Trainning Aid, Not Trainer's Aid

The school in which my children study, have taken up the Educomp – Smart Class programme which is an audio- visual educational support programme.

  

Research states that learning happens through dfferent sensory organ and the most dominant is the through visual which contributes to 75%, listening contributes to 12% and the balance 13% through, touch, taste and smell. Therefore when multiple sensory organs are engaged in the learning progress, learning is enhanced and better retainedin a child’s memory. I therefore, think it is a wonderful idea, to introduce such innovative ideas to classroom learning. Classroom becomes more fun and interesting.

So far the children have only used the listening to lectures, which certainly has a limitation for them to understand difficult and complex concepts. Now with this media, the students can see the process in wide detail, which helps them to understand better, ‘how things work’. For example, when they talk about digestive system, earlier the teachers would have found it difficult to explain, where each part of the digestion process takes place. But now a video can pictorially explain how the food travels in the digestive system and what function, each internal organ functions in aiding the digestion process.

My point of concern is that, these innovation learning systems should only work as a support to the student’s learning process and not a support to the teacher.  In other words, these system are primarily aimed at making learning easy and not teaching easy. Teachers cannot therefore afford to totally rely on these fancy systems and go unprepared to class. These systems cannot be a replacement to the teachers, basic teaching skills.  You cannot assume that with so much of clarity in the teaching process, there can be no questions from the students. Infact, with more understanding comes more questions and the teacher has to be a level above to clarify the doubts, of the students.

Why am I saying this? It is because, one of the major problems a number of schools are facing today, is lack of quality teachers. When I say quality teachers, I mean the teachers who are 100% committed to their students progress. There are teachers who have taken up this profession, just for a livelihood, without actuallyunderstanding the important role they play in the lives of youg children. A school cannot get away with the idea, that they can mask the inefficiency of their teachers, by using such novel systems.

Mr.Ratnam, Past National President and a leading trainer of JCI India, used to often mention in his ‘Train the trainers’ workshop, that LCD projector or any Audio Visual medium should be used as a training aid and not a trainers aid.

Now what is the difference? There is a tendency of trainers to heavily rely on power point slides either created by themselves, borrowed from someone or downloaded from the internet. Without any preparation they come and present these programmes. They run the powerpoint slides and just read the text from the screen, and give a translation of each word (as if the one’s listening are language illiterate). Just in case there is no power supply, they feel stalled. They are unable to proceed further, because all the preparation is only in the PPT slides and not in the mind. Such unprepared trainers face embarassing situations, specifically when they have a questioning person among the audience. They are unable to give the participant a satisfying answer. This is the reason, Corporate training sounds so boring in the present context and people have developed a aversion to it. Infact, training could be made very interesting by right usage of audio-visuals. There is a saying which says, ‘a picture can say a 100 words’. The trainer should take this clue. The picture or audio visual used should aid the training process and not serve as an aid to the trainer, himself.

Teachers and Trainers, please be aware that in this internet age, knowledge is in abundance. Every piece of information you provide is already available on Wikepedia or Encarta or Youtube. What should really matter is how well you are able to present the available knowledge, which is your valuable skill.

Happy Reading,

D.Senthil Kannan

Article dated July 2011

Say “NO” to Plastic Bags

Does this sight, disturb you? As you open the gate of your home to go out, you will probably step over used plastic bags, empty biscuit wrappers or even empty pan masala pouches. All over the street, in the drains and on the pavements there are discarded plastic packets and bottles, making the whole place filthy.  Is it not? If yes, this message is a call for action.

The use of plastic seems to have grown to alarming proportions and seems to keep growing. There is a need to put an end to it, as it is a major threat for our environment. First let us try to find out why plastic is an environmental hazard .

·         Polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, and polystyrene are the composition base in the manufacture of plastics and these materials are not bio-degradable in nature.

·         Over 4 trillion plastic bags are manufactured each year, of which hardly,  1%  is recycled

• It takes 1000 years for polyethylene bags to break down.
• As polyethylene breaks down, toxic substances leach into the soil and enter the food chain.
• Plastic bags are carried by the wind into forests, ponds, rivers, and lakes
• More than 1 million birds and I lakh marine mammals perish each year by either eating plastic waste or becoming trapped in it. These animals suffer a painful death, the plastic wraps around their intestines or they choke to death.
• Plastic waste in India is about 4.5 million tons a year. The average human in India uses 3 kg of plastic per person per year.

