I had entered the education space, informally in 2008, as a 11th class student, due to my passion for teaching Mathematics. Back then, one single question drove me- "Why can't fifth graders be taught differential calculus, if they'd like to?". I started off with the objective of teaching 'higher order' concepts early, so that kids can accelerate their careers, However, my perspective evolved over the years. I have now begun to look at something more fundamental.
I had been mentoring Einstein, a 7th grader of Tejasvi Vidyaranya, a wonder kid who is full of ideas and questions. I feel so happy whenever I get to speak to Einstein, whenever I get to ask him questions, draw answers or listen to his endless questions. Infact I'm often accussed of being biased towards him and supporting him for whatever he does, He had stunned me with an amazing display of answers (he is insanely awesome with questioning, but sometimes his answers blow your mind) at Hack your MVP, an entrepreneurship competition at JNTU.
Einstein presented his idea of developing a software patch to make latest computer run on incompatible computers with obsolete hardware/software. His marketing strategy was to get YouTubers to write about his software. Here is the Q&A which followed.
Panchajanya: What if the Youtuber call your programme shit and refuse to write about it?
Einstein: It is good for me, I will find out why it is shit and fix those problems.
Anjali: Why did you choose only YouTube?
Einstein: Computers gamers are always on the PC, they don't have time for TV or newspapers.
Judge: What if your YouTube strategy fails?
Einstein: I will try two or more other websites, if that fails too, I will change my idea.
Judge: Why not try from the beginning itself?
Einstein: I would like to build my foundation with YouTube first. Once the foundation is strong, I can get into say Facebook and if Facebook fails, I will atleast have YouTube. I will focus my energy on building one platform.
You may want to note that Einstein started his last answer by telling the judges- "Tarun sir actually taught me this, about having a solid foundation". There is this age old dilemma or conundrum of whether you'd place all your eggs inside the basket. And then a maverick questions- why not, if the basket is actually a safe one- which is precisely what Einstein was going after.
It was an amazing feat, to see young kids think and speak so well at the event. The orientation went for 1.5 days, before the competition. We wondered what we did in those 1.5 days, which got those outcomes and how do we scale that, to impact more kids? My colleague Prudhvi responds- "they travelled with us". I somehow think that is precisely the objective of education- to get the kids to travel with somebody who has got a few insights to offer- to enable a baton pass from one generation to the other or to place the child on the proverbial shoulders of the giants. But then, how do we do that?
I think education is all about spreading love. Would you enjoy the success of the student as much as his/her parents would? I think what made me pursue this startup for 5.5 years, with little or no revenues is the success of my students and the warmth displayed by them and their parents. Once an educator can own the future of a student, then education is nothing but transfer of love. The child connects with the teacher, picks up problems, perseveres and pursues it to meaningful conclusion.
We talk about teacher training and improving the quality of education. But then, I think, more than the content aspect, the connect/context aspect becomes extremely important- how else can you activate the child? You can tell stories, but how do you ignite so many questions? I believe the child deserves attention and needs somebody to speak to.
Most questions might be trivial, might have answers on the internet, but the child needs a human interaction, to understand his/her feelings and help him/her to achieve success. At the end of the day, it is this attention which wins the child and once that happens the child wins the game for you. At Sciensation, we are working towards being that person who is always there for the child when he/she needs us- someone who is there to listen to their voice.
The purpose of education is proabably to give attention, spread love and nurture curiosty. Once a child is happy, confident and curious, self-learning is naturally activated.
I had been mentoring Einstein, a 7th grader of Tejasvi Vidyaranya, a wonder kid who is full of ideas and questions. I feel so happy whenever I get to speak to Einstein, whenever I get to ask him questions, draw answers or listen to his endless questions. Infact I'm often accussed of being biased towards him and supporting him for whatever he does, He had stunned me with an amazing display of answers (he is insanely awesome with questioning, but sometimes his answers blow your mind) at Hack your MVP, an entrepreneurship competition at JNTU.
Einstein presented his idea of developing a software patch to make latest computer run on incompatible computers with obsolete hardware/software. His marketing strategy was to get YouTubers to write about his software. Here is the Q&A which followed.
Panchajanya: What if the Youtuber call your programme shit and refuse to write about it?
Einstein: It is good for me, I will find out why it is shit and fix those problems.
Anjali: Why did you choose only YouTube?
Einstein: Computers gamers are always on the PC, they don't have time for TV or newspapers.
Judge: What if your YouTube strategy fails?
Einstein: I will try two or more other websites, if that fails too, I will change my idea.
Judge: Why not try from the beginning itself?
Einstein: I would like to build my foundation with YouTube first. Once the foundation is strong, I can get into say Facebook and if Facebook fails, I will atleast have YouTube. I will focus my energy on building one platform.
You may want to note that Einstein started his last answer by telling the judges- "Tarun sir actually taught me this, about having a solid foundation". There is this age old dilemma or conundrum of whether you'd place all your eggs inside the basket. And then a maverick questions- why not, if the basket is actually a safe one- which is precisely what Einstein was going after.
It was an amazing feat, to see young kids think and speak so well at the event. The orientation went for 1.5 days, before the competition. We wondered what we did in those 1.5 days, which got those outcomes and how do we scale that, to impact more kids? My colleague Prudhvi responds- "they travelled with us". I somehow think that is precisely the objective of education- to get the kids to travel with somebody who has got a few insights to offer- to enable a baton pass from one generation to the other or to place the child on the proverbial shoulders of the giants. But then, how do we do that?
I think education is all about spreading love. Would you enjoy the success of the student as much as his/her parents would? I think what made me pursue this startup for 5.5 years, with little or no revenues is the success of my students and the warmth displayed by them and their parents. Once an educator can own the future of a student, then education is nothing but transfer of love. The child connects with the teacher, picks up problems, perseveres and pursues it to meaningful conclusion.
We talk about teacher training and improving the quality of education. But then, I think, more than the content aspect, the connect/context aspect becomes extremely important- how else can you activate the child? You can tell stories, but how do you ignite so many questions? I believe the child deserves attention and needs somebody to speak to.
Most questions might be trivial, might have answers on the internet, but the child needs a human interaction, to understand his/her feelings and help him/her to achieve success. At the end of the day, it is this attention which wins the child and once that happens the child wins the game for you. At Sciensation, we are working towards being that person who is always there for the child when he/she needs us- someone who is there to listen to their voice.
The purpose of education is proabably to give attention, spread love and nurture curiosty. Once a child is happy, confident and curious, self-learning is naturally activated.
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