A Morning Kite and Lifelong Thread

‘Its 6.30 in the morning. Sun is almost up. All the other family members – grandpa, bibi (mother) and grandma have left their beds’. Mothu saw their folded bedding on the wooden cots. They generally got up and left the ‘chatt’- the flat roof of a house, used by most of the families, in the neighborhood to sleeps in open during the summers from April to July – an hour ago before Mothu opened his eyes to the day. He was listening to the noises from the kitchen below, half of a room on the first floor of the house. The front half was open to the sky and served as landing space for the stairs going down up to the ground floor.

The sound of pounding of onions, ginger and garlic in a small stone kundi was the daily wake up call for Mothu. Grandpa would sit on the landing and do this job after his bath before getting ready to go for the work. Grandma must be stirring the set boiled milk in an earthen pot for butter. Occasionally he could hear the water being poured into the tank made in a wall in the kitchen towards the far end – area used for cooking. There was also a chimney on the other side for the smoke from the coal fired small angithi (furnace) on the other side. His mother must be fetching water from the municipal tap in the street, just a few houses away. Mothu’s house was the dead end of the street of twenty houses.

Suddenly from the corner of his eyes he saw a big kite flying overhead. ‘Where is the processed thread I got yesterday?’ Mothu was relieved that the 25 yards of thread he got yesterday from his kite seller and the kite was in the barsaati – a small covered part of the roof to store the beddings and cots and also to sleep under in case of sudden showers. There was a strong urge to fly his kite as well. Mothu got from his bed, looked around and saw quite a few kites already in the sky. This was the beginning of the summer vacation and kids were already up before time – they were always late for getting up during normal school days – and starting making best of the vacation.

Mothu however had a problem, he had strict instructions not to fly kite except in the evening. Its only on this condition, grandma had relented after half an hour of pestering to give him 5 annas (one rupee had 16 annas and each anna 4 paise) to buy his manjha and the kite. He had very little time to put his skills to test, the big kite was already up for the last 15 minutes and sun was about to cover the whole roof quickly. Already there were two calls for him to get up and come down. Mothu took out his flute and stated blowing in to it keeping his hands free for the kite, already made ready to fly. Noise from the flute convinced his mother down stairs that he was awake and just trying to figure out playing flute.

His small kite was up in the sky in no time with only 25 yards of  “armored thread” in front to ward off any aggressive move from another kite. Rest of the thread had no powdered glass stuck with glue on it and would snap off in a single sweep. Mothu was thinking fast, his mouth blowing into the flute, eyes fixed on the big kite, which has noticed the small intruder in its space and his arms and hands maneuvering his own kite so that the first touch between the two is on his manjha. Of course he could see that the other kite was flying on complete manjha which Mothu could ill afford. The moment of his test seem to be coming closer. He could see from the corner of his eye that the 'big' had noticed him and decided to do away with him first before going forward with other conquests. Now Mothu was nervous. He was not sure of getting another allowance for the next one week at least to get his kite and manjha. If he looses his kite he will be sitting quiet in the evenings on the roof of his house watching other kids all around enjoying their kites in the sky. But he also knew that in his class – he completed eight years in the Feb. – he was good at kites. Then also the fact that he could make his grandmother give him an other allowance may be with a little reprimand.

Thus the decision was made in Mothus head and he stopped avoiding the big kite. Next moment it swooped on Mothu's kite was already positioned for the contact at manjha. The touch of two different threads instantly sent a sensation through Mothu’s fingers holding the thread. The only reflex in this case and situation was to pull the thread fast and with force. Mothu did as it was planned and wired in his system. He knew that any delay – even fraction of a second – is fatal in this combat.

Suddenly Mothu found the sensation of two rubbing threads no more passing on to his finger. And he looked up, there was only his kite above, the 'big' floating direction less away from his kite and going down. There was sudden commotion all around. 'Mothu has won, and he humbled Gaama. Bravo Mothu' came the cry from the kids around. Gaama ! Mothu looked back. Few roofs away, the biggest kite flier known in the city was gathering the thread and as soon as he saw Mothu’s diminutive figure standing on his cot he gave him a symbolic salute and said Bravo.