Countries all over the world are slowly becoming aware of the threat plastic bags present to our world. Many have enacted laws aimed to decrease the use of plastic bags, while others have, or are, planning to impose taxes on the use of plastic bags.

A ban on plastic may be the right answer.  Take for example, a place like Ooty. Earlier, owing to tourist crowd there was enormous amount of plastic waste which was spoiling the beauty of this nice hill station. Today, they have a very strict ban on plastic and the results are clearly obvious. Ooty has stylish-looking newspaper bags in which your tea, chocolates and spices will be handed over. These forward thinking, socially conscious corporations should be commended, but the reality is, we do not have to wait for such laws to be enforced. If each one of us make a commitment, and take responsibility for this pollution which threatens to overwhelm the city, we can make a change.

There is one simple action we can all take that will have an enormous impact on the health of our planet and its inhabitants. The next time you shop, don't forget to carry your own shopping bag. If everyone did this, one of the most lethal polluters created by man would be removed from circulation. Carry a shopping bag like we did in the old days or put a basket into the dickey of your car into which you can fill a whole shopping cart. We can lessen our environmental footprint by minimizing our use of plastic shopping bags.  If we do so, our world will become a cleaner, safer place for all living things.

If each of us cut back on our consumption of plastic responsibly, there will be much less floating around the garbage dumps in the city. It might take a little planning and a little more time to say no to plastic bags, but by putting life ahead of inconvenience, each and everyone of us can make a difference to the health of our planet and to all of those living things that have no choice but to live or to die because of the decisions we make.

On this ENVIRONMENT DAY, let us take a vow to curtail the usage of plasic bags and make the city we live in, a better a place.

Happy Reading,

D.Senthil Kannan

Article dated June 2011

Corruption Free India, Not a Distant Dream

I am some one who skims the daily newspaper in less than 10minutes, just browsing the headlines. However, with my limited reading and by real time observation, I could sense a positive transformation happening in our country. Though India has made rapid strides in the areas of industrialisation and service sector, there has been one area of concern, which every Indian has been unhappy about. Yes, it is the governance. Well, all the while a common man has felt that he had no say in what is going on, excepting for once when he could cast his vote, to a party who he felt was better  among the bad.

Of late, the media seems to have unleashed itself with a killer instinct of the wrong doers, by bringing to question many decisions made by the Governement. The country is witnessing an unprecedent social awareness and this in turn is creating so much of questions amidst the public. This trend, I hope would help the country to get into a fast track revival mode.

There is so much of questioning going on, and it is pathetic to see the political leaders, breathless for justifiable answers. We are evidencing a classical case of “What literacy can do to a country?” It is the growing literacy that has unblinded the Indian, from accepting the state of being, to questioning the wrong. What was once a topic of discussion among an elite few, is a news that even a lay man is talking about it. No matter how much he understands it, he atleast knows that somewhere, somethig is going wrong. All this has been possible owing to the boldness of the information media, right from the newspapers, TV news channels, internet, mobile, social network like face book and twitter. News spread like a blaze so quickly not just nationwide, but world wide.

We are no more a nation by ourselvees. We are watched by the whole world. We are commented upon. Every micro issue has a macro implication.

Soon, after the Japanese episode of the Tsunami, there has been much concern on the safety issues of nuclear based power. This has given rise to many questions, in the light of wikileak cables, exposing a debate on Cash for Vote.

Mr.Julian Assange, Founder of Wikileaks is undoubtedly creating a sensation, by bringing to open many issues, which has brought the political leaders to shivers.

The unearthing of multiple scams has caused a tremor amidst the people. People want justice and are looking for a solution. The voice of Mr.Anna Hazare, to enact the Lokpal bill to combat corruption, has won wide support of people across the country. It looks like people, have lost trust in the existing judiciary system, which is supposed to take care of these issues. They are looking at a better alternative. There has been so much of inner cry, which is now finding a vent. Let the voices unite and get so loud, that corruption comes down on its knees.

One more noteworthy observation was the state recording a polling of 78% which is a very healthy trend. It just shows that everyone from the cross section of this society, illiterate and literate, poor and rich, rural and urban, feel a need for the voice to be heard. They are no longer willing to remain as silent spectators

With all the good things happening, I only wish the government is quick to move over its multiple operations, of its wide array of departments to the e-governance platform. E- Governance gives minimum scope for human intrusion, in the effective functioning of the systems layed.  E- Governance is the best way forward plan for this country. Just like how automation has done much good for the industry, eliminating the need for low skilled manpower, so can e-governance bring about he most sought after change, of eliminating the need for corrupt bureaucrats.

Happy Reading

D.Senthil Kannan.

Artical dated May 2011

What is in a WORD?

The language we speak is made up of words. Each word has a specific meaning and the appropriate usage of a combination of words helps us to convey a message, either orally or in writing, to others. Our thoughts become words, and our words become action.  So our words have the power to inspire someone or hurt someone. That is why it is said, “Words have so much power, that they can either make or break, a relationship.”

We cannot neglect the importance of right usage of our words, because it is not only an integral part of our communication process, but it also carries an emotional dimension.

Take for example; we generally call a person who cannot see, as a blind person a person who cannot hear as deaf, a person who cannot walk properly as lame, so on and so forth. The dictionary meaning of the word would be undoubtedly right, but on an emotional level, it sounds a little harsh.  There is a better way of saying it. You can call the person as a “physically challenged” person. The same goes for words such as “insane” or “mad”. The better word that could be used is “mentally challenged”. I am aware that by changing the word the status of the person does not change, but it gives an implication that he is one among us , who has a specific challenge to face in his life. This puts him on an equal status or may be in a priority status.

Recently there are more welcome developments on this aspect. The terminology “differently abled” has now come to replace the terminology, “physically challenged” and is widely used in Govt.offices and newspapers. When you call some one as “differently abled”, it means that, though they have a challenge or a difficulty in one aspect, they have a special ability in some other aspect, which helps them to cope up with their inadequacy, to some level.

If you would have noticed the physically challenged people closely, you would accept it is true.When I was doing my schooling, I used to visit a school of visually challenged people, as a part of the Interact Club service project, to help the inmates write letters to their relatives, as they dicate them. I noticed that they were very creative with poetry and with singing.  There is an organisation in Mumbai called the “mouth and foot painting artists” www.imfpa.co.in. Though they are physically challenged, they are differently abed in the sense that they can paint wonderful painting, using their mouth and foot, which a normal person cannot do. Their paintings are printed and sold as post cards and calendars. The money generated by the sale of these items, goes to support their life and help them live a dignified life. 

It is said, “When God closes one door he opens the other”. I have found it is true, when I relate this quote with these people, who form a minority in the world we live, but very much a part of us.

Similarly, we find the usage of words like “Orphanages” and “Oldage homes” which gives the inmates of these centres, an isolated feel. The better choices could be “Children Rehabilitation Centre” instead of Orphanages and “Retirement homes” instead of Oldage home.

It is also noteworthy, that in the recent usage of English, a child with inborn intelligence is called a “Gifted Child” and the child who has a learning difficulty is called a “Special Child”. This means a special child is one who needs special care; someone who needs extra effort on the part of the parent and teachers, to make him understand concepts that are easy for a gifted child to understand. We cannot condemn a child as a dunce or academically poor, without taking an initiative or extra effort from our side.

These words enable a change in our mindset and ultimately the way we treat them. It helps us to shift the focus from condemning someone to taking social responsibilty. Just the change of words has the magic and power to change our perception of a particular situation. So, let us be sensitive to the feelings of others and be sensible in the choice of right words. Let us choose empowering words in place of condemning words, for it is the mark of a progressive civilisation.

Happy Reading,

D.Senthil Kannan

Artical dated April 2011

The Happy & Stupid People

Happiness has many definitions according to many people. However, one popular definition which is commonly accepted by all is “Happiness is being contended with what we have”.  

