My grandfather was the first headmaster of the primary school attached to the Teachers’ Training College in Saidapet, Madras. This was in the 1940s, or probably even earlier. As a teacher in those times, he had designed “cinema boxes” for use in the classroom. The box was a regular cube made by the local carpenter. It had a glass door. Two thin wooden cylinders – like the belan we use to roll out chapathis – were fixed at the top and bottom. These could be rolled up or down by a handle fixed outside the box. A long strip of white cloth – his old dhotis folded and stitched, I suspect – was fixed and wound on both the top and bottom cylinders.

He drew, collected pictures, photographs or newspaper articles and stuck them on this piece of cloth. Subject-wise and topic-wise, he had made these ‘newsreels’ to teach history or science to young learners. He had retired decades before I was born, but he was at work in his room creating more material for these boxes, and as a child in the early 1970s I remember helping him sew or paste pictures to complete his project. As children we sometimes rotated only the top cylinder nonstop, so that the cloth screen-base was unwound and fell in a heap at the bottom!

This long nostalgic introduction is to contrast the difference technology has made in education today. Surely much more needs to be done to take the benefits across the country to all children, irrespective of class, caste or language. However, what is available – even though mostly to schools located in cities – is still significant.

The only resource that was available in my school days was the textbook. We had not even seen the four-colour versions then, and they made an appearance in the mid-1980s or so. The real changes influenced by technological advancement began a few years ago when we saw CDs enter the education sector. In the beginning, these CDs did not make a big impact, as the cost of producing them was quite high, and they had to be therefore priced higher than the textbook itself. With the costs of CDs coming down in recent times to affordable levels, the investment in production of the master copy is a fixed cost that publishers are increasingly willing to absorb. Originally the CDs were introduced for ‘knowledge’ subjects like science. They had visuals of experiments being carried out with a voice-over explaining the concepts behind them. Animation was in its nascent stage, and the images moved only when necessary. In the language CDs – usually English – the stories and poems were read out, and offered help to those teachers who wanted to pronounce the words right. These CDs now use multimedia and are interactive as well, helping students answer questions and assess their performance. Hopefully soon History and Geography – hitherto dismissed as ‘other subjects’ – will also see the availability of these to enthuse the teacher and the learner.

From an educational publisher’s point of view, technology has indeed quickened the process of making the textbook. Gone are the days when a manuscript was delivered hand-written or at best typed – as the contract said, ‘on one-side only, using double spacing’! Nobody in the right frame of mind would accept either today. Typescripts are submitted as soft copy, and corrections are made using ‘track changes’ and these in turn are immediately sorted out between author and editor. Not only time, but also paper – read trees – is saved in this process, unless one is obsessive-compulsive about having a printout to file!

I have witnessed the effect technology has on teacher training as well. As publishers of textbooks, we conduct workshops throughout India to help teachers teach effectively. A decade ago, these workshops had typed and photocopied handouts, which the resource person distributed to the teacher participants during the course of the day. Today we use an LCD projector instead of an overhead one, and have dispensed with making slides on transparencies. I have also seen the impact of ideas presented using power point. It has a greater effect on participants than a printed handout. I have copied an entire workshop for a techno-friendly teacher who brought a pen-drive with her!

Audio-visual aids available today make language learning more effective. Language labs are being established in many schools, where pupils listen to pre-recorded material. These tapes and CDs have people conversing using everyday language in natural contexts. Pupils listening to these are able to engage with the language, and follow speech patterns and functions. Thus, learning is not divorced from reality.

Even in higher education, the changes are amazing. Medical students today have the luxury of listening to all their lectures in the college library, so that a student who has either missed a class or needs to clarify doubts is able to listen to them at any time. Students are also able to watch their dissections on a giant screen, even as they cut! The teacher need not waste time inside the classroom drawing diagrams. These are all available on CDs and are distributed by teachers to the students as well. Engineering students work on their laptops in classrooms, and keep their pace with technology.

Technology has therefore made a huge difference in education, just as it has changed our lives in general. Still, how it is put to use is equally important. It cannot be used as a gimmick in lieu of preparation. Even technology will not come to the aid of someone who hasn’t put in hard work before entering a classroom! Similarly, no technology can substitute an understanding and effective teacher!

The author is Chief Editor (ELT), Ratna Sagar P Ltd, New Delhi. She can be reached at
nagalakshmi.bala@gmail.com.

I grew up at a time when school teachers seemed distant figures, who were happy to be distant. That notion went right out of the window on the very day I wrote my last board examination. On that day, a group of us, elated students, visited our rather awe-inspiring teacher of mathematics to give her a gift. She treated us to cake and said thank you with tears in her eyes. She told us that she knew we were a mischievous lot who probably had fun at her expense in class every time her back was turned. She knew exactly which one of us was a mimic and who was the prankster.

At university, I had the good fortune to be taught by Russian teachers, who kept the doors to their homes open for their students. I have eaten meals with my teachers in Russia, I have heard exquisite poetry in their living rooms. From my American teachers I learned that you could be on first names with your professors and line up for a sandwich with them at lunch time, and keep your learning opportunities open throughout.

When I became a teacher, I am sure that those experiences shaped some of my beliefs about my role in my students’ lives. I know that I have consciously tried to develop a personal rapport with every student in every class I have taught. I know also that I am hardly unique in finding ways to build a personal connection with students.

School teachers are a sensitive and insightful lot. The best of them never stop working, and I don’t mean that in the limited way of marking notebooks or preparing for the next day’s lesson, although, that work really never does end. Teachers think about the students in their class long after the day’s work is done. From learning their names in the first days of a new term, a teacher begins to develop a sense of who each person is in the class. In schools where parents have an active role, a teacher’s knowledge of pupils becomes wider, thanks to opportunities to interact with their families of students.

Teachers, not unlike their colleagues in other community-oriented professions, are quick to utilize new and emerging channels for communication. I have personally experienced the impact of the electronic modes of communication which energize contact between teachers, students, and parents. It is not that email and social networks are better or more efficient than, say, the telephone or the handwritten note, but it is simply that new modes of communication offer unique features that expand a teacher’s mechanisms to establish and remain in regular contact with students.

When, some 10 plus years ago, I first began to use the email, including group mails to talk to my students, many people – among them my colleagues – thought that it was just a technology driven fad. Without exaggeration, it is clear to all today that millions of teachers the world over would find it difficult to do without the email to stay in touch with their class. Sending instructions about homework via the email means that I communicate clearly and precisely. I like having my copy of the mail on record for as long as I wish, which is usually for the duration of the term or semester. Filing things away is a lot less cumbersome on the computer, with the added benefit of being able to check who among your recipients hasn’t opened the given piece of mail. And, using the calendar built into many mail programs facilitates reminders, where necessary.

Innovations in technology have made a significant impact on the way we communicate. Take as an example a social networking medium such as the Facebook. I use it regularly to keep in touch with friends and, more importantly, to have an idea of what’s going on in the day-to-day lives of my circle of Facebook friends. Without describing the various functions available to a user, I would say that the Facebook, in some of its uses is way ahead of the email as we know it in facilitating casual communication within a community.

I see Facebook like a virtual block of college dorms in the evening, when the work day is done. People are mingling, running into one another in corridors, knocking on people’s doors looking for company, crashing into a party for a quick round of hellos, or sitting in one’s own room, just looking out of the window, watching the world go by, hearing laughter from a room above, noticing a friend at a study desk in a room across the courtyard. Privacy is for you to define in those spaces inhabited by the young. The ambience is informal, conversations are fleeting, meetings are chance, and opportunities for being passive in a bustling crowd scene plentiful.

