@Harvard Learning Series: Episode 6 - “What is Learning Design?” With Professor Karen Brenan, a big believer in constructionist learning experience design, and one of the members of the team that developed Scratch. The big takeaway from KB is staying loyal to your ideas no matter what, believing in creativity, and the idea that learning occurs through personalizing, creating, sharing, and reflecting. This approach, I think, is really missing in today's AI tutor ventures. While everyone is focused on making better scaffolding, things like the learning setting itself, and motivation are ignored. I believe the next big EdTech venture will arise from constructionist principles. P.S. Sketching something these days, Konami code enabled: Ldit.info
@Harvard Learning Series: Episode 5 - “Never send a monster to do the work of an evil scientist.” With my academic advisor and advocate for impact, David Dockterman - Should I go with path A or path B? - It is never linear The most valuable lesson I want to share is this mindset of being able to zoom out, stop trying to control everything, and avoid limiting yourself to linear paths. One of the classes Dock teaches is called 'Impact by Design,' where every day I learned to focus on the problem instead of the solution. And so, when designing a product and aiming to be customer-centric, the approach should be not to design FOR the user but to design WITH the user. P.S. The opening line is from Bugs Bunny (Dock's favorite)
@Harvard(this time: MIT) Learning Series: Episode 4 - “Communicating with Data” I learned so much from Professor Miro Kazakoff about graphs and storytelling, and I simply admire him as a person. Here are just a few key takeaways. For more, please refer to his book - “Persuading with Data” 1. Remember: graphs are used to show comparisons. Find a clear answer to what you are trying to communicate with your graph and present one message at a time. People’s cognitive processing may not be as fast as you think. 2. The audience and their perspective is key. They are looking at your narrative, asking themselves, 'What's in it for me?' So, ask yourself, 'What's in it for them?' 3. Use the TOP-T (topic, orientation, point, transition) framework to present your graph: T: Topic - Before presenting your graph, introduce the topic to the audience. O: Orient, Orient, Orient - Describe the axes and any other details the audience should understand. P: Point - Only after orienting, bring up the key point of your graph. A common mistake is to start with this "aha" moment first. T: Transition - Before moving to the next slide, provide a clear transition.
@Harvard Learning Series: Episode 3 - “Something about innovation” They say you can’t teach innovation, and there is truth in it. Although, one way of teaching innovation might be through Constructivism, which leads you to explore by yourself and find a solution, eventually learning by doing. The 'Let's play one round and you will get it' approach in board games represents an eventual learning process of Constructivism, but does it help foster an innovative mindset? Eventually, what is innovation? Is it finding a new approach to the same problem? or is it defining new problems at first? I think questioning first principles, all along asking 'what if?' are the keys to something new. Well, then how do you control innovation? Here are the key learnings from the HBS class on Innovation and Renovation: -Understanding the tendency of the innovation adoption (the diffusion curve in the picture) and considering the timing and presentation of a new product is as crucial as the product itself. - While building a product, sometimes it's better to pause innovation. It's essential to understand the user base; your innovation may cannibalize your original product IF there is something left to cannibalize. - Questioning the first principles leads you to the 'Jobs to be Done' model, and perhaps zooming out to consider if adding a new feature is genuine innovation, or if expanding the product line is the innovation your company needs most. Remember Theodore Levitt's insight: "People don't need a quarter-inch drill bit. They want a quarter-inch hole." And just one more thought from the Empowering Human Relationship class: The Positive Deviance Approach, co-founded by Monique Sternin “Positive Deviance is based on the observation that in every community there are certain individuals or groups whose uncommon behaviors and strategies enable them to find better solutions to problems than their peers” So, sometimes, being an insider rather than an expert is enough to drive innovation.
@Harvard Learning Series: Episode 2 - “Don’t Be Fixed On Growth Mindset” Have you ever found yourself questioning what type of mindset you possess? Perhaps one of the popular theories spread in educational psychology is the growth mindset theory, which originated from one of the leading researchers in the field, Professor Carol Dweck. In basic terms, theory divides motivation into two categories: 1. Fixed Mindset: People believe that they are not in control of their abilities; skills are born. 2. Growth Mindset: People believe that they are in control of their abilities; skills are built. This term has become so popular that it is now commonplace in everyday conversations, job postings, and educational settings. However, its popularity has led to two major misconceptions that I want to address. Firstly, as Carol later explains, 'A growth mindset isn’t just about effort.' Nowadays, it is primarily associated with effort, implying that success can be achieved simply by praising effort or putting in enough effort on a task. However, that is not enough. The key aspect here is to try new strategies. Each subsequent attempt should involve trying a new approach, which is what constitutes a real growth mindset. The second misconception revolves around viewing these 2 as evil antagonists. It's important to refrain from labeling people as having either a growth or fixed mindset because, as described by Carol herself, it's a spectrum: 'We are all a mixture of both beliefs'. I believe most theories about motivation exist on a spectrum, and if you feel stuck in your mindset, it's likely just an illusion.
@Harvard Learning Series: Episode 1 - “It is your problem” Most of you are probably familiar with the prisoner's dilemma, and I want to share a life business case of it. Skip this paragraph if you know the Prisoner's Dilemma, where two people are caught for a crime but can't communicate. They must decide whether to stay silent (cooperate) or betray each other. If both cooperate, they get a light sentence, but if both betray, they get a harsh one; however, if one betrays and the other cooperates, the betrayer goes free while the cooperator gets a heavy sentence. This situation shows how self-interest can lead to both losing out when cooperation would be the better choice. Today, a Professor at HBS shared an example that showcases how this is possible in business between a producer and a retailer. Imagine your total cost of one item is $10, and a retailer comes to you and says, "Hey, if you give me one item for $10 (which obviously means you will not make any profit), I can sell it to 3X people at $30 each. If you give it to me for $20, I can sell it to 1.5X people at $35 each. In case you give it to me for $30, I will set the price at $40 and can sell it to X people," and so on with a maximum reasonable demand price. You can calculate how much your expected profit versus the retailer's profit is and come up with a rational number that is maximally profitable for you and not detrimental to the retailer. On the other hand, the retailer will try to dictate their desired outcome. It's a double marginalization process that is lose-lose for everyone, even for customers. But if you decide to cooperate and sell the item for $10 with a contract that ensures the retailer gives you your equity afterward, that will result in more profit for both you and the retailer than trying to achieve an individual beneficial outcome without cooperation. Eventually, customers will be happy with lower prices. Why am I sharing this? Because I've heard a lot of people say, "My total cost is $10, and I'll give it to the retailer for $13, and what price he puts on it is not my problem. Well, It is your problem.
