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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Promise Center

Visited the promise center yesterday near Banaswadi Bangalore. Absolutely loved the place. It is made of clay bricks. The nursery looked like a house more than a school and surely the children felt at home too. Seeing the Steiner kindergarten in reality was a dream come true. Spoke to the founder Lalitha for a long time and she explained the concept of Steiner education to me. Makes so much sense. The education system must reflect the nature of man and follow the natural process of growth. May all children go to a school that they love to go to. Would love to see the school evolve to include all grades upto 12th. Right now its only till standard 1. However there are Steiner schools in Mumbai and Hyderabad that have classes till grade 10th. Also met a few happy parents and the other teachers - Jyotsana, Usha and Gopa. The Waldorf teacher's community in India, although small seems to be growing fast. There is an IPMT conference in Bangalore from 12th to 18th December which has a separate series on Waldorf Kindergarten. Wish I could attend! If only I had known earlier. The school was a dream come true. Wish I have a similar one some day :)



Monday, November 29, 2010

Right to Education

The Right to Education (RTE) Act threatens the very existence of about 300,000 budget schools. Their fate now rests with the states, says John Samuel Raja D ....

http://www.peerpower.com/et/2927/Notice-Period

Friday, November 26, 2010

Helping young learn media arts

http://www.youtube.com/user/streetsidestoriessf

Community colleges in Tamil Nadu

http://www.thehindu.com/education/article907549.ece

Teaching through computers

The Concord Consortium has  amazing simulations and models that teach basic concepts. Must try!

"The best part about it? Hundreds of our resources are free, research-based, and available for you to use today. As a non-profit organization, we’re committed to quality science and math. And we’re focused on showing the world how technology can lead to better learning."

http://www.concord.org/about/information-for-teachers

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

How Technology is Improving Education

Don Knezek, the CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education, compares education without technology to the medical profession without technology.
“If in 1970 you had knee surgery, you got a huge scar,” he says. “Now, if you have knee surgery you have two little dots.”
Technology is helping teachers to expand beyond linear, text-based learning and to engage students who learn best in other ways. Its role in schools has evolved from a contained “computer class” into a versatile learning tool that could change how we demonstrate concepts, assign projects and assess progress.
Despite these opportunities, adoption of technology by schools is still anything but ubiquitous. Knezek says that U.S. schools are still asking if they should incorporate more technology, while other countries are asking how. But in the following eight areas, technology has shown its potential for improving education.

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Read more -  http://mashable.com/2010/11/22/technology-in-education

How we learn - Ted Channel !!

http://www.ted.com/themes/how_we_learn.html

Five dangerous things for kids

Tinkering School

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Let the Revolution Begin

Planning to do something to cause transformation in the education sector during the next one and a half years at college. Really excited about it. The details however are not clear as yet. There are so many things to be done in this sector that I am finding it difficult to choose one problem to go after. Also planning to build a community of individuals to take on the change. Visiting the Promise Foundation next Friday to find out how they are implementing the Steiner system of education.

Saw an awesome Ted video by Sir Ken Robinson on the need for revolution in education -


Also joined a facebook community with like minded people - http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-hate-Indian-Education-System/307332222995

Bouncing ideas like opening a small school in Bilekhalli for children of nearby colonies and test alternate education. Seems far fetched right now though. Lets see what the visit to Promise reveals.