For me, keeping in touch with past students has become increasingly pleasant through Facebook. You have access to your friends’ pages at all times and you can have a quick glimpse of their life as it is being lived. There’s something relaxed and easy about knowing that your friends can visit your page – as they would your dorm room – and get a sense of your state of mind, your preoccupation at that moment, and your friend can decide to walk in or pass by. From a word in greeting to quick chats about career decisions, my past students use the Facebook to tell their circle of friends (including me) about things going on in their lives.

I know some readers out there worry about confidentiality, inappropriate use of personal information, and the sheer amount of time one could potentially spend in the virtual world. Facebook users are as varied as students in an undergraduate dorm, where some party endlessly, some are reckless, but all are generally in it to exploit the opportunity to enjoy the unique life of a student life.

Today, with technology, we have the opportunity to belong to a variety of communities, where we can be active or passive members. As a teacher, I have always been surrounded by people much younger than myself, and the age gap has only widened, as the years have gone by. That’s been a singular advantage for me, as my students have invited me to experience their fresh worlds in many ways, including their world of social interaction through virtual spaces, using the technology of the internet. In our days as students, we didn’t really invite our teachers to learn our slang or hang out with us, even if they opened their homes to us. Today’s youth appear to be unencumbered by barriers we didn’t know to break. I am happy to be invited into their world of strange acronyms and short-hand slang, their nifty video clips and the ever growing semantics of the smiley face. Keeping friends has never been easier.

Dr. Kamakshi Balasubramanian is an educator and writer with significant experience.

Just over 60 years ago, in August 1949, a 15-year-old blind boy, Ved Mehta, moved to the United States of America to acquire an education. This was because his country of birth, India, offered no educational facilities to blind people. As a result, the blind had next to no employment opportunities back then (blind people worked as beggars, or lived on charity, or owned paan shops). Thus, the combined strength of negative social attitudes and structural barriers (lack of schools for blind children, lack of access to public transit, etc.) meant that most blind (like other disabled) people led lives mired in poverty and misery.

I speak here about the education of the blind because I am a student who happens to be visually impaired. For me, technology means access to education and employment opportunities, contact with the larger world, and, entertainment. Both the radio and computer technology have played a major role in my life. As Ved Mehta writes in Sound-Shadows of the New World (1986), the fifth in his memoir cycle, the Continents of Exile series, while he was studying at the Arkansas School for the Blind in Little Rock, Arkansas, the radio allowed him to stay in touch with the outside world and helped him to conceive the idea of pursuing a journalistic career (he went on to have a long stint with The New Yorker as a staff writer). So, technology helped launch him on a writing career, and 60 years later, technology is integral to my life and career as well.

When it was time for me to start my schooling, my parents sent me to the local school for “normal” children. Hence I did not learn Braille, which other blind children are taught at schools for the blind. My mother read aloud to me all kinds of books – school books, children’s literature, novels – right from early childhood till the completion of my undergraduation. She used to copy school notes and read them to me. I prepared for my examinations in this manner. Now I perform these activities with the help of my laptop.

When I entered high school, my maternal grandfather introduced me to the habit of listening to the radio, specifically to the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). I quickly became an avid listener. This was fortunate, for it helped to broaden my horizons dramatically. Every day for seven years, I used to listen to broadcasts by the BBC and other radio stations starting early in the morning and after returning home from school and later, college. Programmes on the arts, sciences, current affairs, in-depth analyses of international political events, and so on kept me riveted to the radio. I even participated in an international radio-play writing competition hosted by the BBC.

Early in this decade, when we bought a desktop computer, I was not able to use it. We were not aware of any assistive technology that would enable me to operate the computer on my own. However, this was to change soon. One day in 2002, my mother read an article in the magazine, India Today, about a screen reading software called JAWS for Windows, where the acronym JAWS expands to Job Access With Speech. This software has been developed by Freedom Scientific (www.freedomscientific.com), a company specializing in developing technology-based products to help the blind and people with learning disabilities to have equal access to information and computing, thus enabling them to improve their lives. Excited by the prospect of my achieving proficiency in using the computer, my parents bought this software. The purchase involved a considerable expense but looking back now, it seems entirely worth it.

I learned to operate the computer independently with the help of JAWS for Windows and was soon busy surfing the Net and being amazed at the whole new world that was opening up before me. I even set up a personal email account.

In June 2005, I wrote the entrance test to the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL, now known as The English and Foreign Languages University, or EFLU) in Hyderabad and secured a seat. I was eager to do my M.A. there because their prospectus and website informed me that they offered special facilities for visually impaired students. These included computers complete with screen reading softwares like JAWS for Windows, and Kurzweil. This meant that I could be self-reliant in my studies. However, during my first semester at the institute, I did find it difficult to keep up with my assignments and other academic work, because it was not easy to find the required reading material in digital format. My professors and friends were very understanding and did their utmost in helping me with my education.

On the advice of Dr. Rajiv C Krishnan, one of my lecturers, I purchased a laptop early in my second semester. He said that it would be of great help in my studies. Looking back, I think it was the best thing I could have done. From then on, I did all my academic work on my laptop. My teachers gave me the required readings in digital format and allowed me to take all exams using my computer.

A friend who uses JAWS for Windows for his professional work once told me that the software would enable blind people to perform all computer-related work as well as (if not better than) sighted people. I know that he is right. But I am aware that all blind people do not have access to technology-based products because of the costs involved in procuring and using them. I know of visually impaired students who were not able to do well in their studies solely due to this reason. So in our country, I think it is the responsibility of institutions devoted to imparting education to make sure that visually impaired and other disabled students gain access to technology at the right times, thus enabling them to build their careers with greater success.

Thus, like Braille, which was a great innovation, technology-based products have the capability to improve the lives of blind people. This is certainly true in my case. After finishing my M.A. in English literature, I am now on the verge of completing my M.Phil from EFL University. My research work was made possible by the online library, questia.com. I have been able to gain higher education due to computer technology.

And now, I listen to BBC radio on the Net.

The author is an M.Phil student at the English and Foreign Languages University. He can be reached at aravind.ciefl@gmail.com.

If technology comes, can libraries be far behind? What should a school library do to show the way to teachers and management in the realm of technology? This was the question that I faced way back in 1997 as a librarian at Centre for Learning in Bangalore. We had an open library and a lively and interactive user community. Shouldn’t we leave things well alone? But there was the lure and the thrill of the possibilities of computerisation. Users from ages 5 to 55 functioning independently at the computer – to borrow, return, reserve, and search for whatever their strange hearts desired; and for the librarian? Liberation from catalogue cards, borrower cards, accession registers…. in brief, no more paper-work! That was a consummation devoutly to be wished. After a frustrating exploration of existing software; too cumbersome, too complicated, too expensive – a computer-crazy older student at the school came up with a programme that we worked on together. MERLIN he called it and magical it was. Children took to it effortlessly, adults with a little more hesitation but after a trial run, we knew we were going to create a record of sorts. One of the first school libraries to be fully computerized!

