Browsing all posts in David Morris.
Choosing The Best Language for the India Slate
To anyone familiar with India, it seems natural that the first major challenge to be overcome regarding the implementation of the new $35 laptop, the India Slate, is what language to use for applications.
But before getting to the issue of whether apps should be available in Marathi, Gujarati, various flavors of Hindi, Bengali, Telegu, Tamil, [...]
Using the India Slate to Change Education Pedagogy
Will alternative pedagogy work on a mass scale in India? Is it all fantasy that the creation of a national community of professional master facilitators and master teachers could ignite a paradigm shift in learning amongst India’s 200 million school going children?
I think it is possible, and probable. I base this on personal experience.
For five [...]
India Slate Set for Classroom Debut
So here you have the India Slate, coming to India’s schoolchildren in the next 9-12 months. This laptop will have tablet capability, albeit stripped down, but no one knows what it will deliver or empower. Hopes are high and potential is large, but as with all tools and game-changer technology, traction has to lead to [...]
ISTE’s India Correspondent Talks $35 Tablet Computer
Dr. Kapil Sibal is perhaps the most lovable minister of the Union Ministers of India. His enthusiasm and humor combine with audacity and persistence, plus he possesses a razor sharp brain trained at the Supreme Court of India. His leadership has already moved the Free & Compulsory Right to Education Act of 2009 farther, faster than [...]
Update on the Transformation of India’s Education
As the implementation of the Free & Compulsory Right to Education Act 2009 finishes its first quarter in India, what does its report card look like?
Using the American system of letter grades, which is being introduced increasingly into the assessment and evaluation criteria of “new curriculum” schools, here’s my impression:
Audacity: A
Legislative Support, National: A
Legislative Support, [...]
What if the ISTE Conference was held in New Delhi?
I’ve been thinking about ISTE 2010 and pondering the cornucopia of offerings, exhibits, speakers, and special events. I’ve been remembering snacks with friends, filling my conference bags with essential freebies, and engaging in conversations with experts in darn near everything to do with education.
I suddenly had a flash of what it would mean for India [...]
An Educator Takes the India Blank Classroom Challenge
Tom Layton, an experienced educator who has worked with students around the globe, wrote the following in response to the Blank Paper Challenge on Educational Technology in India. The recent request for advice on designing a classroom space for modern education India was brought to his attention by Dr. Carolyn Knox, a founding member of [...]
Designing India’s Future Classrooms
Having introduced some of the parameters of educational transformation in India, let’s move on to an activity. After all, in project based learning there is always an activity. I’d like your help to direct India’s use of educational technology for the country’s more than 200 million students.
Pull out a blank sheet of paper and sketch [...]
Ed Tech in Madarapakkam
Were you to go to the Madarapakkam Higher Secondary School today, and walk into a classroom, it would likely be no different than it was thirty years ago. You might think that all the wonders of educational technology had never been invented.
It’s not because of the lack of electricity.
It’s not necessarily because of money, either.
It [...]
The Building Blocks of Education: Madrapakkam in 2015
There’s nothing special about Madrapakkam. It’s just another scrubby village in southern India. This May it is very dusty and hot; 40-44C hot, which translates to 106-110F and high humidity. The houses are spotlessly clean inside and the streets are dirty. Children are getting ready to go back to school again in June, having finished their [...]