Many years later Mothu, a senior researcher in a Govt. Lab, 1000 miles way from his small town, can still feel the reverberations of that applause and a very gracious way of accepting defeat by a champion from a small child. This exhilarating feeling of ten minutes and the whole scenario of that morning have etched in Mothu’s memory. In the middle of his life now, Mothu finds himself playing the scene again and again when he feels miserable and down. These moments never failed him. He has always come out better, little less depressed, little more prepared to face a difficult situation in his life.

This small incident made this young boy a hero in the neighborhood. Gaama came with his friends to Mothu’s house the same evening and congratulated Mothu on his triumph in the morning. Appreciated his kite flying skills. He left 500 yards of manjha for Mothu as a gift. In a way Gaama expanded the opportunity space of Mothu in kite flying 20 times!

Treasure the exhilarating moments of life and play these again and again to propel one out of sticky situations.

Problem of Too Many 

I was engrossed in my thoughts, too many things on the mind of a young lad who is two years in to the college, when I was called by Mrs. Suresh Chand, “Mothu could you please come over for a few minutes, I have something to talk to you”. Winter had set in and the solitary municipal bulb hanging from a pole in the street was unable to clear even the early darkness of 7 PM.  Suresh Chand was my elder by 15 years and worked as an Octroi Clerk in local municipality. He was married when I was 4 and I distinctly remember when he brought his newly wed home after getting married in a neighbouring town some 30 miles away. We kids had gone to their house still full of guests and ladies from the neighbourhood specially there for a “see the bride’s face” ritual. Every lady would lift the small vale over the bride’s face, look at her, cup her face in both hands and say something like “oh she is really pretty, not dark like our Suresh. “Suresh’s mother you have brought a beautiful daughter in-law” and hand her Rs. two as shagun. I, a four-year-old lad was also curious to see bride’s face. So, unannounced and almost unnoticed, I just brought my face very close to the vale and straight looked at her face, our faces only few inches apart. She immediately caught hold of my face and whispered, “Now where you will go? So much close nobody came to me so far”. There was a glint of mischief in her eyes and she demanded from me her shagun. I ran away but this incident is still fresh in my mind and I feel special kinship with Mrs. Suresh Chand. May be she felt the same and had called me in for some matter troubling her.

In a way her husband and me were friends. In the evening he had started joining us on our long walks on the roads, out skirting the old town. We used to enjoy the tranquility and sophistication of civil lines area, empty spaces of the college areas and hustle and bustle of the railway road and almost deserted railway platforms. It appeared that the time we spent together doing these rounds was really quality time and we all felt little different from the crowd. Given the fact that one of the members of our small group was fifteen years our senior added some prestige to the group, with otherwise average age of less than 18 years.

Mrs. Suresh Chand, when I looked at her after stepping from the street into their house, appeared quite disturbed. She was a lady of few words and said, “I want you to help me. Lala Ji (as she would address her husband) has started visting the Dargah. In the beginning, I did not bother much, but now his mannerism is changing and I am afraid he might change his faith and become a Muslim”. Looking at her face I realized that she is feeling hopeless. I was stunned into silence. He had not been coming with us for our evening walks, but we thought since he had shift duty, so may be he is at work and hence not available.

As such there was no practice in the street and our neighbourhood of socialising by visting each other’s place. Every house had half the living area spilled over on the part of the street in front of the main door. The doors were neither closed nor locked through out the day. This provided an ambience where one could exchange pleasantries, do small talks or even exchange gossips without stepping into anybody’s home. It felt great! We were all connected, sharing our thoughts and concerns in a very informal community living format almost with no overheads. So when Mrs. Suresh Chand called me in, it was really a rare occurrence and it turned out to be a sensitive issue to handle. And I was only 18 years old! May be she had that special connect with me because of our encounter when I was 4 and she one day old bride in our street!