But magical though the effects were, a lot of hard work came first. Putting in all the data for 4500 books took two summer breaks and more. But looking back, it was all worth it. This was an invaluable add-on to the openness of the library. Each user (student and teacher) has an account through which they borrow books, journals, CDS, etc. They can also find out whether the library has a particular item and if so, where it is located. On the shelf, or with someone else? If the latter, then a polite message is sent asking the person to return it as soon as possible. As you can see, this programme has been created with a co-operative and user-friendly perspective. Now the computer is a familiar friend and children go to it for all their needs with the greatest confidence that it can do the trick! Every user has total independence and there is implicit trust that they will use it in the right spirit. The few blips that have occurred are dealt with through dialogue and discussion. For the librarian, information on the borrowing habits and patterns of every user is available at a click!

When we opened the doors to a computerized system, we also enabled the entry of many other technological aids. Reference work is done both with the physical material as well as through CDs and CD-Roms. On-line access is available to students with an adult’s knowledge and guidance. As a librarian, I show them how a preliminary search through books and CDs prepares them better to search and find the right and relevant information on the Net. They see the truth of this when they find themselves entangled in a web of information over-kill! Young students who discover the heady possibility of lifting essays from the Net and do a cut and paste are soon dispirited to find that they have very little knowledge of the topic and that the teacher is not fooled either! Another activity I have initiated is to have an open discussion about Google and Wikipedia with senior students. In their dialogue they come to a certain reality check about all such search engines. They see the challenges and the pitfalls of going to a single source for all their information, opinions, and data.

Another interesting angle to this computerization is the incentive it gives students to take on projects like creation of bibliographies, compilation of statistical data about the library collection and use, and analyzing information gathered from surveys. At CFL every group takes on library related projects, some of which I have listed already. The ease with which they can get required information encourages them to take on useful and challenging projects. Once they have the data, the presentation is theirs to do artistically, colourfully and even graphically. These visual charts are kept on file in the library for information and inspiration to the next-generation of learners! Other projects created on the computer include a visitors’ guide to the library, a messaging service alerting users to new arrivals relating to their specific interests, a reminder service regarding overdue books and an outreach out system for old students.

Every book has a borrowing record and on it you may find comments by each reader. Every user too has a borrowing record so if you wish to recollect your reading interests and perhaps refresh your memories, there you go. The value in this for the librarian is intangible. Many times it happens that children respond to suggestions if they come from older students. Without bothering anyone, the librarian can invite a resistant child to take note of an older student’s reading interest at their age and hey presto, the job is done. Slower readers appreciate books on audio. Some groups might like to see a film of a well-loved book or the other way around. In the library is an audio-video corner which can be used individually or in a group. For all this to be used wisely and well, the librarian is an initiator and a friend.

So let us visualize a scene in 2084 where the librarian-robot is an attachment to the computer and is whizzing around the library. A student comes along with a query. The librarian anticipates the need and in micro seconds, an answer flashes on the screen. The student beams that across to the teacher for the project or exam or assignment. The first part is not so different. A good librarian is always available and ready to respond to queries and uses the computer to assist her in her job. But here is the big difference, she makes sure that after she has helped the student find the source, the rest of the exploration and the output is a result of the student’s own curiosity, hard work and scholarship. This is a very important aspect that must not be lost in the quest for technology. A large number of CD-Roms and DVDs are available to help children learn concepts in various subjects. These are very carefully designed and do attract the child to access information and knowledge. But true discovery and tactile exploration where one’s senses are in play cannot be replaced. Therefore it is the responsibility of every school library not only to keep abreast of technological advances, but also to continue to nurture the child’s senses, create opportunities for leisure and the possibility of reflection, and provide the contact with human resources for learning.

How can technology be used to help, point and make known, thereby giving space for creativity, innovation and insight? Especially in a school library can we keep this in mind and not be dazzled by dreams of digitisation, while at the same time making the young users aware of the myriad possibilities and developments of the cyber world? A tightrope walk, but we must do it.

The author is a school library facilitator. She can be reached at usha.mukunda@gmail.com.

Learning to use new technology is not easy; especially for a middle-aged teacher. They say that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. But when push came to shove, this old dog forced himself to learn several new tricks to survive the world of academia at the University of Georgia.

The day that I plodded along East Campus Road in Athens, Georgia, for my first class in Instructional Technology, the air was heavy and woolly, and the sky was growling pessimistic prophecies. In retrospect, I should perhaps have heeded the celestial warnings; instead, I entered the classroom on the 6th floor with naïve enthusiasm. The moment I breezed into the room, I knew that something was wrong: there was only one other student in class. On seeing me, the instructor’s face melted into a delicious smile of welcome; as if on cue, twenty odd students trooped in. God, I thought, was in his heaven and all was right with the world.

The feeling of effervescence lasted till the first set of assignments started rolling off the assembly line. One didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to complete the tasks, and I was confident that I would be able to do them without unduly exerting the old grey cells. It was while I was mentally patting myself on the back that the professor casually added: ‘Oh by the way, I would like you to use the Eudora software for your assignments, and Eudora is available only on Mac.’

The word ‘Mac’ set off a chain reaction. The heart parted from its moorings, the smile that had been splitting my face vanished, sweat oozed from every pore in my body, the stomach complained like a door that hadn’t been oiled in several years, and the jaw drooped like the proverbial lily. The reason for this spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings was fairly simple: no, it was not because I was an admirer of that potty poet Wordsworth. I had never used the Macintosh computer in my life! In fact, I had never used a computer till I became a graduate student in the University of Georgia in the fall of 1994. And for six months, I worked enthusiastically delving into the mysteries of the IBM PC. During this period of learning, I had shunned the Mac, treated it as some sort of pariah, and now, it was striking back.

The following week, the professor took us to the Macintosh computer lab, and I boldly went where at least this Upendran had never gone before. I saw the Apple logo on the computer screen, and unlike Eve I had no desire to taste the forbidden fruit. (You must remember that in January 1995, Microsoft had not started marketing Windows. To be able to operate a PC, you needed to know how to work with the keyboard. The Macintosh, on the other hand, made use of a graphic user interface, which required you to be adept in the use of the mouse.) For the next two hours the professor proceeded to provide us with a breathless summary of the working of the Macintosh computer. In a short space of one hundred and twenty minutes, he took us from the world of ‘Word’, to E-mail. Galin, Eric, World Wide Web and Netscape. And while he was busy telling us how to access the information highway, I was busy trying to unravel the mysteries of the numerous windows on the screen. ‘Click on gopher, pull down message and type in….’ went on the professor. The only thing that I wished to do was to click on ‘menu’, order a pizza, become a gopher and bury myself in some big hole. The lecture delivered at a frenetic pace totally disorganized my nervous system, and as I caught my reflection on the screen, an enigmatic expression on my face was there for all to behold. Had Leonardo Da Vinci seen me as I walked out of the lab, it would be my portrait, not the Mona Lisa’s that would be hanging in the Louvre today!

