(Only)PowerPoint slides are not E-learning medium!

As the computer gizmo is hitting all sections of society, and being applied in every domain in which it could be applied, education/teaching is one sector where it is thriving rapidly to make learning virtual. Basically I don’t have any interest in teaching methods (though I come from a family which has considerable amount of people working in education field!), but I strongly believe and support the view that technology can bring drastic changes in much questioned Indian education system. I am not an authority either to speak on this issue but whatever information I have collected through meeting people, readings, internet etc. led me to pen down this post.
A workshop was going on in our college on “Use of Computers in Teaching” or what they call as ICT in Education. One of my higher secondary teachers was also attending this and told me that they were taught to make power point presentations. My father and mother have also attended such workshops in past few months (Dad even went to Bhopal for that) and were taught nothing different than Microsoft Office Suite, stressing more on PowerPoint. I guess anyone who attends such workshops would rarely practices atleast showing a ppt in the class, forget getting more interested in ICT in Education. There are practicality issues everywhere (and more complex ones in Goa) as far as teaching methods are concerned.
A rule which is being often quoted in education circles is that “One teaches his students as he has been taught by his teachers”. Since we have been following the so called Chalk-Board (or Get Bored!) system of teaching, and we (will) still practice that for future generations to come, after all we are Indians! The resistance for change in system is bound to be offered and education is surely not an exception. Come on people, we are not talking about the changing the systems fully (though it would be the best revolution that will ever happen in Education sector), we are here just to make the teaching learning process just smoother, better and effective.
Let me not get into teaching methods again, it can be altogether another write up I could make in coming days. My grudge is against all people who are the resource persons for such workshops mentioned above who propagate that using powerpoint presentations in classrooms is E-teaching and do not uncover the life beyond PowerPoint, or MS Office or even for that matter, Windows! May be the resource persons themselves haven’t heard anything beyond the 3 things mentioned above and try to push in whatever they can into Office Suite labeling it as E-teaching and society calls it E-learning.
Things have gone much beyond of Powerpoint, Office and Windows and people here are least bothered, unaware and un-updated on it. My second grudge is about these people who are unaware about technology that would make their life simpler, easy and smooth. For an instance to quote an example from my class, one of my lecturers had bought a new laptop and since my college is one of the only two educational institutions in Goa, who have moodle package running for their campus, started uploading ppt files of his course on moodle. There were no issues until one day he brought his laptop in class, projected a MS Word window in Full Screen Mode on the screen and started reading out whatever he had typed in those notes. It was one of his most boring lectures I had this semester. After the lecture was over, I went to him and asked “Sir, wouldn’t it have been better if you could actually had shown us how the particle behaves in particular state of motion (it was Physics) using a simulator or something?”
“Are there any such kinds of softwares?” He asks.
“Yes! There are plenty of simulator application available, and more plenty in Mechanics itself.” I replied, expecting him to be eager to know about them.
“You know to use them?” He asked again.
I said yes. I thought he would tell me to demo them but he just says “very good” and walks out of class.
This was so unexpected and moreover disgusting, that being a teaching staff of a noble science pursuit called Physics, teaching a fascinating subject ie Mechanics and moreover being an employee of a educational institute that boasts about being the pioneer in e-learning in higher education in Goa(I’ll talk about that later, that’s another breed of people out there!)
The moral of the story is if they don’t want to learn by themselves, how they expect their students to learn?”
I see E-Learning as an effective medium for learning and the best way to achieve it is FOSS. Wait, for all those who have been sleeping with their “Windows” shut and haven’t heard of this term, the term FOSS stands for Free & Open Source Software, a renaissance in computer software and technology. There are n numbers of applications available for teaching a specific domain which falls under the category of FOSS and are absolutely free to use and modify as per the user requirement. The worst part is that people haven’t heard about it, and those who have, are again not keen to opt for it. Again introduction to FOSS would be another post, Introduction to FOSS in Education/Teaching would be yet another but before that, my dear teachers and educationists please wake up and dare to think beyond PowerPoint, MSOffice & Windows.
Technology is dynamically changing life by changing itself too. When are we going to change?
Note:- The day I had that dialogue with my teacher, I went home and took up a task of collating information about e-learning applications available under FOSS category and making a toolkit for the teachers to use them. I know there is an ocean out there of such softwares but I would try to collect as much as I can grab from it.

What I have been upto these days?

