Sunday Posts

Published By The U.S. Department of Education Government Analysis: Online Education More Effective Providing further evidence of the tremendous opportunity to use technology to improve teaching and learning, the U.S. Department of Education today released an analysis of controlled studies comparing online and face-to-face instruction. A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified over 1,000 empirical studies of online learning . Of these, 46 met the high bar for quality that was required for the studies to be included in the analysis. The meta analysis showed that “blended” instruction – combining elements of online and face-to-face instruction – had a larger advantage relative to purely face to face instruction or instruction conducted wholly online. The analysis also showed that the instruction conducted wholly on line was more effective in improving student achievement than the purely face to face instruction. In addition, the report note...

I am supposed to make a presentation on Psychological theories of Adult Development and Learning today. This is a part of the course I am doing at UCL . Though I did not have much time to focus on the subject over last couple of months, coming as it did in the middle of the most dramatic phase in my life, when I finally started working on it, I found the subject immensely interesting. So, a summary for those interested: The first thing to note is that the studies of adult life reveals that it is a period of change and development, much like our other phases of life. So, presupposing that we, as adults, are only supposed to apply skills, attitudes and values learnt in our childhood to tasks of adult life may not be the right thing to do. Not that this case is rested yet, the time-tested views of adulthood as a period of stability do continue to hold, but it is a good point to start with. [ Allman , 1982] Why we need to have a good understanding of adult development process to apply to l...

Today, in parts of India and Bangladesh, celebrations will mark the 150 th Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, largely known as a poet to the rest of world, but a polymath who shaped the language, education, music and art of his countrymen. Being a Bengali, I grew up in the shadow of his intellectual presence. I am no connoisseur of music, I shamefully must admit, but the renditions of Rabindrasangeet , the music and lyrics created by Tagore, were an inescapable part of my identity. His books filled our shelves and school curricula. We learnt to look at nature, god and love through his poetry. And, finally, growing up, we learnt to look at our country and its politics through the lens of his ideas. While I can keep going about Tagore's all-encompassing impact on our lives, it is his politics that I would want to talk about today. Indeed, he was not a political figure for the rest of the country, largely forgotten in the nationalist struggle and even branded an anglo...

It is good to be heard, and recently, I have been asked to contribute in a symposium on economic development of West Bengal. While I work on my presentation, I have started putting working notes together and thought of sharing this on my blog, in the hope of attracting comments and feedback from all those who care to read. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I care about Bengal. Because, wherever I go, whatever I do, I am Bengali and remain so. I may speak English, but I think in Bengali. When I travel, I can't help compare everything that I come across with things at home, and home is Kolkata . When I see something nasty, I proudly announce that WE do it differently; when I see something good, I wonder why WE can't do it the same way. I know the statement above is controversial. Am I not supposed to say I am Indian? Isn't that my primary identity? What nation am I, Bengali? Nations are usually defined by common...

Since I have taken the decision to walk away from my job, something that my friends and well-wishers advised me not to because it is 'too risky', I have been enjoying my freedom and doing things that I liked doing. In fact, if anything, it was more risky than wasting away my life on someone else's agenda: After all, one can always lose money and somehow get it back, but wasted time is irreversible. To talk about freedom, I can also set this blog free now. I started writing this blog as a reflective exercise. Not to brag and document life and times of me, but to look back, analyze myself and get feedback through friends and everyone else who care to read, on various complicated issues that confound me as I go along. However, I did realize that it was not easy to do so. While I was in my earlier job, my private existence was too closely linked to work; this is because the work demanded my complete commitment and 24x7 attention. So, work crawled into this blog too, though I ...

Britain has to decide tomorrow which way it wants to go. It isn't going to be an easy choice. Democratic politics usually pushes all contenders towards the middle, the area of majority, which rules out dangerous ideas but also the possibility of innovative thinking. So we have today three parties slightly different from each other, raging a debate over pounds and pence and indulging in accountant-talk: three equally bad, good or indifferent choices. The truth is - Britain is standing at an inflection point in its history and nothing but fresh thinking will be needed to save it. But none of the plausible alternatives offer any fresh thinking. Let me try an example: Let's talk about Change. Gordon Brown says Britain needs a change, and he is the only one who can deliver change. He says he is change himself. That's a surprising statement from the incumbent - especially from a Prime Minister whose back most Britons want to see. But Brown's change is about many forgettable ...