That day instead of going for our usual round of walk, Vinod and I went to the Dargah of the Pir Lakkhi Shah with some hope to find Lala Ji there and figure out what to do next? Air at the Dargah was thick with incense. Devotees were putting Chadors on the grave of the Pir Sahib. It was a 7 feet long grave. We were looking for Suresh Chand, but found it difficult to spot him, as it was Friday evening, the dargah was having more than usualrush of devotees. Most of the devotees were wearing skullcaps worn by Muslims. It was near the entrance of the grave enclosures where the incense was burning and people were offering Kheel Batasha that I found him, sitting in a highly devotional posture with skull cap and handing over kheel batashas as Prasad to the devotees. We watched him from a distance in complete silence. May be his time was over; he got up and noticed us. He was quite calm and came over to us as we moved out of the Dargah premises into the bazar. I said, “Lala Ji we were missing you for the last one month, you have not joined us for the evening walk. We thought you were on shift duty and unable to come”. He was somber and said; yes I am also missing the time with you guys. I will surely join you tomorrow for the evening outing”.

I asked my friends to join us for the walk next day near Police Lines so that I may have sometime together with Suresh Chand. Right at 6 PM he was ready to go out. As we reached the Police Lines area, we felt a nip in the air. It was a good time to have a small stop for tea at our favorite tea stall. Two cups of hot tea did wonders to our nerves I suppose. I asked, “Lala Ji you were looking wonderful at the Dargah yesterday. You were performing like a pro”. He said in a dismissive tone, “oh that, we will discuss it some other time”.  I knew it’s not the time to take any corrective action and left it at that.

I finished my college, went to the university in the neighbouring town for my postgraduate studies and secured a job in a govt. lab in Bombay. However the pull of friends, the smell of the place, the street and its ambience drove me to come back again and again. And every time visiting the town we would make it at least once to our walk in the evening. It was one of those evenings, when I was late to start, asked lala Ji whether he would be coming for a walk. He shouted in English – his preferred language of conversation after a drink or two – “yes, but you come here”. I stepped into the room; he was sitting on a charpoy and asked me to sit by his side. The room was full of alcohol and so was laala Ji it seemed. He offered me a drink, anxious to get away from the smell, I declined the offer and said that we would be good outside in fresh air. In 10 minutes we were on the outskirts of the city in Civil Lines area, spirits thus lifted, we started talking about things and life in general and all of a sudden I asked that what it was which took him to Dargah knowing he had discontinued visits to Dargah, he might be able to provide me his reason. And there he was, “ listen, I am fifteen years older than you. I am still struggling to make my both ends meet. At times I see no reason to continue living like this from day to day. But I have seen people even less provided for than me coming up in life and looking happy. I am a born Hindu and Bania but employed at the lowest rung of a municipal services as an Octroi Clerk. Here in this service, my dear you join as class three and retire as third class. I had started feeling a few years back that I am becoming a third class individual who can not provide enough for the family and his wife. With no tangible solution to my problem, I started going to Hanuman Ji Temple first. For months, every Tuesday I offered my prayers, bared my heart and soul, pleaded for help, but not an iota of difference happened. Then I started visiting the old Devi Temple, again the same fate. Started going to all famous and old Shiva, Vishnu temples in the nearby villages and towns, wasted years of my life with no positive effect. Its then I thought why not try Muslim saints. They seem to be more easy to please than our eight crores (80 millions) Gods, Devis and Devtas, where I feel if you go for appeasing one the other gets annoyed and may create obstructions in your fulfilment. So I took to going to the Dargah and paying my respects. I was tempted to go whole hog with doing namaz 5 times and all that. But my dear no difference even after months of praying and paying my respects at the Dargah. So I stopped that and concentrated on managing my life with what ever I had at hand. Now I am happy and see can enjoy occasional drink or two”.

For the next few years, when I was visiting my town regularly I found Lala Ji a little less religious and bent upon making himself and his life happy with in his means. It was after 35 years I went to the street again. Found my old friend living in the same house. His wife was looking happy and they were narrating very animatedly all the religious places and Four Dhams they visited over the years. Lala Ji was saying, “lets spread our bets and make every one of our Gods happy”. He has realised, he said, one thing at the age of 75, that if you make your Gods happy you become happy too.’’

Ideal Learning Spaces for 21st Century in Higher Education

1. People learn best when:

a. They are or they have been motivated to learn

b. They are in an environment conducive to learning which means:

1. The place of learning is dynamic, congenial and "smell" of the place encourages you to    learn. Learning Spaces in the 21st century will be conducive to all kinds of learning in a dynamic sort of manner. Moving from teacher centric to student centric. From Hierarchical Individual to Hierarchical Collective and as and when required to Distributed Individual and Distributed Collective. For this to happen not only spaces have to be dynamic and re configurable, these also have to have connectivity not only with the environment but also with community shared spaces like libraries, museums, sports complexes and parks etc. with in or outside the institute in the city.