I doused the impulse to run home to India where the recommended means of doing one’s assignment is to use the ‘portable handheld communications inscriber’ (U. S Army jargon for a pen or pencil!). On returning to my apartment, my wife asked me to cheer up and proceeded to fortify me with a spicy dinner. I purred with satisfaction, and as it usually happens when one has a full tank, a grim determination crept in: I was going to master the Macintosh come what may. The next day, I began the onerous task of ‘attaching’ a document to an email message. Like all Taureans, I had planned well ahead as to how I would tackle the problem, and by the time I reached the computer lab, my fear of the Mac had all but dissipated. But as the saying goes, there is many a slip between the cup and the lip. No sooner had I sat down to follow the procedure I had so carefully laid out, a classmate struck up a conversation during the course of which he informed me as to how he had succeeded in attaching a document. Being the computer novice that I was, I was more than willing to follow his instructions. I promptly retrieved a document on Bilingual Education from cyberspace, and sent it off to the professor. The following week I was told that I had merely succeeded in ‘pasting’ the document, and not in ‘attaching’ it. Lesser mortals, of course, would have been crushed. But I stood in total amazement, for yours truly had become the first member of his clan to ‘paste’ a document. History had been made!

I tackled the problem of ‘attaching’ the document once again, and this time it was a solo performance. I carefully followed the instructions that I had planned on using earlier, and it was with a sense of reverence that I clicked on the ‘Send’ button. But when the professor informed me the following week that he hadn’t received the message, a shadow began to fall on my earlier optimism. I had met a formidable enemy, and I decided that it was time to declare war on the Macintosh computer. I realized the only way to master the beastly machine was to have an in-depth knowledge of how its devious mind worked. For the next two weeks, I spent four to five hours every day working with the machine. It continued its non-cooperation movement, and did its utmost to drive me up the wall. But I didn’t roll my eyeballs and throw my hands into the air. I was made of sterner stuff; after all, I had been married for nearly 9 years. I wasn’t going to give in to a computer without a real fight. What was required was patience, and I had tons of it!

In the course of the next two months, I made it a point to park myself in the Macintosh lab whenever I found the time. Through all the grumblings, mumblings and a liberal sprinkling of juicy adjectives, a number of things happened. I began to have a healthy respect for the Macintosh, and it began to see me as someone who could not be easily ‘shooed away’. We began to tolerate each other, and didn’t go out of our way to burst each other’s bubble. I plodded on, struggled with my assignments, and strangely enough began to look forward to my sessions with ‘Mac’. By the time the semester came to an end, and I had successfully completed the assignments to my professor’s satisfaction, I realized I still hadn’t unlocked all the mysteries of this strange computer. I did what most men do when they don’t understand something. I fell in love with it. So much so, when I had saved enough money to buy a computer of my own, I bought myself a Macintosh!

The author teaches at The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. He can be reached at supendran@gmail.com.

Internet and the social web
The “social web” received wide acceptance in the academic world only in recent years. The term social web is often used for internet-based interaction between and within groups. Social web or Web 2.0 marks a distinct break from the earlier internet applications of the 1990s and the early 2000s, by facilitating ‘interactive’ rather than ‘broadcast’ forms of exchange, in which information is shared ‘many-to-many’ rather than being transmitted from one to many. The interactive and collaborative nature of the social web helps create new knowledge. This technology provides the means to share information and learn together through the internet.

Social web is an umbrella term for a host of recent Internet applications such as social networking, wikis, social bookmarking, blogs, mash-ups, etc. While differing in form and function, all these applications support some degree of interactivity.

Strengths: There are strong links between social web and socio-cultural theories of learning, which see active and authentic learning taking place best where knowledge can be constructed actively by learners who are supported in communal social settings. As stated earlier the social web is characterized by a variety of powerful information sharing and collaboration features. There are a number of examples of appropriate use of collective intelligence and collaborative skills behind every success story. Academic research shows that student teams achieve higher levels of thought and retain information longer than students who do their work individually.

Students can form a community of interest and share knowledge, put up interesting pieces of information, they can work together. Much of the learning potential of social web is seen to derive from the co-construction of knowledge. Social web enhances peer to peer interaction, teamwork, encourage the attitude to share, inculcate the habit of distributing knowledge and expertise among students. This positive attitude strengthens cooperation rather than competition among students. Thus, learning becomes a collaborative practice on the web.

Digital learners: Social web technologies are also associated with significant shifts in the nature of contemporary learners. A popular characterization of the upcoming generation of learners is that they are ‘digital natives,’ who have grown up in a world of computers, mobile telephony and the internet, and now lead lives that are dependent upon the digital media. These digital natives are seen to stand in stark contrast to older generations who adopted digital media later on in their lives, having grown up without them. Digital natives are thought to expect technology-assisted flexibility in all aspects of their lives, including the ways in which they learn and are educated.

Teachers: The collaborative aspect of social web allows teacher and students to liaise together on a topic. Teachers need tools that enable them to construct appropriate assessments and process them efficiently. These forms of assessment could also contribute to the de-compartmentalization of learning practices, examinations and assessment, at school and in the workplace, and to the validation of informal learning. Several social web applications can be utilized in the teaching-learning process like writing assignments, guiding projects, counseling, etc.

Institutions: There is a clear role for schools to act as initial points of the learners’ exploration of social web use beyond the passive consumption of online content. Formal education institutions should become places of technological exploration rather than of technological restriction. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach. Educational institutions have to be reconfigured to support the forms of learning associated with the use of social web.

Applications: The social web’s rise to prominence in the lives of learners has prompted enthusiasm amongst educators. Some claim that social web applications share many of the qualities of a good ‘official’ education technology. One of the main educational uses of the social web is seen to lie in its support for interaction between learners facing the common dilemma of negotiating their studies.

In a multitude of ways the social web can be a boon to the academic community. The social web enables students to work at their own place, organize their own learning spaces.

Blogs are developed as online diaries, with users creating an online account of some aspect of their professional or personal life. A typical blog allows a user to post web entries in a journal or diary format, with each new entry inserted at the top of the blog page and all past entries following in reverse chronological order. Blogs can be used as a presentation tool in which students are able to directly comment and revise and give immediate feedback. Publishing posts of an intellectual work can be done quickly and easily through blogs.

Wikis are websites that allow people to add content and edit information on them, providing space for communal documents. The most well known wiki provider is Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia. Wikis are also useful for internal collaboration, as some services offer private workspaces. The wiki is a module that can be utilized to reflect the thoughts and feelings of students. Due to the very low technological barrier and flexible functionality, wikis are winning hearts of the students. In the educational environment, the collaborative nature of wikis enact knowledge building with and for others, with the focus of being on the community rather that on the individual learner. Wikis will sing a success story if deployed properly. As the work is equally represented, wikis can be used to develop research projects as a collaborative authorship. Social networks and collaborative writing in wikis encourage teamwork, provide students a platform to share and cooperate.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary) is a family of formats which allow users to update the content of RSS – enabled websites, blogs or podcasts without actually having to go and visit the site. RSS feeds keep the user informed of any changes. If a group of students is doing a classroom project sharing their bookmarks, a teacher can subscribe to their RSS feed to see the direction of their research.

Discussion forums: Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site. It originated as the modern equivalent of a traditional bulletin board, and a technological evolution of the dialup bulletin board system. From a technological standpoint, forums or boards are web applications managing user-generated content. People participating in an internet forum may cultivate social bonds and interest groups for a topic may form from the discussions.

Discussion forums show that the interaction is effectively facilitated through the use of asynchronous text-based forums, and that participants use the online interaction to build a learning community and to generate knowledge within the learning community.

Social bookmarking is a system where users save links to web pages that they want to remember or share. These bookmarks are usually public, and can be saved privately, shared only with specified people or groups, shared only inside certain networks, or another combination of public and private domains. The allowed people can usually view these bookmarks chronologically, by category or tags, or via a search engine. Bookmarks, which are one of the key components of browsers can be also deposited in specific tools, the social bookmarking applications that we can use when we are not on our own PC. Unintended learning happens through the discovery of resources and information shared by others through their bookmarks.

