Thursday, April 18, 2013

Smartphones for smarter answers


Is technology making learning simpler – or is it simply making it redundant? A debate ensues…

BC: Hi, was trying to reach you last Saturday... Where were you?

AD: Had gone to meet a Professor of Dentistry - he's an expert surgeon as well.

BC: What could a tech fan and a dentist have talked about? The commonalities between the traditional wisdom tooth and the modern Bluetooth?

AD: He had some very interesting things to say about how today's students were using technology, but for all the wrong reasons - like cheating in their exams, for instance...

BC: That's pretty sad - there have been days when I've wondered as to how different things could have been if we had the same kind of technology back in my time...

AD: I don't believe it – you’ve actually found something good to say about technology...

BC: Today, you have so many resources online - like the Salman Khan Academy, for instance – besides the deluge of educational CDs, online courses, YouTube videos... Students have never had it so good...

AD: It must have been tough for you in college, having to depend only on books...

BC: Absolutely! There were certain courses, for which books were issued in the ratio of 1:3, which is one book shared by three students! Then technology evolved and photocopiers came into our lives. Soon photocopying select chapters from books caught on like wildfire, and the copies were passed on from one batch to another.

AD: And then the internet came along...

BC: Right, I think of the options available for students today – and it saddens me that all they can think of is how to misuse technology...

AD: Not all of them though... We speak of using technology to learn and to prepare for exams, but it is unfortunate that some students use it during the exams - mobiles, websites, and even scientific calculators with answers stored in the memory...

BC: I guess Bluetooth, micro-sized earplugs and hands-free devices that one can attach to mobiles have made it easier for them...

AD: Absolutely, which is also the reason why mobiles are no longer allowed inside exam halls in most places...

BC: But then, students must be thanking technology for making mobiles so small – it’s so easy to hide them anywhere, even under a shirt collar...

AD: And smartphones have smarter applications, so students can log in for online help, have their answers checked for grammar and spelling or use apps to find the answer to problems that might otherwise require them to remember complex formulae...

BC: Back in my times, the only aid that we were allowed to carry with us was the log book.

AD: Things have changed, haven't they? Googling for answers, messaging friends, using camera phones to record the question paper and passing it on, crowdsourcing answers using closed social networking groups...

BC: And half the time, the teachers don't even know what's going on. 

AD: See, I keep telling you how important it is for the older generations to update themselves on technology...

BC: But why can't these students realise that copying is a waste of time? Marks might get you to an interview, but the minute they start asking questions and know that you don't know much...

AD: Universities are wisening up and have begun to equip themselves on the technology front. For instance, most universities abroad have acquired software like TurnItIn, which helps spot plagiarised papers that have been submitted by the students...

BC: So TurnItIn helps colleges nab errant students and turn them out...

AD: With colleges aspiring for greater transparency in exams, and with teachers getting glassy-eyed about technology, how do you think students are going to react to all that’s happening?

BC: Perhaps they'll look for greater transparency in seeking answers during exams... with Google Glass.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

For the love of technology


Is a career in IT born out of a passion for technology or is it merely a lucrative decision? A conversation begins…

BC: Hi, you look deep in thought - surely your generation has an app to do that for you...

AD: Just finished a weird call from a potential client who asked me to go through her website and wanted to know if I found it really interesting...

BC: What's wrong with that?

AD: I cannot reveal details of the client's operations, but assume that they are into creating software that handles patient monitoring and insurance processing for hospitals... How can something like that ever be of interest to anyone?

BC: How can a tech fan like you generalise a statement like that?

AD: Look, I can imagine being in love with technology that creates a new operating system to challenge Windows or a new search engine that can pose a threat to Google - or even a new social networking site that will give Facebook a run for its money - all $70 billion of it...

BC: Let me then rephrase my question - if you are not in love with your job, how can you do it well?

AD: What about IT careers, for instance? Are you telling me that students join IT companies and BPOs because they are passionate about technology?

BC: Well, you've got to ask them...

AD: Think of all those chemical, civil and mechanical engineers in IT handling completely unconnected careers... Why did they study what they did? Why did they then make the shift?

BC: For the same reason that an instrumentation engineer, after two years of B-School, chooses to sell soap?

AD: But...

BC: So why do you think most youngsters choose information technology as a career in India?

AD: IT companies hire en masse - I've read articles about entire batches of engineering students recruited by IT companies.

BC: How can that be a reason for choosing a career?

AD: You can't blame students for wanting to feel secure right after college, can you? And most IT companies conduct campus interviews in the final year, so...

BC: ...students have a job even before they pass out!

AD: Right. Pay scales are another reason. Compared to typical engineering jobs in the manufacturing sector - be it in an auto-ancillary unit or a chemical plant - the IT sector pays better.

BC: Why is that?

AD: For one, the IT industry earns primarily in dollars. So the project that you’re on earns your company a lot more in terms of billings and profits than, say a batch of cam shafts or spindles of yarn. Hence the rewards are bigger too…

BC: I guess the responsibilities and the pressures involved must be as high…

AD: Sure. Another factor influencing this choice is exposure. IT takes young employees to other countries, widens their horizons, and even gives them a chance to settle abroad... So I'll be incredibly surprised if someone were to tell me that all these students took up IT jobs solely because of their love for technology.

BC: So what did you tell your potential client?

AD: I didn't say much, but the point is, if her job didn't give her American clients and dollar billing, would she be doing back office jobs for some hospital abroad?

BC: I guess not. But there’s an easy way to find out if she’s truly in love with that kind of work.

AD: And that is...?

BC: Find out if she grew up dreaming of creating payroll packages and patient monitoring software ever since she was five years old.