johnywrites.com

Author: kiranjohny007@gmail.com

  • Tweet: 13 Different Network Effects

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  • Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching annual conference 2014

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  • Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching annual conference 2016

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  • Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching annual conference 2017

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  • Harvard GSE Playlist: Popular Harvard Graduate School of Education & Education videos

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  • Being wrong showed a path to success. Why mistakes and failures are desirable ?

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    Malcolm Gladwell used the learning science concept of Desirable difficulty( by Robert Bjork) to explain the success of dyslexic entrepreneurs. He suggests that the disabilities which present unique challenges for individuals from an early age force people to learn new skills that prove extremely helpful later in life.
     
    I like to draw a similar parallel between business failures and the Learning science theory of “Productive Failures” by Manu Kapur.
     
    This theory very well explains why some failures could lead to a deep understanding of another level. The principle is ” Do Things To Discover Things”
     
    According to Manu Kapur, allowing learners to struggle will actually help them learn better.
     
    In a recent study, Kapur and Katerine Bielaczyc applied the principle of productive failure to mathematical problem-solving in a few schools in Singapore. With one group of students, the teacher provided intensive “scaffolding”(support and feedback). These students were able to find the answers to their set of problems with the teacher’s support.
     
    Another group of students was directed to solve the same problems by collaborating with one another. They were not given any support by the instructor.
     
    This group was not able to complete the puzzles correctly. But in the course of striving to do so, they generated a lot of ideas about the nature of the math problems and tacit understanding about what potential solutions would look like.
     
    Later when the two groups were tested for learning, the second group outperformed the first group in significant parameters.
     
    The struggles of the second group have what Manu calls a “Hidden Efficacy”: they lead people to understand the deep structure of problems, not simply their correct solutions.
     

     

     

     

  • Hereditary Meritocracy

    The children of the rich and powerful are increasingly well suited to earning wealth and power themselves. That’s a problem

  • Tweet: Exponential times and emerging Entrepreneurial model

    Entrepreneurship is changing fast in its scale, speed, and exponential nature. Exponential technologies make it impossible to predict or comprehend what is going to happen next.

    Professor Marshall Van Alstyne, coauthor of Platform Revolution points out how the power of platform based companies out perform all of its traditional competitors in scale of both “market cap value” and “the time to achieve that market cap value”.

    This included comparison between BMW-Uber , Marriott-Airbnb, and Walt Disney-Facebook.

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  • Tweet: Difference between learning for Complex world Vs Complicated world.

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    Most of our current learning systems like Education(k12 and Higher) , Work-Skill training etc are designed to address complicated situations which are very specific in nature.

    This is not a surprise because it was created on the side of the emergence of 18th and 19th century industrial economy. The system was specifically focused on narrowly defined tasks, syllabus and obedience. The purpose was to create ideal employees.  But more and more of our challenges are becoming complex and cannot be solved in a standard straight forward way of the past.

    In complex situations there is less reliance on detailed plans and analysis and a greater focus on on continuous feedback based experimentation.

    In complex world we use tools and hire other people to do our work, In schools we need to memorize facts and seeking help is often penalized. 

    We have to learn constantly in complexity but we must also recognize the existence of other actors and tools, the communication, cooperation, and collaboration between agents.

    We also need a learning system which equip us for domain independent continuous learning.  

    Complexity and Learnability goes hand in hand.

    Astro Teller CEO of Google X shares one of the most intriguing idea about learning and why its different in extremely complex environments. 

    He says, 

    “I am actually not a huge believer that you have to pick what it is you are going to be an expert at NOW (and) study that really hard and go out and shop that expertise throughout the rest of your life .The bad news is that the stuff you are learning now is going to be fairly irrelevant in 10 years.The good news is that the skill of learning things quickly ,(and) figuring out how to understand the first principles and be able to reconstruct your knowledge even after you forget 90 % of it later ,Those skills are critical for the rest of your life

     

     

  • Tweet: Algorithms are the workers, and the human developers who create them are their manager ?

     

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    We are evolving from an economy dominated by human labor to one dominated by programmable electronic workers. In the 20th century companies gained influence by hiring more quality workers. In the 21st century, companies gain effectiveness through the ability to create more workers. (AI, Machines, AI assistants, Automation designers, etc.). Even in jobs that are not considered “programming (repeatable and scalable),” this is becoming a reality. There are AI that can create original music and paintings which are of high quality Further, workers can be “upskilled” not just by training but by software assistants that allow them to do jobs for which they were previously under-qualified.
     
    Eg: Template-based app and website building tools make it easy for a general marketing company to create and sell digital products without technology help.
     
     
    Eg: AI-generated building designs can be used by builders without the help of an architect. Intelligence and expertise are becoming more and more embodied in products.
     
    Eg; For a long period, to become a London taxicab driver the aspirant had to pass the location knowledge test which requires years of study.
     
    Google maps changed the game.
     
    With the aid of Google Maps, anyone can become a driver for hire, even in a strange city.