File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information, such as computer programs, multi-media (audio, video), documents, or electronic books. It may be implemented in a variety of storage, transmission, and distribution models. Social web networks allow the sharing of any type of digital content, including songs, DVD-quality movies, computer programs and video games. Students and teachers can share their interests and activities and encourage collaboration. Teaching materials can be offered in advance through online file sharing.

Mashup is a web application that combines data from more than one source into a single integrated tool; an example is the use of cartographic data from Google Maps to add location information to real-estate data. In web development, a mashup is a web page or application that combines data or functionality from two or more external sources to create a new service. Mapping mashups are very useful for subjects such as geography and history.

Microblogs: This is a form of multimedia blogging that allows users to send brief text updates or micromedia such as photos or audio clips and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. These messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including text messaging, instant messaging, email, digital audio. Micro-blogging has the potential to become a new informal communication medium in the academic environment, especially for collaborative work.

Webcast is a media file distributed over the internet using streaming media technology. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, webcasting is “broadcasting” over the internet. The generally accepted use of the term webcast is the “transmission of linear audio or video content over the internet”. A webcast uses streaming media technology to take a single content source and distribute it to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. Webcasting can be used in e-learning (to broadcast seminars), and for related communications activities.

Podcast is a series of digital media files, either audio or video, that are released episodically and downloaded through web syndication. The mode of delivery is what differentiates podcasts from other ways of accessing media files over the internet, such as simple download or streamed webcasts. The podcast, usually prepared as an MP3 file, can also be presented on mobile devices (like iPods), e-readers and notebook computers, media that are largely used in e-learning.

Social networks build online communities among people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Social networking in the workplace, universities, and schools is most popular online. This is because unlike most schools, colleges, or workplaces, the internet is filled with millions of individuals who are looking to meet other internet users, to gather and share first-hand information or experiences about any number of topics, developing friendships, or to start a professional relationship. Through social networks members can learn about new cultures or new languages and their interesting subjects. Classical face-to-face teaching can be mixed with collaborative learning. Learning can be continued over web: Open content, permanently actualized materials.

Practical issues: The social web may offer educators a set of tools to support forms of learning that can be more strongly collaborative and more oriented to the building of classroom communities. All of this has the potential to empower the student to become an independent learner. But it also brings challenges to both learner and teacher. The knowledge structure of the social web is not navigated with the same tools or the same ease as traditional teaching methods. It may pose problems if it is not properly managed.

Conclusion: Educational institutions can offer immense value to their students by familiarizing them with the technologies of the social web. Rather than being limited to today’s skills, students must learn the skills of the future. All of these issues demand adjustments in the teacher’s role. The richness of the internet arena and the sophistication of social web tools should not conceal the significant distractions and obstructions that the learner must confront. The educational potential of the social web is often associated with the philosophy of ‘learner autonomy’, which might suggest an increasingly less role for the teacher in the learner’s experience. But social web does not somehow simplify knowledge building and thereby set free the learner. Undeniably its intricacy brings significant challenges. Teachers should be positioned to play a crucial role in managing this experience.

Key Resources
Thompson, John. “Is Education 1.0 Ready for Web 2.0 Students?” Innovate: Journal of Online Education. www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=393.
Sotillo, Susana. “Using Instant Messaging for Collaborative Learning: A Case Study.” Innovate: Journal of Online Education. March 2006. www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=170.
Lenhart, A., and Madden, M. (2007), Social networking websites and teens: An overview. Pew Internet and American Life Project report. http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/198/report_display.asp.
O’Reilly, T. (2005), What is Web 2.0: Design patterns and business models for the next generation of software, http://oreillynet.com/1pt/a/6228.
Barnes, K., Marateo, R. C., & Pixy Ferris, S. (2007). Teaching and learning with the Net Generation. Innovate, 3(4). http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=382.

The author is a PhD Research Scholar, School of Social Sciences, IGNOU. He can be reached at eyeroor@gmail.com.

Advantages of the virtual classroom
Until you experience it, it is rather difficult to comprehend the numerous ways in which technology can help ease the teaching process and at the same time reach out to a larger, more diverse audience. The virtual classroom is becoming more and more popular because of its enormous reach and also because it enables students, sitting in the comfort of their college/school premises, to interact with experts in various fields. It also cuts down on travel time both for the students and the teacher. Satellite education, as it is otherwise known, can reach students across thousands of miles, simultaneously connecting various states in the country. It is also a medium whereby students understand that they are not alone in their struggle as they listen to fellow students from different institutions voicing the same doubts and fears. At the same time, it induces the so-called slow learners to chug faster because in this varied interaction, they can see that they are not doing their best.

The virtual classroom requires the teacher to face a camera in a studio that is equipped with a computer system and a Power Point presentation on the subject to be handled. The studio lis also equipped with a whiteboard which the trainer uses, just as the teacher uses the blackboard in a classroom.

Jitters
The most unnerving feature about online teaching in the studio is getting accustomed to watching your own face! Of course, you can view the students on the side monitor and hear them, provided the end user adjusts the camera accordingly and makes sure that the mike is switched on, and the battery is not weak! Sometimes the camera is focused on the ceiling or on the feet of the students! It is imperative therefore, for the coordinator in the educational institution to be constantly present, rather than just switch on the camera and mike and do the disappearing act! It is here that the studio personnel play an important role in checking with the institution on whether every piece of equipment required is working. Once these conditions are met, the faculty and the students can interact naturally, as in any classroom. Of course, it takes time for both students and the teacher to get used to this kind of interaction.

At a pre-determined time, when the teacher is seated in the studio, and the students are in their college/school studio, all the parties go on air. The image of the teacher is projected on a large screen so that all the students can view the teacher. The teacher announces the topic and goes on to elaborate with the help of the whiteboard and the power point presentations.

Students interrupt to raise questions or get their doubts cleared. Occasionally, when the mike does not work, students use the chat mode to get their questions answered. The teacher then reads the question and answers aloud so that other educational institutions that are tuned in may also benefit.

Student participation
In a classroom situation, the teacher is sometimes greeted by a sea of puzzled or frowning faces, leading her to elaborate on the topic. In the virtual classroom, the onus is on the students to get their doubts clarified because it is not possible for the teacher to get a view of all the students and read their expressions. Students, therefore, become more responsible for their own learning since they are conscious of the fact that they cannot go into the staffroom, or bump into the teacher in the corridor to get their doubts cleared. This actually helps them develop their listening skills. It also helps them get over their nervousness of communicating with a stranger. However, trainers must also be prepared for marathon sessions when they are forced to perform solo because the coordinator has not checked out the mikes prior to the session or because of some technical snag. Such occasions can be stressful because the only mode of interaction with the students would be via chat or email.

Shy or nervous students occasionally open up in the virtual classroom because they do not feel as threatened as they do in the conventional classroom since they are miles away from their teacher! Students get exposed to a peer group from another region. This sometimes gets them to vie with one another during group discussions, and it also gives them an opportunity to assess their own weaknesses and strengths.

