Tinkering is learning by playing. Tinkering fuels the imagination and catalyses creativity – both essential life skills for the 21st century. So for my forthcoming workshops in April, I have designed, no curated, a Tinkering with Electronics curriculum. Curated, because I have taken project ideas from MIT Media Labs, San Francisco Exploratorium, Toys from Trash, Science Buddies, Instructables and many other sources.Over three weeks I will be interacting with primary, middle and senior school students in…

Formal education tends to behave like a GPS giving learners step-by-step instructions for a well-defined world. This GPS approach worked well in the 19th and 20th centuries when stockpiling knowledge in a domain, in the form of a University degree, usually assured lifelong employment because the rate of knowledge accumulation in most domains was not very high.In the 21st century, knowledge is exploding and the terrain is changing every minute. Most employment or entrepreneurship depends…

In my forthcoming workshops in April, I plan to build on the theme of 'Tinkering with Electronics' that I had started last December and introduce robotics in rural schools in India I work with. For this, earlier in January, I had ordered robotic kits from two vendors in India and purchased one here in London for evaluation. The one I bought in London was nicely packaged, with clear instructions and worked like a charm. However,…

Thinking of a title of your life story can be a good exercise in catharsis. You can not only look back and think of appropriate titles for different stages of your life, you can also look forward and imagine captions for chapters that lie ahead, which will make your life more joyful and meaningful. You can then strive to live a life true to the future title of your memoirs. I did this exercise. Here…