"It's not that I am too busy. It's just that I don't want to take any responsibility". This was my FB status some days back. As you people already know(or else read About Me) that I am into too many things at same time which sometimes makes your living horrible, I thought of minimizing my domains. But somehow I am falling lose these days.....
Anyways here is a sneak peak of what I am upto currently
1)Academics
Two Assignments submitted already of Maths..one yet to be given. For my DBMS project I am building a back-end database for an organization (MITRA in particular) and for Operating Systems some programs are given to be written in Shell Script I guess...haven't got the copy yet. For EDP ie Entrepreneurship Development Program, a case study of Sergey Bin and Larry Page, the founders of Google. And so are two physics....but I am least excited about them as of now!

2)Extra-curricular activities at College
I try to keep this as minimum as possible now. First of all, got permission to start a Computer Science Students club for which I was trying since last year. The activities will begin soon after reopening. I've named it as ADOCSS(Association of Dept. Of Computer Science Students)....may be changed later after deliberations.
Initiating a college community blog TigerPunditz for blogging about college issues. It's still in infancy stage and me alongwith Sir Andrew are working out on it.
In process of getting a film club started here on campus.

3)MITRA activities
It was decided during the last meeting of MITRA to organize a monthly activity about anything related to environment. In August, we screened a documentary "The Silk Spinners" but did not catch up the response I was expecting. Hoping good about the activity of the coming month..haven't decided about it though.
BTW, finally after a long lasted deliberation, we finally agreed upon to buy Cannon Powershot S10 IS for MITRA which will be coming next week. Totally excited about re-starting the photography.

Other than this, since Ganesh Chaturthi is fast approaching, busy with trying to make my room as neat as possible in whatever way I can! Also employed by Mom and Aunties Pvt. Limited for "Clean House Project" for no wages. So in festive mood

Random things
tweeting heavily..i mean as compared to before
finally wrote some poems after a long time...published on SPANDAN
yet to collect the rucksack given for stitching
drive once in week on highways
being insomniac....thats bad when you have got pracs at 8:30 in morning the next day
changed profile pic...many girls appreciated it(OooooOhh)! My answer was simple "I was bored of holding that cap for so long"

Old Pic

New Pic

What else?
See you next time than.....

Come Back Post

Ohh! I just dont believe that I have been away from blogging for this many days of my internet life. Somehow that excitement of blogging has lost...wait..it's just not blogging! It's almost in every part of my life....wait more...it's not me only! I see people, things around...with no excitement. Looks like some dementors have sucked all happiness from around. This is just a short post to say that "All you netizens out there, I am still alive and will be back here soon.
And not with ongoging 4 blogs but it's better that I merge all of them into one and start tagging them properly....well! I'll be back..surely..just collecting sufficient excitement!!!

It is here finally....

If it was not for the cracking sound of thunders outside the window, I wouldn't have even cared to wake up in the middle of the night from a yet another divine sleep that I had last night. The good news is that rains are here, giving a surprise to meteorological predictions as always.
The morning was made special by the unmistakable fragrance of the virgin soil getting wet, and to add to it was some nice hot tea.

The jungles, which had gone dry over the summer would now be springing to life back displaying all the shades of green everywhere. I just cant wait to go to rove around....with so much to see, discover, love and conserve....rain is here again....padharo mharo des!!!

The Call of Mhadei

"We wanderers, ever seeking the lonelier way, begin no day where we have ended another day; and no sunrise finds us where sunset has left us."

To experience what it means to be a wanderer, or rather a backpacker, we decided to camp in Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary during the last weekend in January. The trip was planned mainly as an adventure, and wildlife had a secondary preference. The main aim of this trip was to imbibe the practices that are useful in camping amongst us so that it will help us in near future. I was reluctant to join the troup since I wanted to attend some other function in coming days. But the day before, while attending a seminar on biodiversity conservation by WWF-Goa, I was lucky enough to attend Rajendra Bhai's lecture on Mhadei, which changed my plans and I was on with rest members

.

But the trouble started from the Day 1 itself. Since I reached late on the Bus Stand, others had to miss one bus and to add on that, all the subsequent buses were canceled due the political gathering at sanquelim.. After those four hours of continuous wait and deliberations whether to go or not to go, or to change the destination, we finally boarded the Ponda-Mollem-belgaum bus and got down at Mollem and caught a bus to Valpoi from Mollem.

Getting down at Khadaki, we walked till Bhironda river bank. This was the first base site for our camp. The sun was already waving a farewell to the water of Mhadei and we were fortunate to see and capture this show. We dumped our belongings in one pothole so as to prevent them from dogs. Next move was to take a swim in the adjoining river and we felt fresh after that.