Schedule
A teacher normally interacts with a particular batch of students for a minimum of 30 hours. During this period, a rapport develops between the teacher and the students despite the absence of physical contact. This is managed by the teacher being empathetic, answering student queries and also by being as natural as possible. The teacher has to make sure that she takes down the names of students who answer her queries because these are the students who will make the sessions easier to handle. She can try and coax the silent spectators to speak. If the coordinator at the student end is alert, and focuses the camera on the student concerned, he/she is compelled to answer. The shy students always have the option of sending a mail to the teacher and getting their query answered.

Role of facilitator
The facilitator in the respective colleges collects the assignments and couriers them to the teacher, who in turn, corrects them, sends them back, and comments on the tests during the classroom teaching. These assignments form the basis of the internal assessment. In that respect, there is no difference between the traditional and the virtual classroom. For virtual classrooms to be a success, the trainer needs to be not only knowledgeable but also a little more flexible and enthusiastic. Students must be coached by their colleges/schools to actively participate rather than be just dull spectators!

Skype it
Many of us use Skype to talk to relatives and friends. The current trend is to use it for online teaching as well. This can be done from the comfort of the home! It is done one on one basis or in groups, primarily depending on the kind of connectivity that students have. If the video mode is turned on, students can see the teacher and vice versa. Students get individual attention and occasionally the teacher resorts to the chat mode to teach the written form of the language. It is a challenging method of teaching, both for the teacher and the student, so it is for those teachers who know how to motivate students and those students who can remain motivated!

Teacher remains most important
However much technology has advanced, it still needs the human touch. Students need to feel appreciated or at the least, noticed. So, whatever mode of teaching is adopted, one needs to have a teacher with the right attitude and soft skills so that the learning curve takes place faster and smoother!

The author is a teacher educator and language trainer based in Chennai. She can be reached at manaswinisridhar@gmail.com.

Every alternate Sunday, about 50 students meet at a college in Mumbai, for their course in Teacher Education. They meet in three groups, geographically distanced from one another, yet intellectually very close, as they are linked through a software that enables interaction with one another and their tutor. They are referred to as a distributed classroom. On-line workshops and interviews, podcast of lectures, blogs, discussion forums and whiteboards, along with face-to-face interaction at their study centres are part of their routine interaction. This sort of e-B.Ed (as the course is referred to) is perhaps a pioneering effort in teacher education in India. The course is being offered by the Yeshwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University. The participants vouch that this is a very interesting learning experience.

E-learning, on-line learning, and blended learning are terms that have penetrated the system and in a way have changed the face of traditional teaching.

Concept of blended learning
Blended learning is a much sought after approach used in corporate training. However it can be successfully utilized in school education as well. Blended learning involves blending of different learning methods, techniques and resources and applying them in an interactively meaningful learning environment. The goal of blended learning is to provide the most efficient and effective instruction experience by combining different delivery modalities, both on-line and off-line. Heinze and Procter* say that ‘blended learning is learning that is facilitated by the effective combination of different modes of delivery, models of teaching and styles of learning, and is based on transparent communication amongst all parties involved with a course.’

Some tips for incorporating blended learning
Here are a few ways in which one can be an e-savvy teacher with just some basic knowledge of computer networking.

Using blogs: Just as you make a note or a log in say a diary, a weblog or a blog allows you to make a comment, discuss or share something through the Internet. To create a blog, try using www.blogger.com. All you need is an email account and the site guides you through the necessary steps to create your own blog. This writer has created a blog for her students, where they upload reviews of books they read, share thoughts, analyze matters and get to know of new books. A blog named pushpanjaligames.blogspot.com (created by the writer) features several classroom games that can be used to teach. Readers are free to access the same, sign in as a member and upload their own ideas. All such blogs are absolutely free.

Creating online communities: Social networking sites like Orkut can be effectively used by teachers. Create a community for your class. Invite your students to become members. You can share information, upload questions for facilitating thinking and invite the views of your students. A threaded discussion (where thoughts and views are linked) ensues when students reflect upon the comments of their classmates and respond with their own comments. Useful links in the form of websites can be uploaded. The internet is a whole library just waiting to be accessed. Doubts of students can be solved through such sites. Another use of such online communities is that they help to stayed linked to one’s alumni. The writer has sought feedback from her past students on several curriculum related matters and this gives her better insight while planning for the subsequent year. It involves students in curriculum planning. Blogs and on-line communities are functional during out- of-school-hours. Thus, they complement learning that occurs on campus.

Use of e-mail: E mails are used so easily by most of us today. Can we harness this means of communication to foster life skills as communication, trust building or sensitivity training? Try finding a class from another nation that can correspond with your class. Sharing views, news, feelings and emotions will help build an atmosphere of trust. Students who participate in such a communication linkage develop a sense of empathy towards one another. They can identify with each others’ feelings and thus foster amity. Investing in such trust will reap benefits of peace for the future.

Using a webquest: A web quest is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web. The model was developed by Bernie Dodge at San Diego State University in February, 1995. Thousands of teachers have embraced webquests as a way to make good use of the Internet while engaging their students in the kind of thinking that the 21st century requires. The site www.webquest.org helps one search for webquests related to a topic. One can also be a contributor by creating a webquest. Webquests do not have to be developed as a true website. They may be developed and implemented using lower threshold (less demanding) technologies, (e.g. they may be saved as a word document on a local computer). Sites like www.teach-nology.com offer some very interesting webquests. A good webquest has the following aspects:

1. Introduction: Providing the students with background information that is intended to be a springboard for them to begin the process of inquiry.
2. Task: A single question is posed that requires students to analyze some information.
3. Process: The teacher leads the student through the task. The teacher offers advice on how to manage time, collect data, and provides strategies for working in group situations.
4. Resources: Students are provided with tools (usually websites), or leads to tools that can help them complete the task. In order for this to be valuable, a teacher must thoroughly review each source. Avoid too many resources. Pick and offer the best sites only.
5. Evaluation: The outcome for webquests is usually a product, in most cases, in the form of a written/oral report or multimedia presentation. A rubric for evaluation can also be provided.
6. Conclusion: Effective webquests have a built-in mechanism for student reflections. To receive feedback, you can survey your students about their experience, or have the students send you an e-mail sharing their thoughts.

Example of a Webquest
Topic: Recycling

1. Introduction: Your school faces a little problem. A great amount of waste is collected in the bins daily… leftover food, paper bits, plastic pens, peels of fruit, cardboard waste.
2. Task: You have to find some way to put it to good use.
3. Process: You have to form groups of five students. You are to refer to the sites that are provided to you, collect data, do some brainstorming within your group and then present a plan of action to deal with the waste generated in the school. Present your plan through a PowerPoint presentation highlighting the impact of each action you suggest.
4. Resources: Read through www.kidsrecycle.org. Go through action plans followed by different schools listed there. Go through
   www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in to understand recycling measures in India. Skim through kids.niehs.nih.gov/recycle.html. There you will find some colouring activities that also highlight the importance of recycling. Download one page per student and use it to create posters on recycling for a class display. Add a slogan to each picture. You may use ideas from these sites to create your action plan for dealing with the waste generated in your school. But see that it is suitable to your situation.
5. Evaluation: Your plan for recycling will be evaluated on the basis of feasibility of action, effectiveness and economy. Your posters will be evaluated on basis of their attractiveness and message.
6. Conclusion: Write a fifteen line paragraph on ‘Recycling of household waste’.

