Category: Adult

Contributions of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in the Education Field

Massive open online course (MOOC) is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access through the web. MOOCs provide interactive user forums that help build a community for students, professors and teaching assistants. MOOCs are the biggest upcoming trend in the current education scenario. It has offered opportunity to all individuals irrespective of

Read more »

Spoken Words

Man naturally was born with the inherent ability to commune; transfer information and share ideas with his fellow man through the employment of speech as propagation medium right from primeval times. In the complexity of his evolutionary chemistry, the arch necessity of conversing with species of his like was of utmost importance even in the

Read more »

Reflections on the Salvaging Hands of Education

Introduction Living on planet earth is no fun! Many obstacles confront mankind in our quest to actualize our life ambitions. There is prevalence of unemployment, poverty, epidemics, and civil unrest in many nations of the world and the existence of these heartrending conditions instil fear into the psyche of many. The fundamental question which occupies

Read more »

What has education meant to me?

Learning is the eye of mind. But how can we study or work during a conflict … during a war? I could not imagine that I would study in the war-time in Ukraine. I read books about World War II, watched documentary movies. I attended Basics of Life Safety classes at school as well as

Read more »

MOOCs, A Piece Of The Higher Education Jigsaw

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been touted as the next big thing in higher education by everyone from newspapers to universities and politicians. Free access to the world’s collected knowledge, genuine equality of education, no borders to learning. But are they a vision of the future or is all this too good to be

Read more »

The Sounds Of Silence

As a writer, I would like to, let my work, do the talking, and therefore, I do not fully, agree with the statement of Mary Angelou that- “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning.” I agree more with what

Read more »

I learned that…

Nelson Mandela couldn’t have said it any better: I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. But to associate courage to the role of education was one thing; defining education was

Read more »

Stop MOOCing around – Get back in the classroom

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are nearly as common as a mid-week sale on the high-street. Online shopping for learning is certainly redefining the education landscape. But, as in this case, if I’m asked whether MOOCs are the future of higher education, well now, that’s less clear cut. Digital detox please We live in a

Read more »

The Juggle Struggle of Life

“What is your ambition” they would ask. “Well, I would want to be a true human being”, she would reply. More often than not, the conversation would proceed with the other party expressing an ‘Are-you-for-real expression’ along with questions meant to ask if she is for real because it seems that having the aspiration to

Read more »

Compassion, Creativity and Motivation

Nelson Mandela said that courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The most important pillars of education are, in my opinion, the ones that are overlooked the most: compassion, creativity and motivation. Why are they overlooked? Fear to change and improve our educational systems is the main reason. Courage is

Read more »

Disruption (or the lack thereof)

MOOCs or Massive Open Online Courses. Coursera, Udacity, itunes U. They’re backed by some of the world’s most prestigious and respected universities, they’re available 24/7 and most importantly, they’re (generally) free. With worldwide increasing levels of online usage growth and ease of accessibility, the influence of the internet has undeniably disrupted many markets and overhauled

Read more »

Power of speech

When I came across Maya Angelou’s quote – ‘WORDS MEAN MORE THAN WHAT IS SET DOWN ON PAPER. IT TAKES A HUMAN VOICE TO INFUSE THEM WITH SHADES OF DEEPER MEANING’ it inspired me and generated quite a number of ideas which I have elaborated below under subtitles. Actions speak louder than words Words written

Read more »

Redefining courage; Lessons for education

Growing up as a child, one of the people I have come to identify with and in fact whose memory I will forever cherish is that of the first black president of South Africa Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. We loved Madiba as he is referred to in his native Xhosa clan so much that we knew

Read more »

All the world may be a stage, but we are not just merely players

William Shakespeare knew that ‘one man in his time plays many parts’ and Nelson Mandela’s life certainly attested to that, although he is mostly remembered for the wonderful influence he had on our world. One of Mandela’s most influential effects he had on the world’s population was his ability to motivate and inspire others. Mandela’s

Read more »

Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning

I agree with Maya Angelou’s assertion that “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning.” I will manifest my accordance by referring an actor and singer who I believe use their voice to permeate “shades of deeper meaning” into words.

Read more »

The Power of the Human Voice

It takes the human voice to infuse words with shades of deeper meaning. The role of the human voice in giving deeper meaning to words is crucial when one looks at the significance of denotative and connotative meanings of expressions. For example, one person can utter the following words: l am thirsty. The surface or

Read more »

“Those who can’t laugh at themselves leave the job to others.”

Unusual things tend to happen to me. Laughing them off and sharing the experience with others with the aim of making them laugh is typical behavior on my part. Just smiling boosts your mood so laughing surely has double this power. In this article I will present two real life examples which indicate my agreement

Read more »

Are we churning intelligence?

“Newton was sitting under a tree. An apple fell on him & he thought that why didn’t it go up & hence discovered gravity.But if a hungry stomach is sitting under a tree, he will only think to get all apples down”. That is what our education system does. It hardly provides opportunities & when

Read more »

Are we churning intelligence?

“Newton was sitting under a tree. An apple fell on him & he thought that why didn’t it go up & hence discovered gravity.But if a hungry stomach is sitting under a tree, he will only think to get all apples down”. That is what our education system does. It hardly provides opportunities & when

Read more »

An Indian Way of Education

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.” These lines of Robert Frost from the poem ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ depict a dream that is yet unfulfilled and needs a lot to be

Read more »