It was perfectly dark now and we lit our surroundings by the three torches that we had with ourselves. We sat and talked about our problems, future, conservation etc. Saish, Aniket and Me recited some poems of our own. I lied on Utkarsh's laps watching the sky lit with millions of stars, finding the arrangement patterns within them.

It was the time for dinner now, and they had Maggi noodles. Since, I did not like maggi, I managed myself on Bread-Jam and Cakes. Preparing the maggi was an ultimate experience and we all enjoyed it.

We sat to plan the next day. Our next destination was to reach Karanzol, a remote village in Sattari and from there walk till “Pishtyachi Kond.” Saish and me knew the route since we had been there before. Sharp at 6:30, a bus leaves to Karanzol from Khadaki and we decided to catch the same. I think we slept than under the open sky counting the stars overhead.

The next morning was not too far, and while waking up I found my sleeping bag was fully wet because of the dew drops that descended upon us. When Saish, me and Utkarsh woke up, we found Rohan and Aniket already busy preparing the tea. Even we joined them and had a nice cup of hot tea with little less sugar, but the sweetness of our spirit added to it was making it worth drinking hundred times.

It was 6:15 when we left Bhironda, and we had no hopes of catching with the bus. Still, an elderly lady on the way told that the bus comes at 7 o'clock. We hurried but atlast we came to know that the bus comes at 6:30 only and we missed it. There were no more buses going to Karanzol that day.

We tried stopping one bus of Zantye Cashew factory which takes the employees to the factory. Th driver agreed to take us but said he can drop us upto Karamali, a village 8 km before Karanzol. We got into the bus and got down at Karamali, from where we walked till Karanzol. There was no need to go to the village since the route to “Pishtyachi Kond” starts well before the Karanzol village but sometimes I cant resist my nostalgic attacks. Over my past visits to this village, I have developed a sense of affection towards this village. Saish preferred resting under a Jackfruit tree while I headed others to show around the village. I met Govind Kerkar, a resident of Karanzol and forest guard at Bhironda Soil Conservation Dept. who had accompanied us to Pishtyachi Kond last time.

We came back to Saish and after resting for sometime, started our journey towards Pishtyachi Kond. Since the time we woke up, we were walking and walking and just walking. We stopped by the way and hid our luggage ambush so as to reduce the burden to carry. After reaching deeper into the forest, we could hear the sound of water flowing adjacent by us. We badly needed water for drinking. We decided to stop here itself for lunch. Than came the three hours of splashing water sports that we all played and were back fresh for the lunch. The recipe did not change from last night and it was same, cake for me and noodles for others. Since it was late now, we canceled the plan to walk till Pishtyachi Kond since we would be reaching the village by night. We marched back calling it off for yet another memorable trip and a promise to visit again to Pishtyachi Kond next time.

At night, we slept at a temple in Karanzol after having our food in a local restaurant. Approximately, we walked about 45 odd kms that day and had no plans to continue the camp on the third day. We boarded the bus that leaves from Karanzol early morning and then were back to Ponda.

This trip to Mhadei was refreshing, but also thought provoking. The proposed dam project will surely be harmful to this place and not only Sattari, whole Goa will lose its elegance and glory. The water of Mhadei is calling out to its each son out there amongst us to protect her veil from being submerged under political wishes of neighboring states.