Now in the above context let us see how our Government operates. The purpose of the Government is to keep its people happy.  So, the Government takes the same popular principle of making people happy, by keeping them contended with FREE or subsidized  supply of their day to day needs which includes, rice, provisions , gas stove,  colour TV, cycle and many more. We are the No.1 state in the country in terms of abundance of freebies and discounted products, Karl Marx said, “Religion is the opium of the masses”. The new version of the above, adapted by our Political leaders is “Freebies are the opium of the masses” and it is a sort of addiction our people are getting into. Well, these scheme of things have attracted cricticsm from a elite crowd of people, who condemn that, the welfare measures of the Government, are targeted at keeping the people lazy, and this “getting things for nothing attitude” has been a spoiler to individual progress, so on and so forth. The Government is fully aware of the harmful effects of such welfare measures, but still it functions undisturbed by these feeble voices, because their intention is clear. Their intention is to keep the people “HAPPY & STUPID”. It is just a new policy similar to the “divide and rule” which was practiced by Britishers, in our pre –independence period to have a control of the masses. The Politicians, know who votes and know what they want. They are not bothered about the elite few, who neither vote or a negligible fewhem. It is not what is right, that counts. It is what that is popular among the masses, that counts.

This attitude of the Government, of capitalizing on the people’s “sense of contentment” has done more evil than good. It has become a limiting factor to our progress. A progressive person would not depend on such spoon feeding, of the Government. He will strive hard to make a living for himself and live a dignified life. He would surge ahead, in the direction of emerging opportunities and make himself independent. He will not be a burden to his family or the country, but rather a contributing person. But this sect of people hardly contributes 10% of our population.  Only 3.5% of our population pay taxes and it is with this money, that all the Government social welfare schemes, infrastrucure development and all other activities, are funded.

While we mock the Government for such a irresponsible way of governing the country, a question we need to ask ourselves, is, “Are we adopting the same pattern in our family life?”. Every family is a small unit of Government, where you play the role of the leader of the family. Now, just think. Are your actions in the direction of making your children strive to progress or we are just allowing them to sit back and enjoy the comforts, that you are offering them. Are we spoon feeding them or making them to go in search of their own food? Are we limiting their progress by excessive pampering or are we pushing them towards finding new horizons? Are we keeping them timid, by overprotecting them or allowing them to face the competitive world and just being there to back them up?

It is our responsibilty to help our children, aspire for big things in life, make them independent, teach them the rewards of labour, make them strive towards a goal and help them achieve it. The role of a parent should therefore, only be an supportive role. Let them not bask too much in your warmth that they fail to understand the harsh realities of life. Show them the path and let them take strides of progress and bring pride to you and our nation.

Let them not find happiness, through contentment, but through progressive realisations of life’s worthy goals.

Happy Reading,

D.Senthil Kannan

Article dated Mar'11

Competition Vs Cooperation

In one of my children school function, the chief guest while addressing the gathering, said, “All great achievements that the ever been accomplished by man is owing to one of the 2 things – Competition or Co-operation”. This line caught my attention and forced me to probe a little further. These two words, Competition and Co-operation do not sound like complementary words, but sound like contrary words. How then can one say that all great achievements are achieved by two contrary things? But if we look at the way our lives have evolved, we would find it is true.

Let us first talk about competition. Competition creates a spirit to excel the other, out beat the other, break an old record. Once in 4years an Olympic game is organized. Sportsmen from nations across the globe meet, to compete. At the end of every Olympic Games, a new record is set, which serves as a new benchmark for the future sportsmen. The next generation needs to find ways of breaking this record, and setting a new record. The ultimate purpose of an event like this is not to see which country has won the maximum number of gold or silver, but an event to explore the human potential. It is a place where learning happens: where the human potential, is challenged again and again.

Let us say, you play one of your favourite sport with someone, where you are an ace player and the other is a amateur. You will be winning all the time, but you will lose interest in the game. You know why? Because, there will be no sense of accomplishment. There is no spirit of challenge. In due course you will find yourself playing like an amateur, because the amateur by the way he plays, has brought you down to his level. On the other hand, when you play the game with an equally tough apponent, you will face the risk of losing, but the spirit of challenge will make you put your level best to win the game. In the process your game technics and tactics will improve. When you win this game, the amount of happiness and satisfaction, you experience, would be beyond words. Therefore the purpose of playing a match is not only to decide who is better than the other, but to bring out the best in us. The essence of competition is therefore to bring out our hidden potential.

We are all proud to be Indians. This pride is a result of our previous achievements. We cannot afford to continue basking in this glory for long. We need to constantly improve our performance in order to be ahead from the rest of the world. For this to happen, we need competition. Competition therefore, should not be something to be feared about, but something we look forward to as an opportunity for our growth. We compete to excel and winning is just a topping in the cake.

