Friday, October 29, 2010

Getting Back to Grass Roots

Come Vijaya Dashami, and it’s time for Vidyarambham. A time to re visit alphabets, numbers and the seven music notes.

As I was scribbling the invisible alphabets in the floor, I went down two decades in the memory lane – The `era’ of my life when I used to stutter and  ponder over every alphabet. Writing each letter seemed like a mountain of a job, and my dad would be crazed with the volley of questions that I throw on  - On why `I’ cannot be written in small letters, why `A’ sounds different when used in sentences. Some would be answered, and some stonewalled.

Today, I just rush through the alphabets. No questions asked. Two decades, and am I done with the 26 alphabets? An emphatic No. Just that my curiosity to know more has acceded itself a dirty sense of complacency.



So how does this translate to my work? A conclusion is an inevitable part of an e learning course. But do we make an effort to emphasize what we told the learner a moment back? From the piles of information that we scattered, did we tell him what was really important and to be remembered?

On to a long term plan. Do we have a `semi-induction’ kit , or rather, a `reinforcement kit’ for employees?  For instance, take my own case. I work in a connector manufacturing company. I had taken lessons on the basics of connector manufacturing in my first month here.  Crossing three years, if you ask me what a terminal means, I would probably point to a bus depot. So the point is, we must re-enforce the key points on a periodic basis. As with the Vidhyarambham principle, with every year, the angle at which we look at the basics change, and therefore, will open up new insights.