Besides the above mentioned activities, a teacher can use some sites to download readymade presentations that are sure to enliven any classroom. Useful sites include www.kidinfo.com/Powerpoints.htm,
http://presentationsforteachers.com. and www.worldofteaching.com. Similarly
www.tommyswindow.com has some really good presentations that you can use during the morning assembly. There have been instances of intelligent but noisy students being literally tamed by teachers who used presentations in class. The extra input, the animations and the effects will have a mesmerizing effect on the otherwise undisciplined lot and they will enjoy such classes without resorting to their usual mischief.

The internet is often referred to as the town square of the global village. It has pervaded every sphere of our lives. A virtual gold mine in terms of information and ideas, the internet will help every teacher enthuse excitement in learning. It may sound a bit exaggerated, but there is truth when we say ‘If you are not e-literate, you are close to being an illiterate’.

The internet, however, is a double edged sword. The threat of accessing undesirable sites is always there. Dealing with information overload is another challenge. Responsible behaviour is the only answer to such questions.

Many teachers are threatened by the amount of information the present day learner possesses. Sometimes the teacher is disarmed due to his barrage of questions. Many classroom teachers are insecure about using technology, because they don’t know how to use it. Often they think that this involves being a programmer or a technology instructor. The classroom teacher is not expected to be a technology hardware/software expert, but is expected to use technology as an effective tool for curricular instruction. An easy way out is to give your ideas to a tech savvy person, who will in turn convert your ideas into the digital format. All you have to do is use them in class. Time then, to be up and doing, to get familiar with the world of e-learning, so that learning is a joyous experience for the student and a delightful journey for the teacher. All said and done, the worth of a good teacher still remains. A good teacher can enhance her effectiveness by being e-savvy. All the same, her ingenuity and creativity still hold. It is most unlikely that good teachers can ever be replaced by computers. After all, computers aren’t magic, teachers are!

The author is a teacher-educator at Pushpanjali College of Education, Maharashtra. She is closely involved as curriculum designer and resource material generator for an e-B.Ed course. She can be reached at c.dcosta@rediffmail.com.

Hi, I am the Calculator. In the adult world, I’m fairly ubiquitous, in fact quite indispensable for many. But I miss children terribly. Also, I feel sad because when a child picks me up (a calculator), immediately I am put down as somebody who will spoil the child’s mathematical abilities and habits.

I do not really blame the adults for such a biased perception of my role in life and utter ignorance of my role in learning. After all computation, mental math and speed are considered of prime importance by many. However, in my opinion, the essence of mathematics is in conceptual understanding (and not in procedural competence). Hence, a mere tool like me can only aid in understanding of concepts. Also, used judiciously I can also help build procedural abilities.

I am not going to argue the above case – instead, I will show you examples of how you can use me to build both – conceptual understanding and procedural competence in children in their pre-primary and primary years. Once you see real examples of how valuable I can be I hope I will find my rightful place in mathematical development.

Before we start – please realize that I will be required to be given to and used by children only when they are doing these activities/games. They need not have a calculator at their disposal all the time. Also, for most of the activities mentioned here, a simple calculator is what is required (not the advanced one or the one available in mobile phones). Typically a school can have enough common calculators as activity resource in their math labs.

Games for children in the age group of 3-5

1. Explore calculator: This is more like a pre-activity. The idea is to give me (the calculator) to children and allow them to press the different keys and see what happens. Obviously, you’ll know – no matter what key combination they press – they cannot harm me!
2. Counting scorecard: This is used for simple counting (up to 8). For example one child aims a ring over an object and every time he succeeds, another child records success (score) by pressing any digit once. So if the child presses the digit 8 five times, he can count and call the score as “five”. We have played similar interesting games with the children coming to our learning centre often.
3. Dice digits: A game to reinforce the count (quantity) and digit (symbol) relationship. Use a dice with dots only. Child rolls – counts – and then enters the corresponding digit in the calculator. Since they are not forced to write – the children here can focus on the correct digit rather than correct way of writing it. If required, once the digit is confirmed – they can copy it on their note book.
4. Guess my number: A child presses any digit a few times. Ask the other to guess, “how many”. The other child presses some numbers in his calculator to show his guess. Then both compare. If both the quantity matches – they dance together

Games for children in the age group of 5-8 years

1. Reach me: Each child (or team) plays on their own calculator and speed is of essence. Everybody starts with same number (say 4). A target number is announced – say 71.Level 1 – Children (or team) have to add or subtract any number(s) to the number (4) and reach the target (71) as fast as possible.
   Level 2 – Children have to reach target number is exactly five steps.
   Level 3 – To bring in subtraction let your starting number be big (eg: 198) and target number be small (eg: 13)
   Level 4 – Multiplication and division can be brought in and target numbers can be much bigger numbers.
2. Got it: (Two players) After clearing the calculator’s memory, two players select a target, (say 23). Each child takes turns entering a number of their choice from 1 to 5. Every time a child chooses a number, she presses the memory-plus (M+) key. This stores the cumulative total in my (calculator’s) memory – while the children have to add and keep the total in their mind. When one of the players thinks she has reached the target (23) – she says “got it” and presses ‘Memory Recall’ button (MR) to check and, if correct, wins.
3. Score card: One simple way to use me (calculator) is to keep scores (for any other game). Children simply enter the number to be added and press the memory-plus (M+) key. Pressing Memory Recall button (MR), at any point gives the current cumulative total.
4. Checker calculator: One player rolls two dice, mentally adds them, writes down the sum. The same player rolls the dice again and adds it to the previous sum. The other player uses me (calculator) to check the sum. Switch roles. No time limit. No winner. This is just to reinforce addition skills using regrouping.
5. Table manners: Multiplication or multiples of any number is relatively easily available in me (calculator). All you have to do is to
   ~ enter the base number
   ~ press the + (plus) sign
   ~ followed by = (equal) sign.
   Now every subsequent press of = (equal) sign gives the next multiple of the base number. This simple way of getting multiples explores tables in many ways. One way is to determine – which number (between say 1-12) has how many multiples.
6. Except 1: A target number is taken (say 28). Using all the numbers on me (the calculator) – except 1 – find out in how many different ways you can reach the target number. The one who finds more ways is the winner. Or as a class try to find many ways. Variation: make different exception rules – like reach 55 – without using 5 – in minimum key presses.
7. As many: Take any two (or three) numbers. Now using any mathematical operations and only the chosen numbers (as many times as you want) – try to make as many different numbers – between say 1 and 50.
8. Number golf: Few target numbers (each number representing a hole on the golf course) are decided – say 52, 124 and 201. Now each player chooses any three (or two) numbers as ‘my numbers’ (Players can choose common numbers also). Now they add or subtract only their numbers to reach the first target number. The number of times they add or subtract is their score. They use me (calculator) to work this out (all the while) recording the number of ‘shots’ on paper. Whoever covered all the target numbers with the minimum steps is the winner, just like in golf!Eg: Player Mr. X chose 2, 5 and 50 >> Mr. X got 52 (1st hole) in 2 steps (50+2); Got 124 (2nd hole) in 8 steps (50+50+5+5+5+5+2+2); and got 201 (3rd hole) in 7 steps (50+50+50+50+5-2-2); So Mr. X’s total score is 17.

   But Ms. Y chose 1, 25, 100 >> Ms. Y got 52 (1st hole) in 4 steps (25+25+1+1); Got 124 (2nd hole) in 3 steps (100+25-1); and got 201 (3rd hole) also in 3 steps (100+100+1); So, Ms, Y’s total score is 10 (wins over Mr X). Can you beat both Mr. X and Ms. Y? Use me (calculator) and try.

