Educator= Designer+Facilitator+Researcher, Engineer
Informal Education
Projects which revolved around learning in spaces like museums and walking tours
Computer Vision Exploration Tool
Context: Project at Idea Lab, Visveswarya science and technological museum
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Situation: The students at the Idea Lab were interested in topics like AI, robotics and computer vision but had a very superficial understanding. There weren't any good tools for them to play with the fundamental ideas and build with them.
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Solution:
I designed a tool and used it as the center of the learning experience
I chose to design the tool in excel as it was a software that was already installed in all the computers an done that the children had seen before
The tool enabled children to translate numbers and their RGB pixel representations to play with a 10x10 image
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Impact:
The workshop was very well received and led to deep, authentic discussions of fundamental ideas
The learners grasped the tool intuitively and started playing with it immediately
Learners built object and color based filters like camera apps
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Learning:
Tools expand possibilities and thinking
The level of abstraction of a tool determines the kind of explorations and thinking that it generates
A tool being accessible and feeling accessible are not always the same. The tool in excel led to more ready exploration than the same tool on a website
A tool needs to have abundant expressive possibilities for complex expression to make learners want to come back
Educators don't have good tools to be able to build such tools to think with
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What next?
How might we build a tool for educators to build tools to think with?
Cryptography learning experience
Context: Project at Idea Lab, Visveswarya science and technological museum
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Situation: The students had some exposure to codes but tended to try to use a particular procedure and when it didn't work, give up. The enduring understanding out of the workshop was that choosing a code breaking strategy was a part of the code-breaking procedure and the part which made it interesting and not a straightforward plug and play exercise.
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Solution:
I designed a learning sequence as a PPT where learners worked on cracking codes of increasing complexity with their peers
At each stage, the code seemed just out of reach, which helped a lot to build enthusiastic participation
The best part was the learners working in groups to design codes and then breaking each others' codes!
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Impact:
The learners were very excited about codes and cryptography
7 students decided to explore cryptography further in their exploration projects
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Learning:
The state of flow is possible to be achieved in a learning environment where the task is neither too easy nor too hard
This happens best when learners have multiple entry points to approach the task
Peers are a very powerful stimulant for deep engagement- as collaborators as well as challengers!
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What next?
How might we support all educators to design learning experiences with low floors, high ceilings and wide walls?
Physics through Scratch
Context: Project at Idea Lab, Visveswarya science and technological museum
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Situation: The students were struggling with their robotics projects because of a poor grasp on fundamentals of kinematics. The learners had varying levels of exposure to kinematics through school. Another educator had posted on ScratchED about his experience teaching physics through scratch so those ideas could be remixed to adapt to the context.
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Solution:
The big picture was to use a Rube Goldberg machine in the museum as the setting for an adventure-style story where modelling the machine is necessary to solve the problem, thus creating an authentic need for kinematics
I designed a starter project with an implementation of a moving ball inside a pipe frame, another project with acceleration added and a handout for the kids
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Impact:
Some of the learners were able to transfer their learning to build their robotics project
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Learning:​
It is really easy to get false notions of understanding. The learners who had previous exposure to the concepts took a long time to agree to engage with the discussion and explore their understanding
A lack of grasp of variables and algebra was a barrier for some students to understand the implementation of speed. They just ended up agreeing with their peers without really understanding.
Understanding new ideas takes time, they can't be transferred among peers either! So it wasn't a fair expectation that all learners would end at the same level of understanding
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What next?
How might we design projects for learners to transfer their intuitive understanding into formal representations? (Exploring Eric Klopfer's experiments with modelling in NetLogo)
App Inventor Course
Context: Project at Idea Lab, Visveswarya science and technological museum
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Situation: The main goal was to add a tool to the students' toolkit to spark creativity and develop confidence about making things that they need. The students would come in at an arbitrary schedule because of other commitments. So the course had to work logistically as self-contained modules for each session and modules which worked independently of each other too so that students who had done different modules could still work together. The students had varying levels of comfort with English.
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Solution:
I remixed some sample starter apps to make extending them accessible like entering the code for red in a coloring app but not for green, entering the code for a big dot but not for a small dot, etc
I chose a variety of sample starter apps to give students something aligned to their interests to build on
I showed them how they could translate the page if they wanted to
I worked on building community by actively trying to get students to share, brainstorm and debug with each other
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Impact:
All the learners went ahead to build an app based on their own ideas
Some learners who had been very shy till then and only followed instructions realized the joy of building on their own ideas and took their learning in their own hands
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Learning:
The logistics of a course can make it challenging to design constructionist learning experiences but designing for the wide walls and then leaving it open for remixing worked
Cultural factors make learners focus on product rather than process and make them block out thinking and having fun
Cultural factors also make it hard to build community as learners see peers only as competitors, not resources
Lack of smartphones, untracked Gmail accounts and messy network configurations can easily create a havoc
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What next?
