Sunday, December 29, 2013

Coming Up... 2014

These days I am kinda lazy to write... I think being sucked into the vortex of Candy Crush has something to do with it too. Candy Crush, I guess does not qualify for those gamification concept that seems to be a rave these days in the education circle. I think I sometimes enjoy being lulled by the mindless swiping of the candies... Seeing them crushed when they line up in threes, fours and fives.

Another year coming to a close... A lot can happen in a year. A lot can change too. And again too I am reminded in small (and big) ways that nothing is permanent. And I wonder too if we try to create a sense of permanence too to give us comfort.

One kid an adult, another one leaving childhood behind, entering the marginal world... I hope the next few years would not be as traumatic for me as the years I went through with the one before her.

The coming year will be a year of challenge, especially at work. I enter it with anticipation and trepidation. I don't know if I still have the tenacity and stamina to see the challenges through. There will be a couple of IT related stuff which I hope to start at work... This year, I started using the iPad and AppleTV in teaching. I have discovered much but there is still much to learn.

Technology is moving fast... The likes of Google Docs, Google Drive, various apps like Socrative, concepts like Flipped Learning, Blended Learning, Project Based Learning and so on are changing how we teach and learn. It is a very exciting time. I see too the need for teachers to adapt, and perhaps even abandon many of our traditional teaching methods in anticipation of how information is stored and used. I have even tried gamification in learning... and yes! It makes learning fun. We should put play back into learning.

And yes... Traditional exam taking probably has to go too in time to come. Computers are now wearable. There is probably no need to memorize stuff in the huge quantity that many of us are used to. Testing would be more to assess skills and not just ability to regurgitate.

2014... Supposed to be rambling about the coming year... Reflecting about the year about to end. But I think my mind is still swirling somewhere out there... in the vortex with all the candies crushing with each other. Then again... A couple of thoughts here. We should experiment with technology even though it might be scary. Many of us are technophobic. We should try out different approaches in teaching. Not everything tested remains relevant. And instead of just focussing on the A(s), we should try to embrace those special moments and turn them into a teaching opportunity.

Broken?

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