2. I am not getting into the details of management, data collection for need of new learning spaces, financial closures and all that though these are important.  Instead I am on a journey to "imagine, what is the physical and digital space where you would experience and do this type of learning?" I bring in my sixty years of experience so far as a student, researcher, teacher, manager and educationist to base my ideas on.

Some thoughts on this are:

I am mostly talking about learning spaces in higher education from undergraduate to post graduate levels of learning. That's where my experience has been so far and what I think will be my learning theory for the future, from now onwards to say 50 years from now?

a. I do believe that the learning spaces for adults and young students kind of mutate and usable across learners age.

b. Its like a huge joint family or community in a big house hold space. As and when required one can utilize any space in the house. One can join the elders and take part in their conversation (learning!), one can get into the playing space of the young ones thus learning and making them learn. One can go into the spaces like living rooms to stretch and share ideas with others and one also has his or her own space - be it a bed room or study room or a corner in the courtyard / balcony / deck or just your own space under a tree for reflection, learning by yourself.

c. Learning vision for me is life long learning and "learning How to Learn". How this can be achieved with present and future infrastructure.  Shantiniketan of Tagore was designed so that students learn, classes happen, discussion takes place san boundaries with in Shantiniketan. Learning environment was in kind of dynamic equilibrium with nature. 

Taxila  (more than 2500 years ago) was a huge learning place and still does not qualify as a university because there were no standardized degrees. Students used to learn with teachers in the teachers quarters. There was no fee for learning except “Guru Dakshina” or a gift for Guru at the end of the learning. The period of learning could be up to eight years - after the age of 12 or 14 - depending on the progress of the student. Though learning was teacher centric but the progress of learning was student centric.

Introduction

A learning space should be able to motivate learners and promote learning as an activity, support collaborative as well as formal practice, provide a personalized and inclusive environment, and be flexible in the face of changing needs. The part technology plays in achieving these aims is an important consideration too.

Learning Spaces in the 21st century will be conducive to all kinds of learning in a dynamic sort of manner. These spaces will also be integrated in a seamless manner with ICT and other education specific software and hard ware required for learning under all the four quadrants. For this to happen not only spaces have to be dynamic and re configurable, these also have to have connectivity not only with the environment but also with community shared spaces like libraries, museums, sports complexes and parks etc.

Having said that we can not ignore the learning spaces already with us since centuries and these are also evolving mostly to accommodate hierarchical individual hierarchical collective learning. For these spaces to be relevant in the present century we need to first understand the student teacher, student-student, teacher-teacher and community and environment interaction needs not only to enhance the learning but also take care of the physical, cognitive, social, cultural and emotional interaction. The learning spaces design should enhance these experiences towards optimum learning and overall development.

                                                        Learning Quadrants

 A Simple Frame Work for developing 21st Century Learning Environments will start with the  following points:

1.The briefing:

My theory of dynamic spaces and encompassing all the quadrants (hierarchical individual, hierarchical collective, distributed individual, distributed collective) will have a major impact on what the Learning Spaces in the 21st century will be. These spaces should be conducive to all kinds of learning in a dynamic sort of manner. These spaces will also be integrated in a seamless manner with ICT and other education specific software and hard ware required for learning under all the four quadrants. For this to happen not only spaces have to be dynamic and re configurable, these also have to have connectivity with intranet and internet. Spaces will be more effective if nature is allowed to intrude into the spaces in a manner that enhances the feeling of being one with the nature. It could be achieved through natural light, seeing out / seeing in through the two-way or one-way see through glass panels. Sound needs to be zoned as per the requirement of the learning space. The community shared spaces like libraries, museums, sports complexes and parks etc. need to be braced as learning spaces as well.

2. The design phase is a highly consultative process that includes academics likely to teach in the facility, and enables confirmation of the brief. In this case we are presupposing that my theory of learning is the way to go in higher education.

3. Educational technology to enhance teaching and learning should be considered and incorporated in both the briefing and design phases.

