30 December 2010

Jinan on Biology of Learning

Here's an interesting perspective on the distinction between intellectual and biological learning:

Part 1 - What is biology of learning? from mokoflip on Vimeo.

An interview with Jinan Kodapully about his experiences and views on the 'biology of learning' coming from his work with tribal artisans, villagers, illiterate communities and in children's development in the last 20 years.



Part 2:

Part 2 - The way we live from mokoflip on Vimeo.

Part 2 of the interview with Jinan Kodapully conducted in November 2009. It is about his experiences and views on the 'biology of learning' coming from his work with tribal artisans, villagers, illiterate communities and in children's development in the last 20 years. In part 2 Jinan talks about his views on the way we live.



It seems to me that he romanticizes or idealizes the "biological" aspects of learning when he talks about how we have separated ourselves from the children by building kitchens and enclosed spaces. There are certainly consequences to the changes that have been made in the human world, but we are biologically extremely adaptable, so I am sure we can figure out how to access our learning abilities in a variety of contexts, even intellectual contexts.

Part 3:

Part 3 - How do we know? from mokoflip on Vimeo.

Part 3 of the interview with Jinan Kodapully conducted in November 2009. It is about his experiences and views on the 'biology of learning' coming from his work with tribal artisans, villagers, illiterate communities and in children's development in the last 20 years. In part 3 Jinan talks about how we come to know, exploring the question of how we learn to learn.



Part 4:

Part 4 - Dealing with alienation from mokoflip on Vimeo.

Part 4 of the interview with Jinan Kodapully conducted in November 2009. It is about his experiences and views on the 'biology of learning' coming from his work with tribal artisans, villagers, illiterate communities and in children's development in the last 20 years. In part 4 Jinan talks about his search for knowledge, when he stopped reading for 7 years and learned from being in illiterate communities and from being with children.

27 December 2010

The UU Elevator Speech Quandry

Here's UU blogger Doug Muder's take on the UU elevator speech challenge, as summed up by commenter Kay Slama:

Unitarian Universalism is an evolving, democratic religion based on experiences and actions in this life and a focus on both goodness and happiness. We respect all people and all of existence, and we use both reason and loving emotion in our spirituality. See our 7 principles on uua.org.

19 December 2010

Breaking Parenting Taboos

Here's the first TED Talk on parenting that I recall seeing. It's a great look at how our culture sets up a bunch of taboos about what is acceptable to talk about in regards to parenting and how it results in a diminished experience for parents. The parents who give the talk run a web site for parents:

Better Teaching from the Front Lines

Here's a wonderfully passionate and straightforward TED Talk from Diana Laufenberg about what we already know about how to improve teaching and learning:

16 December 2010

Math Video Extraordinaire

Here's one I can't resist:

05 December 2010

Population Reassurance

Here's a quick video with reassuring news about population growth: