Lessons in Balance

"Where there is interest, there is learning."

  This is a fascinating presentation by Sugata Mitra who, in an experiment, placed internet connected PCs into a wall bordering a slum in New Delhi. He found that children would start playing with the computers, teach themselves how to get on line to browse or play games, and teach each other.

After replicating his experiment in different settings throughout India, he concluded:

...even in the absence of any direct input from a teacher, an environment that stimulates curiosity can cause learning through self-instruction and peer-shared knowledge. Mitra, who's now a professor of educational technology at Newcastle University (UK), calls it "minimally invasive education." - TED

 

I came upon this as I was searching for "Arms and the Man", a play by George Bernard Shaw that I wanted to re-read after I gave in to a bit of nostalgia last month. I decided to pay $1.60 to download the play onto my Kindle (cheaper than printing seventy-six pages from a PDF file) and after I read it again, I'll watch Helena Bonham Carter in the lead role via Netflix.

Sugata Mitra's work, validates my fond connection with the internet as a learning tool and I'm so inspired by the curiosity and joyful tenacity of the Indian children. At an age that qualifies me for the Granny Cloud, a legion of volunteers who tutor the children over Skype, I'm drawn to the possibilities of learning any subject that intrigues me.

 

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. -Mahatma Gandhi

 

Related post: Reverb 10 - New Name

CNN video: Hole in the Wall Education inspired book and movie, "Slumdog Millionaire".

Video: TED Talks

We Share Sunsets

I live in a community of shared sunsets. Late in the afternoon, on any given day, I can drive along the ocean and find multiple views of the setting sun. I snapped the photo above a few days ago when I came out of the grocery store in Keauhou. Folks who live up on the mountain slope only need to look out of a window or step out onto their lanais.

I like that I'm also able to share my photos with my on-line community (Twitter and Facebook), using Twitpic or Instagram from my iPhone, right there on the spot. It's sunset for me, total darkness for some. Even friends from the other side of the island appreciate the different setting.

No one has any control over sunsets so I can share them with anyone, anywhere, anytime. I can be a part of so many communities with one common setting.

“A world community can only exist with world communication, which means something more than extensive software facilities scattered about the globe. It means common understanding, a common tradition, common ideas and common ideals.” - Robert Hutchins

 

Related post:  Reverb 10 - Community

Reverb 10 - New Name

 

Reverb 10, The Prompt:

December 23 – New Name. Let’s meet again, for the first time. If you could introduce yourself to strangers by another name for just one day, what would it be and why? (Author: Becca Wilcott)

My Response:

Raina Sim.

Raina is the heroine in George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man. In a college literature class, I read the part of Raina and the name always reminds me of a time when I spent hours reading and researching in the library. There was no internet then, so knowledge was gathered manually. I think I miss the process.

I can't imagine living without my iPhone, laptops, and Kindle and often wonder what changes are occurring in my brain because of those "reliances." Maybe in 2011, I'll revisit Shaw's play and see if I can easily take myself from one time zone to another, like a SIM card.

Image:Image Chef

The Universe is My Ceiling

I did a few stretches and twists on the living room floor this afternoon and as I looked up at the ceiling fan, wondered what kind of photo the spinning blades would make. A quick take with my iPhone and an Instagram filter showed me that the Universe is about as high as I'll go...today.

I wonder if it has anything to do with all of the talking links to Mono Lake and NASA...

How to Make Joy & Peace Your Default Setting

Breathing awareness and postural alignment is what you would expect to cover in a yoga class. Interacting with the worldwide web though, has a tendency to pull you forward, into a land that's fast moving and completely stimulating. Often, your body's left behind waiting for your return.

As a yoga instructor who loves web travel, I find that the same techniques I use to reclaim my heart-brain connection on the mat work well at my desk. The next time you feel as though there's a spinning hourglass inside your head that doesn't stop, try taking these steps and see how you feel:

1. Control the stimulants. Turn off the sound and blinking lights.  If necessary, close the laptop cover or throw your jacket over the screen (like covering a birdcage).

2. Get back into your body.

• Place both feet flat on the floor, bring your shoulders over your hips and let your arms hang loose at your sides.
• Turn your palms to face your desk, then turn them out to the sides. This should eliminate the forward curl of your shoulders.
• Lift your head up and back (slowly and gently) so that the opening of your ears are in line with your shoulders.
• Gently lift the front of your body, from that spot just two inches below your belly button and up to your sternum all through the crown of your head.
• Then place your hands on your lap with your palms facing the ceiling and relax your shoulders.
• Take a deep breath.

3. Breathe through your nose. When we breathe through our nostrils, nitric oxide in our sinus cavities is taken into our lungs which helps with the absorption of more oxygen, lowers blood pressure and calms your nervous system.

4. Lengthen your breaths. You should be feeling a bit more relaxed already simply by sitting up straight and deliberately breathing through your nose. Now start to increase the duration of your inhalations and exhalations, just a little each time.

5. Add the following as you breathe:

• Think of something that makes you happy. It can be the presence of someone you love, the memory of a beautiful trip, hearing a musical instrument, the taste of warm chocolate coating your tongue. Anything. Hold that thought as you inhale and let it surge throughout your entire being.
• Next, think of something that makes you feel calm and at peace, like settling into a bed draped with clean, smooth sheets or slipping into a bath with water at the perfect temperature for you. Whatever it is that makes you go "Ahhhhhh." Hold that thought as you exhale and let it spread all over you.

That's it. Practice it several times each day until Joy and Peace become the direct result of breathing in and breathing out. So what if it takes a lifetime? You'll be breathing anyway, right?

Photo: Bill A