The silences of Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary

We were overjoyed to see Paresh sir back from the elephant operation to Cotigao. It’s an altogether different experience to rove in Cotigao with Paresh sir. We had visited Cotigao number of times before but never got a chance to see it with Paresh sir & this was the moment for which we were all waiting for.
After a session of informal discussion, we all settled ourselves into his jeep which marched towards Bela Lake. It was the onset of sundown and surely, best time for wildlife sighting. The jeep being open, we constantly conversed with the wind which was moving opposite to us as we went forward. Since me, Omkar & Arnold were standing; we had to dodge down to miss the branches that had descended down from the canopy surrounding the trail. The vehicle stopped at the lake, unloading the villagers whom we had given lift till the spot.
We went little further for some birdwatching. We spotted Heartspotted Woodpecker, Racket Tailed Drongo, Tree Pie, Starlings etc. We all came back to the lake. Paresh sir told us to sit quietly and wait for the black birds to show up as he wanted to photograph them. We adjusted ourselves on the plinth while Arnold and Paresh sir adjusted themselves into a nearby hide pointing their DSLR cameras to the lake. The lake looked still and so as we.
A Pond Heron landed in the lake. We were not thrilled to see this otherwise often seen bird, even in urban settlements. None of us uttered a word, not even a sheer whisper was exchanged. I was trying to resonate with the silence of jungle. It started to dominate us as we began to accept its authority over us. They say that jungle has its own laws, and so as it has its own voices.
Time passed rapidly fading the skies to darker and darker shades of black. Suddenly, two Orange Headed Thrushes showed up at the lake, joining the Pond Herons. The Black Birds were yet to show up and by this time, we were completely adjusted to the silence of the jungle. Time passed but the scene at the lake did not change.
I felt some motion to my back towards right on the road. It was Prakash, the forest guard, who was walking rapidly with a face beaming a smile of some great achievement. ‘Sir, Leopard!’ Those two words had hit me hard & my impulses took a leap like that of the mighty beast that was sitting right on the road, in a carefree manner. I had flare visions of the leopard that had crossed our car at Khandepar, a month back. We all got up and saw in the direction in which Prakash was pointing his finger & it all appeared crystal clear. A leopard right in the middle of the road on an open patch just few meters away from us. The yellow colour of the dried grass looked dull in contrast to the shades of yellow that this beast wore on his body. We were excited like hell.
Paresh sir told us to climb the watchtower. He was expecting the leopard to come straight to the lake but it proved him wrong. Instead of turning to left and walking towards us, he went straight and vanished out of the view point. Paresh sir and Arnold went in the hide again, me and Omkar settled ourselves in the open part of the jeep while everybody else waited on the watch tower with binoculars struck to their eyes.
Paresh sir signaled us to listen to the hissing sound of leaves on the other side of the lake. It was dark by now and hearing was the only vision. We waited, waited and just waited but nothing happened. We could only hear some sounds of leaves hissing which disturbed the silences. Suddenly a Lapwing gave a cry from the left side of the lake. Paresh sir suddenly got us & told us to get back in the jeep. He told Prakash to drive to the acacia plantation from where the sound had come. We drove to the spot; thinking that Lapwing had raised alarm because of leopard was roaming around that area, but it was futile enough and we decided to return back.
While returning, Arnold had switched his headgear. We were passing Bela lake when me and Arnold saw four eyes gleaming in response to the LED flash that his headgear threw around. I tapped the window glass where Paresh sir was sitting & told him that there is something waiting for us. He instructed Prakash to take the car towards left, leaving the trail and we entered the dried mouth of the lake. The headlights of the jeep flashed infront and we saw two leopards, one male and another female!
They stared at us for disturbing them. I could feel the time stood still for some seconds, allowing everybody amongst us to freeze this moment in our mind. I felt like giving a roar to celebrate this time of my life. This drama took place for few seconds after which both of them faded into the dark forests of Cotigao, making it silent as it was before.

Chaddi Pehnake Phool Khila Hai.......

As you begin a new today of your life, you never know what can take you back to sweet memories of your past and you might end up spending your day thinking about those nostalgic times of your life. I often get such nostalgic attacks in the middle of vacations when I have nothing else to do than wandering along with the reminiscences.

Your attack may be kicked as simple as this- you open a supplement that comes with your local daily newspaper to read an article about Gulzaar. While reading, you come to know that the song that accompanied the childhood of our generation, “Jungle Jungle Pata Chala Hai”, title song of famous animation series Jungle Book, was penned by this living legend and is composed by Vishal Bhardwaj, the genius Indian filmmaker. Same thing happened with me and this reason was enough to take me back to the sweet childhood days of mine and it all appeared as if it had happened just yesterday.

Me sitting infront of TV enjoying the adventures of Mowgli with Sher Khan, Bagheera etc. & sipping the Sunday morning tea with chapattis rolled and dipped inside it, both done simultaneously to get better taste of both the activities. These images are crystal clear in my mind and have not vanished though the childhood has eroded around to make me an adult.

I get up and connect my computer to internet in and download the title song of jungle book. Finding it was not very difficult since only one keyword “Chaddi” was enough to get me the desired results, and wow! 

“Jungle Jungle Pata Chala Hai, baat chali hai

Chaddi Pehnake Phool Khila Hai Phool Khila Hai”

I set this song as ringtone for my cell phone and listen to it the whole day. This song does not only bring the sweet memories of past to life, but also some attributes within our personality that get lost in the due course of time like innocence, the no-worry attitude, serenity, inquisitiveness etc.

On the same evening, I stood at the gallery at my aunt’s place watching the Santa Clause vehicle passing by the road. The adult in me could just smile looking the children on the road running madly behind him to get that one gift packet but the child in me had an etch to run behind the Santa Clause just like I used to do back in my childhood. We as an adult are too rigid and are often scared of breaking rules set by the society unlike the child mentality. I would prefer anytime being a innocent child rather than being responsible adult, would you?