New Age Learning

How do you learn..

Old school...
- go to a classroom listen to teacher, take notes
- purchase a book
- get a mentor, work with him/her, listen to him/her

New School

- go to a classroom listen to teacher, take notes
- purchase a book
- get a mentor, work with him/her, listen to him/her
- logon to Youtube
- register on Khan Academy, Code Academy and their ilks
- purchase e-book
- get a Kindle
- go to Safari online
- register with Udemy.com
- read a blog
- play a game
- learn online at Stanford, NASA or MIT

... and the list goes on.

Essentially with the advent of the internet and associated technologies there is no dearth of avenues to learn for those who want to learn.

There has been an advertisement on the TV from internet.org by Facebook that talks about people from remote places like villages and hill stations who achieved some feats like creating a windmill, or a hand-robot all by themselves without the help from any outside source. The voice in the advertisement then says what would have happened if they had been connected to the internet.

I chuckle and say...they might have spent the time on Facebook/Instagram or playing games online.

Jokes apart, the current times have really brought in a new age of learning where learning is more than readily available for anyone and everyone. The possibilities are endless for those who can save themselves from wasting time online and utilizing it to master topics of their likings.

On those lines I thought to share links that I find of good learning, hoping it might be beneficial to someone.  I know it is categorized, but for those who seek knowledge, it should not be a herculean task. Except for those Shakespearean who say "O this learning, what a thing it is!"



www.codecademy.com
http://bigdatauniversity.com/
https://www.drawspace.com/
https://see.stanford.edu/
http://betterexplained.com/
https://www.khanacademy.org
http://skillcrush.com/
https://www.udemy.com
http://www.e-learningforkids.org/
http://stackexchange.com/
http://www.howcast.com/
http://www.doityourself.com/
https://www.edx.org/
https://www.coursera.org/
http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm
http://www.extension.harvard.edu/open-learning-initiative
https://novoed.com/
https://www.udacity.com/
https://developer.apple.com/
https://code.org/
https://codehs.com/


Happy Learning !!

When Pink is not so cute

This story comes right from the horses mouth where I experienced this situation at one of my previous company (I wont be disclosing the company name just for sake of annonymity).

Ever wondered if Pink can be really very ugly....just have a chat with anybody who got the infamous 'Pink Slip' during recent Tsunami of Recession and economic meltdown and of as-a-result-lay-offs.

One of the waves did also hit at my office and there were (officially speaking) some static number of positions terminated or in more simple terms some employees had to be laid-off. I wont disclose the number but yes it was high enough to move everybody and bring in another Tsunami of tears and of emotions. It was hard for those on the receiving end as well as for those bidding farewell where everybody else in the audience having a feeling ...it could have been me too.

Everyone of those who were (to put it more decently) not-so-lucky had some or other liabilities on their head.. like new or changed house, bank loans, personal loans, fixed emi to be payed, children's fee and dependent parents (the list goes on and varies from person to person). But one thing in common was a heart-break, a feeling of un-belonging or a momentary vision of dark times ahead. Though the company gave some severance package but it was still not able to console those souls.

That day nobody at my office was able to have lunch or visit the recreational room (play some games) or even have the courage to discuss the episode; it was a sudden bolt of lighting which took friends away (different from what happens when a person leaves an organization with planning and time). It was a day when the reality of global economic conditions and it's consequences had hit hard on our face, a day when I was looking at a situation from ground-zero. Though the company promised no such thing would happen again but still people looked askance as to what might happen next (next is what?)

The crisis made us all realize some of the things which elders emphasize on like planning ahead, keeping your skills always updated and sharp, reduce your expenses and have less loan on your head, save for a rainy day (and yes of course Try to get a Government Job).

Well so much for words but yes I did sat down immediately to help my friends. I called up all my contacts in the HR and consultancies to inquire for any openings that might be suitable and started to give references of those guys. My other friends also volunteered to help and searched up some good interview questions book and some good technical reference book for me to forward. Most of them did start to get calls and some have also cleared a few rounds of hiring process and hopefully all of them (who happened to be quite skilled resources) would get an offer or two.

After listening to the story.. an array of questions whizzed past my mind which I pondered upon with many friends ...
. could that crisis have been avoided in any way
. why is the world gone in so much of a crisis where there is no control on careers being disrupted, lives being lost and chaos all over
. where has all the money gone if the whole world is in crisis
. are we also adding to the crisis by being irresponsible in some way (lifestyle, loans etc)

Anyways...life goes on and I am back to working during days and blogging at nights.

Write your Comments on this post.

Surviving Layoff

The experience as mentioned in my previous post did made me keen to search for some helpful links which might be able to show a way to those trapped in such a situation.

Below are some links which I found on the net and are worth a read (yes I did go through them because I dunno if.. (next is me)

http://www.jobs.state.ak.us/TAA/survive.htm
http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/25/pf/saving/willis_tips/
http://jobsearchtech.about.com/od/careerplanning/l/aa080398_3.htm
http://jobsearchtech.about.com/library/weekly/aa052499.htm

Alternatively hit this keyword in google search "surviving layoff"

Also I would appreciate if anybody can share a experience and provide some useful hints which might benefit somebody reading the post.

Thanks.