Now let us talk about Cooperation. Cooperation strives for team work, team coordination, team building and works on the principle of give and take. It believes in Synergy. Each one of us, have a different strength. As a team, when your strength adds to the strength of the group, there is a great synergy. It defies the mathematics logic and says1+1 is not 2, but 3.

In most of the inaugural and closing ceremony of grand occassions like the Olympics, we see a number of team events performed with great level of synchronization accuracy, which is a treat to our eyes. It could be a group dance, a musical orchestra, a parade, a mass drill or whatsoever. We are awestruck by the magnanimity of such fete.

Competence is therefore a blend of Competition and Co-operation. While you need to have a competitive spirit to succeed, we also need to have a co-operative spirit to be a good team player. The most important quality of a good leader is that he should be a good team player. As an individual we compete with each other in our school, our career, our chosen game to come to the top and gain a leadership position. But as a leader our major role is to make sure there is co-operative effort.

Team work is therefore nothing but collective competence. This collective competence in full bloom is the ultimate flowering of human accomplishment. Let us learn to compete and cooperate in our effort to achieve our goals.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article Dated Feb 2011

Believe in Miracles

Dear Readers,

I would like to share with you about an interesting incident that happened in my life, about 15years ago. The incident, I am about to share with you, may be too hard for you to believe to be true, but honestly, it a real life incident.

Me, my wife, my son along with my father in-law and mother in law, had gone to Chennai for a holiday.  As usual, we had made an advanced booking of the tickets. As I had to spend few extra days at Chennai, for my official work, I had booked my tickets for a different date and for all my family members on an earlier date.

After the end of the holiday, it was time for my family members to start back to Madurai.  I decided to go with them to the railway station and send them off. So, we all left to the Egmore railway station. They were to leave by Pandyan Express. We checked the Platform number, and as we reached the platform, I got the train ticket which my father in law was having, to check for the coach number and seat number. Once I saw it, I located the coach, got the luggage’s loaded and stowed them under the seats. Having got them comfortably settled, without a second thought, I kept their train ticket inside my shirt pocket.

In a short while from then, the train started and my family members happily waved their hands to me, bidding good bye. Having seen them off, I returned to my apartment at Nungambakkam, to unwind for the day. As I emptied my shirt pocket, I noticed that I had the train ticket and there they have already waved their hands and left.

It was a shock! What a blunder, I told to myself and was thinking about what could be done. Those were the days, when there was no mobile phone. I could not even communicate, to my family members, that the tickets were with me.  I was worried that, they may be de-boarded from the train, somewhere en route, for not having the tickets.

My mind started running quickly. I was thinking of options, of how I could set this right. The first thought that came to my mind, was to hire a cab and rush to Tambaram and catch them there. If I miss out there, I can still go and give it at Chengalpet. But, with the road traffic, will I be able to make it. It was already 30 minutes since the train had left. I was puzzled.

Anyway, I thought let me call up the railway station and find out the time “Pandyan express” will reach the different succeeding stations.  So, I called up the Egmore railway station, got connected to the station master and explained to him what happened.

Here is where, something mysterious happened. The station master asked again, which train did you say?  I repeated, “Pandyan Express”. What he told me was something unbelievable, He said, “there was a problem with that train engine and that train is returning back to egmore station, for changing over to a new engine.” I was sure that the station master was not kidding, with me. 

I rushed to the station.  In a few minutes of my arrival, I could see the train returning to the platform. I could see my father in law and son, waiting at the compartment door, trying to see if I was still there. I waved my hands, and I could see a big sigh of relief, in their face.  I went and gave them the ticket.

Then I listened to their side of the story. My father in law said, that when the TTR came for checking he explained the situation to the TTR. The TTR could understand the situation, as the name appeared in the passenger’s chart. But the TTR could not help them in any other way, except by issuing them a new ticket with some extra fine. Left with no other option, my father in law was about to pay, just then they heard the announcement that the train will return back to Egmore.  So, the TTR himself told, “Let us wait and see, till we get back to Egmore.” Luckily, I had come back and they did not have to pay again. They took the ticket and in another few minutes, the train was ready with a new engine, and they set off again.

This time, making doubly sure that the ticket was not in my shirt pocket, I came back home for my night rest. As I went to bed, I could not believe what had just happened. It was something unbelievable. I just signed off to bed, with a thought, well it is true. “Miracles do happen”.

Happy Reading

D. Senthil Kannan

Article date Feb 2007