ICT and many of the collaborative technology in class room, in campus and off campus to be taken into consideration.

4. The resultant design is the product of a partnership between the facility manager, the architect, the information technology manager and academics teaching in the space. First make a prototype of each space. There will be a prototype like a classroom catering to the anticipated pedagogy and Learning Commons and other spaces as per the learning quadrants requirements and human factors requirement.

5. Professional development should be implemented to allow teachers to discover the teaching and learning potential of the facility, and adapt their practice if necessary.

6. The institution should publicise the new facility as a means of promoting good teaching and learning practice, across the institution/university. 

21^st Century Learning Spaces for World

Most of the world population (>50%) and hence the learners live in India, China, Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Brazil and other developing countries.  Learning Spaces for higher education in these countries cannot be the replica of the learning spaces designed for the developed world. However some of the core design requirements catering to the teacher centric and student centric learning will however remain the same.

Core Design Requirements:

We are assuming that in the present institutions running the higher education courses such as colleges, professional institutes and universities have the space designed for hierarchical individual and in some cases hierarchical collective pedagogy. There will be a central library, departmental libraries. There are sports and cafeteria facilities and also some facilities for big assemblies and performing arts, such as an auditorium. Even in the new institutes we tend to have the learning spaces designed on the basis of old blue prints for class rooms, seminar rooms, dinning facilities, student living spaces etc. This arises from the fact that pedagogy more or less remains the same revolving around hierarchical individual. However with Internet access through mobile and tablets even in the small towns and villages knowledge and information is accessible with ease. Resources like MIT Open Course Ware, edX and other MOOCs have brought the paradigm shift in the ways of learning for learners as well as teachers. Focus has shifted from “What “, to “How” to learn. Learning interaction also is shifting to digital interaction albeit slowly. Present day  students are more equipped to “enhance “ their learning in the classroom and beyond rather than getting the basics of subjects from the teacher. Teacher role is evolving towards “guide on the side” from the “sage on the stage” so far. In nutshell we are moving towards pedagogy and modes of learning encompassing all the four quadrants we have been exploring in the course.

For encompassing all the four modes of learning in a frugal institute – majority of the institutions in the developing countries and third world are resources and cash strapped - our prerequisites will be:

1.     Motivation for learning.

Students in the developing world have more hunger for learning and education because that’s the only way they can uplift themselves  

and their families economically and socially.

2.     Laws of the land.

This is a tough one. Some govt. body or the other for standardization and “quality” adherence controls most of the higher educational institutions. The rules are framed more in terms of the size of the class rooms, land titles, number of teachers, syllabi, evaluation of the performance by way of external exams and so on. And this kind of regime is an impediment to adopting new modes of learning and learning environments. However things are changing; with economic progress and compulsion of demography. India for example has to harness her demographic advantage where 65% of the population today is below 35 years of age. To provide skill at such a scale with speed we need to push learning with all the learning modes in our new pedagogy.

3. Resources to provide state of the art ICT and learning infrastructure cannot match the developed countries even in the next couple of decades. Taking cognisance of these facts we suggest the following:

Classroom / Learning Centre:

Classroom:

A typical classroom toady has a teacher standing on the raised platform, white board at the back, students sitting in rows facing the teacher. By providing tables and chairs with castor wheels we can reconfigure this space as and when required almost as a subset of learning space.

A Conventional Classroom – from Learning Space Design with an Inclusive Planning Process Promotes User Engagement Dec 2009 caption

Big classrooms on the ground floors with the windows opening out to the nature can be easily utilised as with some modifications as the Learning Centres. A Learning Centre will have space, with table and chairs placed like boardroom for discussion, presentation. There will be spaces for small group studies and meetings.   There will be facility for  “google hangouts” or Skype conferences with participation from any where in the world or just the project team from the institute from where ever they are. Location independent feature of collaborative learning makes learning easy and affects optimum output.  The  “hangouts” can be projected on a TV screen on the wall. There will be corners with side and centre tables for private or small group studies. Students can be allowed to have coffee or tea into the learning centre.

