Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts

Monday, 28 July 2014

Techno Tribute!

Sitting at my desk,
I try to write my graduation speech.
Who should all I thank?
What in my life did they teach?

I would love to thank Google,
Who answered all my questions patiently!
Without whose help and guidance
I could never have passed definitely!

I would thank dear Wikipedia,
For sharing all those information!
Little changes were all I had to make,
And my assignments were near perfection!

Whats app, Facebook and Camera,
They helped us share homework!
Oh how can I forget the Xerox machine?
It helped to reduce the pile of work!

Online notes, PDFs and class groups,
They were all I needed!
Without which I don’t think
I could have ever succeeded!

I would like to offer my hearty thanks
To this wonderful technology!
I would never have graduated,
If not for its abundant help and generosity!


PS: Linking this post to the Ultimate Blog Challenge July 2014 and NaBloPoMo.



Until the next post,
Keep Smiling :)

Love,
Swathi :)

Friday, 30 May 2014

A Project Demo! - Bits and Bytes #1

       Recently I have been writing so much for prompts that I am writing either fiction stories or poem; free write completely forgotten until yesterday I was writing my dear diary and realized how much I missed it! So here is a new concept 'BITS AND BYTES' that I came up with the help of my dear friend Nibha Gupta, under which there will be a free write every week starting from today.

       It is the exam season and this week I had lab exams. I am so glad that I am done with it! Though it should have been easier than theory, it definitely is not and we despise these a lot! A major credit of this hatred goes to the Viva Voce that will be conducted during these exams. I swear these are the only times when I feel so helpless and oh yes, clueless too! Though this time we didn't have viva, we had an even more challenge! Demo!

        I had finished executing the program and I sit there waiting for my turn to be slaughtered. Finally the external calls me and my project partner and asks us to give a demo of the game we have designed. He sits there staring at the screen, his expression assures the already scared mind of ours that we are in for trouble. So we start with the demo. We aren't even halfway through when he decides to interfere. 

Examiner: "Stop! How does this work?"

I don't know why but during these times, my speaking ability goes weak and my inner voice becomes dominant! 

Inner Voice: You would have learnt it if you had paid attention to what I said till now! 

image source: marthabeck.com
       But of course I don't say it aloud. I explain him the concepts again. Once he nods his head indicating he understood, I resume with further explanations and he doesn't take long to interject! 

Examiner: "Where did you get inspiration to work on this?"

Inner Voice: Inspiration? Please! I was forced to do this. If not for the syllabus, I would never have done this. So the question of inspiration is a moot point! 
Me:"We used to play this game online and when we were presented with an opportunity to design one, we knew it had to be this!"

Examiner: "So how did you like working in OpenGL platform?"

Inner Voice: I definitely would ban it from syllabus if I could! What's the use of struggling with something which isn't of much use for us!
Me:"It was an awesome experience sir! We got to learn so much about graphics and the concept of designing a game"
Inner Voice: aah! How I hated the whole lame process!

Examiner: "So why did you stop? Continue with your explanations"

Inner Voice: I would have finished it by now had you not thought it necessary to interject at every point!
Me: Sorry sir! I will complete it now.

       So I and my partner finished explaining the whole thing and he did look intrigued. He asked us questions about how it worked again and once he got it, he turned scornful!

Examiner: "So what's special about this? I think its pretty simple and I am sure I can finish it for the first time only"

       And he starts playing. And he lost :D Oh how I loved it! 

Examiner: "Well that was because I was a little confused and I didn't know it right. I will do it this time"

Inner Voice: That is what first time is all about! If you are well trained at it, then it wouldn't be called your first time!

       We didn't speak a word and just watched his attempts at figuring out the game, which he did eventually and with a smug expression he continued.

Examiner: "See. It was as simple as that! I don't understand what was so special in that. Tell me why do you think I will accept this?"

       Though he looked intrigued by it few minutes back, now he was calling it simple! And was threatening us about the validity of it! We didn't know what to answer and over time we have learnt that, the more you answer, the more questions follow! So we just kept fidgeting in our seats waiting for the punch line, which soon followed.

Examiner: "I will give you some modifications. If you can incorporate those in your game, I will accept it. What say?"

Inner Voice: Have you left us an option to say no! 
Me: "Definitely Sir. We will do it"

       He was having fun, more than he should! He gave us some changes to do and left to see the demo of another group whom we watched with pity! We could hear the same conversation continuing there. After half an hour of efforts, we finally figured it out. Phew! He came to check it further and his reaction was incredulous!

Examiner: "Hmmm... This is what you did! I see! Oh well that's fine I guess. Okay I will think about your project!"

       He definitely was teasing us now enjoying every bit of it. He didn't talk any further and just said we could leave! We were waiting for it and escaped from there without as much sparing a glance in his direction, for we feared he would start all over again! We heaved a sigh of relief once we were out of lab. That was one such experience.

       Phew! Thank God it ended! At least I can breathe freely for next six months before another such encounter! That was my experience. Did you have any similar experience? Do share them here.

Until the next post,
Keep Smiling :)

Love,
Swathi :)

Monday, 17 March 2014

OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM

            Recently I and my friend got into a debate about our education system. It all started when our university results came out. "Our Education system is so corrupted", she said with anger. I didn't understand the reason behind her anger. She had scored 73%, that means a FCD! I felt she had no reason to behave this way. But what she said set my mind to thinking..

      "I have every reason to behave this way! Don't you see it? These days marks are the only things that matter. How you scored it, whether by cheating or by hard work doesn't even matter! There is no value for talent! And these corrections, I don't understand what gives them the right to take it so lightly. I should have got more than this!" she huffed.

     I could see what she was pointing at, but I didn't agree completely with her. There was always revaluations if your results are wrong. And marks surely aren't everything. These days interviews are conducted such that only people with real talent get a job. Not every Tom, Dick and Harry who has mugged up the whole syllabus for exams and poured it on the day of exams or who copied from his neighbor can get a job.

           But my friend wasn't ready to agree. She went on saying "Do you like to apologize for something you didn't do? It's like that when it comes to revaluation. You pay for some one else's mistake! And what about the people who can't afford it? Have you ever thought how difficult it will be for them if they fail because of someone's negligence? And talking about real talent, there is nothing as such. Marks is the measure of potential. No one asks about what you know, they ask about how much you scored!"

       I was beginning to slightly understand what my friend was saying. And I partly agreed with her. Though marks aren't everything, they sure has become a way to gauge you in most of the places. The first thing any relative would ask you would be "Beta, how much did you score this time?" Even parents compare their child's performance with their neighbor's child. It is like a matter of prestige for them to have their child perform better than the neighbor.

         But there are many good things about our education system. There are a lot of IITs, medical colleges, CA coaching centers and much more to encourage students in different fields. Scholarships are given to students who are in need to aid them, free schools are set up. There are many good things. But after the debate with my friend, I had to agree, there were some loop holes. Sometimes students are getting overly stressed. There is a slight lack of practical education.

image source: www.dreamstime.com


               We never reached to an agreement. Both were defending our sides. I guess like the old saying goes, good and bad are the two sides of a coin. They always come together. It's up to us to select the good things while staying aware of the bad things.


PS: This post is written as a part of Project 365 program and today's prompt was 'Bone of Contention'

Until the next post,
Keep Smiling :)

Love,
Swathi :)