Friday, November 26, 2010

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

Publishing house: Westland

Please send your stories to: rakshabharadia@gmail.com

Last dates for accepting submissions: 28th 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.

Friday, November 19, 2010

ICON Participates in Beyond Horizons Career Fair at Stella Maris

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


Friday, October 29, 2010

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

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.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Mae Jemison on Teaching Arts and Science Together

 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.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Does the Learner or Audience Know?

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!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Appalling Statistics About Number Of Graduates

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.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

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

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!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Do You Want To Write A Chicken Soup Story?

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 :)))

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

The Story Of A Technical Newsletter

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.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

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

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.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

What Is Instructional Design (ID)?

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.

Monday, May 3, 2010

A Course Map







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.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Instructor Led Trainings(ILT) - Pros and Cons

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.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

9 Gems For ADD Phases of ADDIE...

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.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Convey Facts With Aesthetic Value



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.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Shikshamitra - An Alternative Learning Centre

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:



Saturday, March 27, 2010

Cognitive Tea Breaks In E-learning Courses!

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 ;)

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Is Education Complete Without Practice?

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 :)

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Instructional Design(ID) Review Checklist

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 7 sections/sheets, namely:
  1. Objectives
  2. Flow and Language
  3. Instructional Strategy
  4. Presentation
  5. Practice-feedback
  6. Accessibility
  7. Points to consider for Analysis and Design 
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.