Refurbished Classroom as General Purpose Learning Centre caption

Refurbished Classroom - flexible chairs and tables arrangement with embedded technologies caption

Redesigned and refurbished classroom as we can see provides many different kind of learning spaces, space for small group work (formal and informal). Small group workspaces where the interaction among the learners is more informal and open helps in developing the physical, cognitive, social, cultural and emotional interaction among the learners. A boardroom like space and the serious learning projects being done there develops confidence; emotional and physical. Helps in sharpening the cognitive skills by observation and quick challenges one has to tackle in real time.

Teaching Spaces Model

The above are reconfigurable spaces with a movable partition. We have boardroom like arrangement for teacher led learning, there are small group working space, individual workspaces, discussion and presentation space and fixed work stations on the network. We have Wi-Fi, USB port connectivity, mobile white boards and TV screens hooked to the laptop displays for presentations

Some institutions with budget and pristine surroundings can go for Learning Commons opening out to the nature with glass walls. Furniture and other facilities in these will be movable except some spaces along the opaque walls for computer workstations, charging sockets, printer and photocopier etc.

Some dynamically reconfigurable classrooms too can have one way see through glass walls for others from outside have a feel of pedagogy inside the classroom.

Laboratories and Vocational Spaces

These spaces except for the furniture lay out and provisions for individual projects may not be required to change much. With some fixed work benches, power points and equipment and facilities as per the subject (for example a chemistry lab may need water faucets and heating elements) and spaces with suitable furniture for doing inter institutional project may be provided.

Library and Learning Commons

This is one space, which can act as a catalyst for bringing in the change we need in the institutions for ushering in the learning as per the new pedagogy, learning modes, evolving ICT and education technology for facilitating group, interactive and collaborative learning not only with in the institution but across institutions around the world. In most of the universities library is one central big building and is designed to impress. Most of the journals now being subscribed by the libraries are in digital form and available online. Many books are also available and we envisage all of the books in the future will also be available in digital form. Already books available online are in millions. So the shelf space of the libraries will mostly be occupied by the old paper books and important libraries like Alexandria in Egypt will have original manuscripts for research and exhibition.

Its time that main library function be that of the depository of the resources and library staff to be available for guidance to use the old and as well as new digital resources of the library. Some area as a learner enters the library should be functioning as a Learning Common. This space depending on the size available can house in a fluid design manner the following:

In the above figure a Learning Common is depicted with all the activities it can support for student learning, social interaction and other creative activities. Picture is taken from taken from JISCs Design Spaces for Effective Learning A Guide to 21^st Century learning Space Design.

In the above Learning Common design we see that the space is on the way to library but provides many stand alone learning and other activities too. We can envisage most of the services and spaces students will need to learn and show case their talent is available. It’s also a social area providing physical and connectivity to virtual space.

Learning Street or Street

This is one space, which can be developed around a long and broad corridor of an institute building. Generally the location of such a space in an institution is not only central but may connect various parts of the building and its activities. More like a spinal cord in our body.

This space can act as formal / informal idea cubation space, various small groups meetings for multidisciplinary learning and work and other dropping in if interested. Individuals and groups can work on their personal interest projects in art, science, engineering or management, which can be further worked upon for Proof of Concept in the respective labs or idea lab.

We can very well see that the spaces discussed above provide immense opportunities and act as catalysts for  overall development of the learners (student / teachers) in a seamless manner 

Bond University Street with Learning Spaces

with focus on team work, experimenting with new ideas in their respective learning areas and beyond.

Technology Support for Learning

The usage and utility of Learning commons changes with the student calendar and evolving technologies such as

Mobile learning

Tablet PCs,
Smart phones,  Wireless keyboards, 
Digital cameras.

Connected learning

Wired computing
Wireless networks Wireless-enabled laptops/tablet PCs

Visual and interactive learning

Video conferencing, Video streaming, Image projection, Interactive whiteboards, Voting devices

Supported learning

Assistive technologies Accessible USB ports Audio-visual prompts Video recording facilities TV screen information points

Summary and Conclusions

In this report we have discussed the new generation learning spaces embedded with the affordable and available technologies. Most of the devices required for learning like smart phones, tablets and laptops are carried by the students of higher education in their backpack almost in any part of the world. Most of the college going students carry smart phone with data connectivity foe apps like Facebook. Given the connectivity and some education software in redesigned leaning spaces , we are good to take the 21^st Century learning experience to most of the higher education learners in the world.