By Brian Mendonça
What does it mean to learn something? A toddler learns to
walk, a child learns to talk, a teenager learns to ride a scooter or bike. In
our earning years we learn a job or skill. Sometimes we even ‘learn’ to keep
quiet! In other words learning also means the selection of survival strategies
in a challenging situation.
A child’s world is full of play, full of amazement, as
there is always something new to learn. In the process, the glass at the dinner
table may topple over, the wires at the socket may come unplugged, and the
neatly folded clothes may find themselves on the floor in dismay.
As we grow, we lose that capability to fascinate
ourselves in child-like wonder. We become mechanical. We have our own routines.
Learning itself becomes a routine.
How does one retain that zest for life and living, since
we visit this planet but once? How do we pass on this skill of learning in
perpetual bliss to others?
This, to my mind, happens when one believes in life-long
learning, viz. a dynamic state of constant nourishment, where we are always
learning new things, be it in a knowledge area, in relationships, or in
culinary expertise.
What are the models that allow this to happen? The
educational system is built on the top-down approach. This is changing. Today,
open classrooms exist virtually on the internet.
‘Take the world’s best courses online, for free,’ says
the home page at www.coursera.org.
While typing this article I have just signed up for a course starting 1 October
2013 titled, ‘From the Repertoire: Western Music History through Performance’
offered by the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, founded in 1924. This
is a 7 week course of a manageable 2-4 hours per week taking you through
composers from J.S Bach to George Crumb. Registration is simply typing in your
email address and password. Students who successfully complete the course
receive a statement of completion signed by the instructors, who in this case are
Jonathan Coopersmith and David Ludwig from the Curtis Institute.
IT enabled online learning enables learning at our own
time and pace, and in the comfort of our own place. The Goa University deftly
utilized the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) format for its path-breaking
‘Paradigm-Shift in Education and Learning in the 21st Century’ which
concluded last week. Through Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning
Environment (MOODLE) -- which is a free software, e-learning platform -- we
were clued in to the posts on the 10 day workshop, 24x7, and were able to
upload assignments from home. The amiable Professor Arvind Kudchadker, who
conceptualized the course, spoke of the shift from the traditional classroom to
the ‘constructivist’ classroom where, in a bottom-up approach, learning emerged
from the proactive interface between student and teacher.
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Published in Gomantak Times, Weekender St. Inez, Goa on Sunday, 7 September 2013. Pix source: QSA conference 2012
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