drop-out and drop-in

In many ways, this article is important for me as a individual. may be for people who happened to read my previous articles as well. the torture comes to an end. not for me but for my friends. Friends who encouraged me to write. 

I feel very, very happy. though i admit and understand that happiness or sorrow is just a state of mind, i just want to allow emotions to take over.

Why should i end writing? don't know. but there was a "message", an "intuition", people use different words. But the writing was clear on the wall. Just one last article and henceforth write only about science, science and science. nothing else.

My usual method is to write about something. in the whole of the article, one thing or the other seems to stand out and that becomes the title. But this time, as it was the last of the article on education, philosophy and entrepreneurship, i had to just connect the dots. so started this article with a title.

As i was writing this article, a few events unfolded and would wish to present it as it happened. The event itself happened to be the core of the idea that i was trying to communicate.

There was a call. it was from one of my good friend.

Am leaving the content at the end of this article. unedited. it is incomplete in every sense, but it is ok. some people say, do it right the first time. i keep trying. but somehow, it happens to be incremental. write, rub, write, reorg... until convinced

Here is the conversation with my friend.

Friend: i am planning to start a health and fitness center. 

My mind: I know you have been working on it for the past 10 years. you are a living example. have reduced from 115 kgs to 75 kgs. cycling as a hobby. regular workouts and food freak. i could still recall inviting him once to our home in bangalore. he happened to travel all the way from Coimbatore, carrying a food basket. On the breakfast table, he opened it. it felt like....... (you may fill in the blanks)

Friend: During these years i had many unanswered questions. in fact a thousand of them. Was confused. But recently i seem to have got to the core. had done some intensive research and this idea seems to fit. But still, i would like to validate with a few people who wish to give an audience.

Me: I would like to attend your program. when is it?

My mind: I am not bothered if he is a doctor, his educational background, what is the certificate that he carries? He has lived it, experienced it. what better teacher or mentor can i ask for.

Me: I too had been struggling like you to understand science. To fit kinetic energy into the scheme of things it took 4 years. and it took another 2 years to understand that acceleration is core of the idea. once we begin from there, whole of science becomes comprehensible. the reason for newton apple story becoming so famous. we happen to remember the story and leave the concept alone.

Friend: You have been into teaching? how should i structure my session?

My Mind: What is there to prepare? you are just going to share your experience. you can answer most of the questions that are raised. with examples. spontaneously. 

Me: First 10 min is important. How much time people are gonna sit? what is the objective? what is your experience with health and fitness. The remain part of the time will evolve into a unique experience.

The same topic on another day, different audience, different questions. does not matter. It will sure be as interesting as the first session. lively. 

I can't wait to attend his program. we got to wait for good things. it seems to happens that most of the time, . i am looking forward to have a great experience.  From a master.

There is nothing outside my boy (girl). Everything is within us. It is no more inside-out. it is outside-in. a master leads you 'in'. rather drops you inside of you. drop-in.

what a way to end? no. no. just drop-out and drop-in.

In case you are interested to know what i was writing before i got the most important call

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We have heard many stories of dropouts. The most famous being Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. All stories point to one thing. They dropped out of education system and dropped into; rather immersed themselves into learning. That's definitely learning for life.

I have not taken examples from my hometown. most of us are drop outs. Mentally. Not physically. 

We respect our society. we respect our parents. Children seem to be more magnanimous. They sacrifice and compromise for the sake of elders.

People think we don't have courage. not really. pick any child at random, listen and we will not only hear it. we will feel it. I have. "Appa likes it", "Amma said", "The child next door does it", "A cousin does it",... 

Moral stories may be the cause. May be because they are taught only in schools, it is applicable only for school students. It is not in syllabus for elders.

Just take a look at the road. choa's. i dont want to talk about corruption and get myself into trouble. it does not exist. i am afraid. 

But we want every child to observe strict discipline, be perfect, excel in every field, nothing less than a 100....

The situation in higher studies is not much different. just about crossing teens. recognized as majors by age. another 3, 4 or 5 years of strict obedience. most of the energy is spent in sitting, for most part of the day. Sitting is most tiring activity for youngsters. body and brain does better only when it is used. May be because we live in a mechanized world, we want it sparingly used. We drain all the energy and push them to perform. Ironic.

With that said, the major reasons for drop out.

- Every one is unique. this leads to interest mismatch and not lack of interest.

- The quotient variation. Intelligence, Emotional, Creativity and Memory. Personalization is the key.

- Assessment driven learning. it should be the other way. Self-assessment.

- Attendance and monitoring. Kills self-responsibility and self-esteem.

May be we have a solution. at least for "majors" moving into higher education. for those interested in learning. we have access to best of the teachers from across the world. 

All you need is an internet connection and a some kind of device with which you can view and program. You may have the device on a desk, on your lap or even on your head (head mounted devices). Virtual and Augmented reality are already available. its only a question of affordability. Start with wikipedia or you tube. Depends on whether you like text or visual

That's all fine. What about the "certificate". ok. Maybe register with a distance learning program. We will require them for syllabus, exams, practicals and projects. With proliferation of internet, distance learning is not distant anymore. Rather it is closer. 

Days are not far away. Learn from different resources. for example, khan academy tracks the complete history. they are issuing badges. how many exercises you have solved, how many chapters you have completed, what is the topic that you last learned. 

Looks like we just send this link and people can make out our interest levels, duration of learning, approach, almost everything. including your behavior. They are mining data. 

Even IIT has certificate courses. Once we have collected sufficient credits, some organization may even provide a degree certificate. 

Schools: NOS and IGCSE.

Arts and humanities: 

Sciences:

Engineering:  AMIE

Medicine: Alternative medicine 

Law: 

My favorite picks for science.

Schools:    www.khanacademy.org   (started electrical and computer engineering)

Higher Ed:  NPTEL, coursera, edx, yale, MIT, princeton, Amrita, hyperphysics, wikipedia, you tube links, homibabha, vigyan prasar, ncert

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