Serendipity and Learning

So, the course, I mentioned did happen . And I tried a different approach this time. The last time I had a 50 slide presentation for 4 hours. But when I saw the same slide deck now, I found myself cringing. So, this time, I tried to bring out the learning from the attendees. So, I used a series of videos to bring out the learning. And now, that they had observed the right way to present, the solution to how they could present came from themselves. And I found the audience feeling very comfortable as it went on. 4 hours went away so fast, I could not imagine. There was a lot of peer to peer learning and discussion - I barely had to talk. So, was the experiment successful - yes, I think so. But there is still some refinement that can happen as I figured out in this session. But the big message that I wanted to give the audience was 'Be yourself'. And this is something we dont often do. The few train the trainers I have attended often want you to make so many changes to your...

Ever so often, I hear parents complain about how their kid is watching too much TV. Well, most often you will find that the answer is that others in the house are spending a lot of time watching TV. The similar reasoning will be seen around a kid who reads a lot. Ditto for the internet. The trouble with the internet is that, it is very easy to get into the consumption oriented part of the internet - watch videos, play games and suchlike. Because it resembles what you have seen as media - TV, newspaper - they are all one sided - pure consumption. The internet is a medium that will work for you the way you want it to work. Take youtube for instance. You can watch movie songs or you can watch it for seeing 'things to do/make' or perhaps upload what you made in the form of a video. Which do you think the kids will enjoy? The current generation that is growing up today, has perhaps the best resources off the web yet. The trick, perhaps is to not keep yourself (and your c...

PSFK Future of Work Report 2013 from PSFK (Via @AbhijitBhaduri on Twitter)

One of the pasttimes the little one has is watching youtube videos. Especially on Lego. Especially where someone explains the inner workings of some random thing that they would have built. Those videos are amazingly instructive and very very systematic. And mostly, by Americans, I think. And Americans are great in systems (my view). So, imagine a kid, who has been watching such explanatory videos over some time - at some point, he wants to make his own video. (Pretty standard I would think - if your coach talks about swimming/driving - at some point, you want to jump into the pool/vehicle and get started). This is the demo step, if you will, where the learner sees possibility. So, at some point, the little one wanted to create videos. And, we have been creating and deleting videos for some time now. So, the demo and creation and honing process happens somewhat simultaneously. The practice phase. And at some point, one of the videos made - actually not just the video, even the mode...

Recently, I read this piece on how Linkedin is eating up the recruitment market. In a nutshell, what that means is that candidates can be found by anyone on Linkedin – so why use third party services? And some time back, Linkedin had opened up to third party recruiters- and later on launched its own recruitment tool. So, eventually, nobody needs to use third party recruiters, because Linkedin has it all. How Linkedin is eating the recruitment industry .(Read it all, worth your time) Now let us think about training. There is an entire industry out there that service various companies, individuals and many other kinds needs in the training space. There are a slew of universities that offer tailored MBA programs, Executive education apart from various bodies offering certifications of various kinds. Now, the internet is busy disrupting this market. And it is only a stone’s throw away. The best courses from all over  the world are available on the internet. Course...

There is a rich debate on as to whether a MOOC will revolutionize the learning industry. One side is the argument that is open, free, allows learning at your own time and if well built, it can enable peer to peer learning, reviews and suchlike. All in all, a great tool. No doubt about it. And thus I enrolled in the the Stanford V-Lab course. It seemed to start off well, but then one weekend (when I was supposed to finish my assignment) I was too tied up. And I did manage to write the assignment, but did not click the 'submit' button. So it stayed, in that un submitted state. That was one strike against me. And I did not want to be a student who did not submit an assignment. So, I stopped. Thus, I can relate to many a well-intentioned person who might have joined the course, but dropped off. Now, drop outs are quite common. From my own experience, many of these 'correspondence' classes like the Brilliant IIT tutorials and distance learning classes are littered with d...

One of the earliest memories I have of reading is the fresh smell of the newspaper - delivered each day at the crack of dawn. When I was a little boy, I used to spread the newspaper on the ground and read it. I could never get comprehend how appa and the big people could read it holding the newspaper up - it was just too big for my little arms. From the floor, I graduated to reading it on a table and then finally I could read the newspaper like my father could. In between, I realized why tabloids were so easy on the arms and shoulders - and that was an interim step. The newspaper made my day - each day - for the past many many years. During my travels - I found it so difficult to not have access to a newspaper. And for a long time, I would come home and read all the newspapers of the time I was away. Especially after our summer vacations in Kerala - I have read through newspapers for a month.  When I woke up early to study, the newspaper's arrival was a good time ...

Often, when a new technology becomes available, people try to use it as much like the technology it replaced. In general. Preferring to skim over the technology and use it with the limited functionality of the outgoing technology until at some point, someone shows them how to use the breakthrough functionality. The first time I experienced this was while I tried to make a debtors report at my first job. And the report was maintained in xls – but no better than a ‘physical register’. It took us a few weeks to clean it up to use it like an xl sheet with group, sort, sub-totals and such like. Digital cameras are another thing. I read somewhere that nowadays a photograph is very unlikely not to be digitally retouched – and the possibilities are endless. Earlier, that was reserved only for magazine covers and portfolio shoots – but now anyone can do it. And while on that, do see this commercial on Adobe Photoshop. And that brings to my latest idea – that newspa...