E-learning Blueprint

I came across some material on creating E-learning blueprints visit http://www.cathy-moore.com/blueprint/blueprint_tour.html for details.
Cathy Moore emphasizes on action mapping based learning and demonstrates that Instruction Designing (ID)for E-learning is all about helping the participants solve problems in real world rather than simply designing a e-learning module to help the particiapants learn. The blueprint suggests that e-learning module must be hands on experience rather than loads of Information.
The blueprint traces path from action mapping, activities, contents, organize, create and resources.

Quality in Education

After a very long time today, I got the opportunity to interact or deliver lecture to young students pursuing a professional course (age 20 and above). It is surely not that the I did not get the opportunity earlier, but it is for the first time that various concerns that needs immediate rethinking, understanding and immediate change, so that we could sustain educational growth and development. If we do not do it now, we may miss the opportunity to bring ourselves out from educational distress. Some of the issues that came to mind, during these interactions, for which I do not foresee right answers are:

1. The classroom: The class environment has not changed. The class of 40+ or more, still expect the faculty to walk in the class and deliver and make them understand even if it is wrong. They can wait with no teachers for days and still they see no problem in it. The classroom is still a place where a so called TEACHER speaks and others NOD. The same routine you will find in all the class on most of the days and in most of the cases. PATHETIC......?

2. Classroom Infrastructures: Classrooms are renovated (is the correct word, the IT setup/ equipments etc) because the new infrastructure still remains a show piece. Reasons are many:-
* faculties are still not comfortable in using the LCD projectors etc in the right way. They avoid using it in.
* The desktop are networked but Internet connections are not provided because of the fear that the Internet can be misused. .... It is a scrap. There are thousand of web tools, applications, reading material, presentations, stories etc...and I doubt even the teaching staff knows it or can use it.

3. Course Curriculum: The updating of the course curriculum is very poor and students generally cram the outdated material to pass exams. In many cases the wrong answers give correct marks as the study material itself is faulty.

4. Teaching Staff: Most of the teachers hired are people who do not get job or do not understand teaching and it effect. These teaching fraternity add no or poor value to the system. But, the Institutes only concern is to see that class is occupied by a so called teacher and training of the teachers is a big joke...

5. Institutions: The institutions have an understanding that their primary job is to admit students, provide token education, conduct exams and issue certificates. The cycle continues.

The questions raised and discussed applies to 90% of the Institutions in India...... I feel that the people who need the education the most are the ones who are affected the most..... I wish quick recovery....:)

Online Exams

The news of hiccup in the CAT examination conducted by IIMs is the current topic of debate amongst technocrats, academicians and examinees. Despite of all these problems, we need to applaud the initiative of the premier management institution of India to make the examinations on-line. The glitch in the process appears to be temporary in nature, these type of problems arise in all technological implementation and more so, in the cases, where there are large number of examinees appearing for the exams from different locations across India.
Any new system that is introduced faces initial resistance and adaptability problem. At the same time, we need to remind ourselves that India as a whole (barring the metro cities) is still facing problems in infrastructure (mainly uninterrupted power supply and reliable network) and collaborative work environment (exams of such huge magnitude demands collaboration among all the stakeholders).
My experience with the on-line examinations is interesting and worth sharing:
1. The technical staff at the examination centres work hard to keep the lab ready to use, but not without assumptions that, examinees are accustomedo working with PC and thus leave many issues for the examinees to decide.
2. The lab instructions manual or handouts in most of the cases are not complete.
3. The labs infrastructure in many cases is not consistent. The power back up is generally not tested with full load and more often not, it fails in the actual situation of power failure.
4. The software used for the examinations have many unresolved problems, for example: readability of the questions on the screen (in actual test condition) is poor, navigation is poor and many a times layout is also confusing.
5. The examinees well versed with pen-paper style of examination, generally, find it inconvenient to write on-line examination.
The on-line examinations are here to stay, and I look forward to radical shift of all types of examinations from paper-pen style to on-line examinations.

THE PERFUME STORY

As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children an untruth. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. However, that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.
Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he did not play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers. At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.
Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners... he is a joy to be around."
His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle."!
His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken.”
Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class.
By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy’s. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume. But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long to say, “Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to." After the children left, she cried for at least an hour.
On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children. Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her "teacher's pets.” The story goes on that Teddy becomes Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.