How might we improve the usability of the emulator feature of the App Inventor environment?
YouTube videos on Electronics
Context: Independent project
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Situation: I chose to study electronics in High School where the only learning resource was a poorly written textbook. Towards the end of my engineering course, some students from the high school course asked me for help and I made some YouTube videos for them. In the process, I explored different formats that work the best.
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Solution:
I experienced the expanded access to knowledge through MOOC platforms and realized that video presentations can help make information accessible
I chose a Khan Academy type of conversational style over a more formal tone which gets monotonous
I actively incorporated real life design examples to show the relevance of abstract concepts and arbitrary properties and measurements
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Impact:
Finalist in Khan Academy India Talent Search
10,000+ views
150+ subscribers
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Learning:
Learners need content which is accessible at the level at which they are, EdX MOOC content in electronics wasn't accessible for many high school students
Textbooks try to optimize on length and in the process choose not to show real life, messy examples which are the ones that promote critical thinking and creativity
The learning sequence of formal analysis before any synthesis or creativity demotivates many learners
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What next?
How might we design electronics learning sequences to balance practicing skills and designing circuits like a football team?
Storytelling Summer Camp
Context: Summer Camp for employees' kids at Texas Instruments
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Situation: This was a summer camp for 6-10 year old kids and there was no tech available in the location where the camp happened. I mainly wanted to observe kids learning in an informal setting and test learning theories.
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Solution:
I designed a learning sequence that had low floors by incorporating drawing as a method of expression, not just writing
The high ceiling was designed by reading out some much loved children's stories
I used prompts to provide creative constraints to encourage exploring new themes and engineering collaborations
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Impact:
The summer camp was very well received and I was asked to do it again the next year
2 learners expressed adding storytelling to their toolkit along with their tech interests
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Learning:
Parents' professions influence children in interesting ways - most of the kids through tech was very cool and stories were something that only kids did (which they believed they were not)
Gender stereotypes get ingrained really early even when their parents worked at one of the best tech companies in the world
Children actively asked for and learnt spellings when they were needed for their own stories and expression
The theory of motivation of young kids wanting to do what the older kids were doing works really well!
It was surprisingly difficult to get kids to collaborate by putting their own characters into a common setting and plot.
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What next?
How might we design learning experiences that show kids how tech and stories are some of the many tools that one could use to experience and improve the world?
Walking Tours
Context: Worked as a freelancer with a walking tour provider in Bangalore
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Situation: I moved to Bangalore for work and so had to go out of my way to make the city feel like home. In the process, I wanted to share my findings and meet interesting people. It was also an excellent way of combining my interest in history, storytelling and learning experiences.
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Solution:
I led walking tours for diverse groups around the city and worked on personalizing the experience for all participants - people visiting the city for the first time as well as those who had lived there all their lives
I scouted new routes and designed walking tours around themes like science and technology
I incorporated new tools to enable meaning-making and creative expression (Coloring cam, smart phone camera, audio recorder)
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Impact:
5 star reviews, glowing feedback
Exploration of identity and deriving learning from a sense of place
Expression of seeing their own city from a new lens
Expression of seeing the beauty of history and heritage
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Learning:
Sometimes people need prompts and tools to really see and explore things
We connect to the place around us in multiple ways and those connections can be used and enhanced to drive learning experiences
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What next?
How might we design learning experiences that incorporate place-based features?
Geo-fiction App
Context: Shaniwarwada is a neglected heritage site in the city which could be used to spark exploration, community and creativity.
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Situation: The heritage site has some books being sold on location but none of the visitors engage with the site in any meaningful way. There have been some efforts to revive the site as a performance space but true revival will need smaller-scale everyday engagement too.
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Solution:
I designed a geo-fiction app where parts of a story are narrated as a person is at the location where the narrative unfolds
I researched the stories associated with the site, compiled it into a coherent narrative, took pictures and put it all together
I built a prototype of the app using App Inventor and got some heritage enthusiasts to play-test it
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Impact:
The prototype was used for further discussions and for outlining requirements for a professional
The prototype led to a lot of discussions about the importance of stories and passing the mic so that everyone can express their narrative
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Learning:
Narratives are very powerful and often the more important question is whose perspective is missing
Stories give us a strong sense of identity and belonging and they are something that everyone can access, build and share
Stories can be a great starting point to drive connection, community and sharing
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What next?
How might we design learning experiences that enable people to take the mic and express their stories?