on the dancing avatars will carry learning schemas relevant to the course! The jazz breaks can have meditation and simple yoga poses too.

Browsed the Youtube and found two song cum learning videos!

Apart from dancexercises, you can keep a separate tab named "Jazz Learning" that is visible throughout the course. And the learner can participate in these fun-learning sessions whenever they are bored! The jazz sessions can also contain motivation movies for completing the course - like good performance on the job, better appraisals and more. Thus, e-learning dropouts can be reduced. Aha, an ambitious short-cut for a genuine problem. Nevertheless, there is no harm in experimenting!

PS: When I was in college, we had a similar jam session for our management course in final year engineering stream. Each one of us had to present a syllabus topic depending upon our talents – games, puzzles, plays, seminar, and I was asked to write a limerick. I did write an incorrect limerick and sing it in class too ;)

Is Education Complete Without Practice?

2010-03-21T01:03:00.000-07:00

I read in a newspaper that travel, watching programs in TV, or attending a seminar can be considered as education. But is the learner or watcher really educated at the end of this knowledge sharing or viewing episode? Let us first look at a formal definition of Education and Practice from Wikipedia.

Education in the broadest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual. In its technical sense education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another. Etymologically the word education contains educare (Latin) "bring up", which is related to educere "bring out", "bring forth what is within", "bring out potential" and ducere, "to lead".

Practice or practise (verb form in Standard English) is the act of rehearsing a behavior over and over, or engaging in an activity again and again, for the purpose of improving or mastering it, as in the phrase "practice makes perfect". Playing a musical instrument well takes a lot of practice. It is a method of learning and of acquiring experience.

Coming back to the example of Travel as education, travel or a picnic is an exciting cultural experience. But travel is an informal education process that does not include practice. The tourist guide is not going to ask you to narrate the history of the fabulous monument he/she just described to you.Or to make a pot! Unless you are a charismatic host for a reality travel show, you will not be journalling, blogging, or you-tubing your travel experiences!

So, is informal education complete without practice? What is the syllabus for you to get an informal degree or diploma? Have you retained the information from a seminar? Can you take a seminar i.e transfer the talk you heard to another crowd?

So, the lack of practice or repeating, brainstorming, and analyzing what you have learnt is missing in informal education. So, is informal education complete or incomplete? Or is it that you are educated but not learned?

Would like to hear from U! Put in your comments and feedback :)

Instructional Design(ID) Review Checklist

2010-03-20T04:25:00.000-07:00

Instructional Design Review of a storyboard or any educational content is based on many parameters. I have designed an ID review checklist that can be used as a quick reference when you want to review/analyze any content instructionally.

The checklist in Excel file format has 6 sections/sheets, namely:

Objectives
Flow and Language
Instructional Strategy
Presentation
Practice-feedback
Accessibility

Each section has various parameters that you test the content on. The reasons for each instructional check and examples are listed. Few interesting websites with relevant content are also listed.

Click here to view the Instructional Design (ID) review checklist.

Schema Performs Services

2009-03-19T04:52:00.000-07:00

Contact anithajebaraj@gmail.com for business collaborations and project initiations.

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