9. Finding factors: Play this game, individually, in pairs or as whole class. Put any number (say 42) into the memory of your calculator and find which numbers divide it exactly. How many factors does 42 have? Try with other numbers up to 100. Can you find numbers with only 2 factors? (tabulate them). Can you find numbers with an odd number of factors? Is there a rule?
10. Meeting all friends: Using only 2, 3, +, -, x, and = (7 keys) can you make all the numbers till 20. Show how you did it. Try with other combinations and range.
11. Got it: Draw a grid of say 10 x10 and fill each square with numbers between 1-100. Each child tries to take turn and grab a square by showing on his calculator using only multiplication of two numbers. (x 1 is not allowed). (Use a specific colour token or crayon to grab a square). The player who grabs four squares in a row is the winner.

It’s quite obvious – that all the above games can have many variations. Encourage children to come up with their own variations and even their own games when they work with me (calculator). I enjoy being in the hands of children and making them think, analyze, guess, predict, win and yes, enjoy numbers.

The authors run Geniekids, a learning centre in Bangalore that works with children. To know more about their work visit www.geniekids.com.

The best way to learn is to teach! Children love to share, to show, to explain and to exhibit – to peers. This is what PowerPoint (Microsoft) or Impress (open office) is all about. With pictures, diagrams, animations, funky text et al – slide shows are an educator’s dream come true in terms of “engagement” and a child’s delight.

When this technology entered the classroom, many teachers got excited with its potential and took to making their own (subject) presentations. While this is excellent – slowly teachers have realized that the presentation tool is actually more potent in the hands of children. So all the teacher needs to do is to sit back and enjoy – while the children sweat it out and in the process learn in dollops.

Some notes from our experience:

• Preferably make small working teams of (2-3) children).
• Do not “teach” children PowerPoint or help them out with “hows”. Only inform them what is possible in PowerPoint – if required show one of your slide shows as reference. But let them figure out – how to work with PowerPoint – themselves. Let them explore the menu, buttons, and use the help menu. The task of learning a computer application on one’s own is not only fun but also helps develop a complex set of critical and logical thinking skills, reading and comprehension skills, social and self skills.
• If browsing is not possible, (or time is a constraint) you can collect pictures, music and audio files from the Internet in advance. The children can also use the digital camera and the mike recording with great effect.
• One of the best ways to make interesting presentations is to put constraints on the slide shows – like – each slide can have only a maximum of four words, or two lines, or a minimum of two visuals, or text left and visual on right, etc.

Presentations in assembly
If the school has a projector in the assembly area – then this can work wonders. Otherwise a pre-recorded presentation can be put on a computer in a common area of the school. This will give the children practice in using audio (or their own spoken words) to only complement the presentation and not repeat it. The idea is that children take up any “issue” and make a presentation of exactly 12 slides and of duration exactly 120 seconds (2 min). Obviously with this short duration, it can only be a dominant visual presentation and what children speak is crisp and succinct. Interesting topics can be chosen like, 12 wonders of our body, 12 things our city is famous for, 12 things I learned from xyz movie, 12 ways to save water,

12 things children are afraid of, and so on. The focus of these presentations makes them an awesome learning experience!

Presentations in maths

• Since maths can be understood better by visuals, making graphical models of mathematical concepts is the most important contribution of presentations.
  
  For example, show fractions, addition of fractions, decimals, area of a figure, show factors, or concept of HCF or algebraic equations visually: show what does 3a+4=24 mean.
• Make slides in the form of Jeopardy game – where answers are given and the respondent has to make question. (E.g.: Give a situation where the answer would be the mixed fraction 53/4) – this kind of reverse thinking is great fun and works on conceptual understanding. So each slide has the answer and each child writes his question for that answer.
• Children like throwing puzzles at each other and using animation to make math puzzles is even more fun. Then they give the puzzle slides to each other to solve. Some eg: which prime numbers add up to 75? or which of the rotated shapes is odd one out or in how many ways…
  

Presentations in language learning

• Make Story maps, make character maps.
  
• Story’s sequence of events – use animation – when you click on event A – it vanishes and event B appears and so on.
• Draw visuals, click them with a digital camera, add these visuals to each slide, type text on each page and then record the story in own voice and animate the voice and visuals to make your own animated story.
• Type a story – few lines on each slide. Now animate to change some of the words and make a real crazy funny story. (Depending on learning objectives – Change to opposites, change nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions).
• Choose adjectives from the story – one on each slide and search the Net and put pictures on each slide that are related to that adjective.
• Write a review of a story or book in just three slides – the beginning, the middle and the end.
• Make an ongoing common “Books this class has read” presentation. Make only one slide for each book that you have read. Put the title and author of the book at the top and then summarize the book into four key points (not more, not less). As you read more books keep adding more slides.
• Create a story of choices – Story starts with scene 1 which ends with choice A and B. Depending on which choice one clicks you are taken to the relevant slide. So the story flows as per your choice.
• Children create games/quizzes based on grammar rules – each question has two or more choices and if one clicks the wrong choice – one is taken to a page which explains the correct answer.

Presentations in sciences

• The best use of PowerPoint in science is to animate static diagrams, illustrations, etc. Not only is making animations fun, it also helps children understand the basic process of the scientific phenomenon. So children can animate how food goes down, how the rain cycle happens, how leaves make food, how levers help lift a big box and so on. (Tip: use ‘custom motion path’ in the “animation” menu of PowerPoint to move diagrams or letters along the path that you want).
  
• Also the good old “observation presentation” is a favourite way of learning science through observation. Children observe a process (say a piece of bread left in an open box over a period of one week). Every day they observe the loaf of bread. Write down their observations (how it smelt, how it was to touch and so on) and then at the end put photos plus text as a presentation of their observations. Digital camera is a huge boon, but if not available, direct drawing in PowerPoint is also okay.
• Visual Quizzes: In PowerPoint one can hide a part of a visual and then using animation, show another part hiding the first. This kind of visual manipulation helps to create interesting visual quizzes. (Use for parts of things, usage of things, application of concepts, etc.)

Presentations in culture, history, social learning

Presentations for social, self and emotional development

• Perspectives – Part of social and self development lies in realizing that there are multiple perspectives to everything – with all of them “right”. Children are given a visual or a situation in the first slide. This slides leads to four slides – in each children see the same picture differently.
  
• Emotional timeline – After any school event (say sports day), children chart the event over the time period and at each stage use animation to show the changing emotions.
• PowerPoint is an excellent way to make charts. Children can learn social interdependence and relationships; make family trees, dependence charts (journey of a biscuit packet), who helped who (again using any school event as basis).
• Goal setting, planning charts – Think of a goal you would like to achieve and map that out using the slide layout, chart options, cycle chart and steps towards achieving that goal – things that are needed to do that (e.g.: Learning new skills).

To summarize, the key is to give children exciting projects and then leave it to their ingenuity to make the presentations. The more they use this tool – the more comfortable and expert they will become – in making powerful points!
Actual animated examples, for this article, can be downloaded as PowerPoint presentation from www.geniekids.com/using_powerpoint.

The authors run Geniekids, a learning centre in Bangalore that works with children. To know more about their work visit
www.geniekids.com.