www.posornot.com

An online game that debunks HIV myths

Brian Stelter

Hot or Not, a website where people submit photographs of themselves so that strangers can rate how attractive they are on a scale of 1 to 10, has spawned many imitators (plus a fair number of critics who view it as a sign of the end of civilization as we know it).
One new spinoff, Pos or Not, has a serious purpose (tasteful or not). The site, www.posornot.com, introduced in late April, is an HIV education effort disguised as a game.
It shows photographs and brief biographies of men and women ages 21 to 30, and asks visitors to decide whether each is HIV positive or negative. The message is that you can’t judge someone’s virus status by looks, occupation or taste in music.
The site is sponsored by MTV’s college network and the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit group that focuses on health policy. “We feel it’s another kind of activist tool to get out the word about HIV protection,” said Stephen Friedman, the general manager of mtvU, the college and university offshoot of Viacom’s MTV network.
The first trial by mtvU of what Friedman calls “games for change” was Darfur Is Dying, an online simulation of a refugee camp that has logged more than 1.5 million plays since 2006. Other companies have sponsored games about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the immigration debate and the world’s water resources.
The network wants the word about its HIV site and its message to be spread like a video on a popular videosharing website. It enlisted celebrities like Wyclef Jean, a musician, and Rosario Dawson, an actress, to make promotions for the game, which are playing across MTV’s networks.
The game — if it can really be called that — was played about 5.1 million times by 400,000 people in its first three weeks, according to mtvU. Entertainment Weekly’s website suggested it might be the “most depressing use” of an internet trend ever, but suggested that any HIV outreach effort could be beneficial.
Friedman said that in a media-saturated climate, maybe young people have to be shocked into paying attention. “Looking at the statistics that one in four people who are HIV positive in the US don’t know it, it’s pretty staggering,” he said. “We hope that something like this will get under their skin.” “If it makes some people uncomfortable,” he added, “that’s not necessarily a bad thing.” NYT NEWS SERVICE

Been readin n watchin a lot!

I recently saw Al Gore's movie The Inconvenient Truth [should have watched it 2 yrs ago] ...neways, the movie really rings a bell and takes a good look at human behavior over ages revealing the laid back attitude. Al Gore makes a point when he says we need to be proactive and not reactive. The Earth is at a tipping point and we can't go on with our lives, without make the right changes and decisions. We at The Magic Tree fight against the same kind off situation, although not in the field of environment; we work towards improving education on the whole. I don't know whether we will bring a revolution or not...but we intend to do so.


We are into the second month now, after creating The Magic Tree. We completed three summer programs in Mumbai with around 40 kids. The experience was great, specially with kids at Thane. Didn't make much profit, but i guess that's okay as long as we are growing in the right direction and constantly improving and upgrading our products and services.

Since december 07, i have started reading a lot about technology, inventions and discoveries, unknown physical phenomena and unexplained but true theories. Science has never been so interesting. one of the books that i liked is Bill Bryson's The short history of nearly evertyhing - must read.

rest later!

PIQUANT SITUATION IN SCHOOLS IN MUMBAI

Only science teachers qualified to teach environment studies

Anahita Mukherji I TNN

Mumbai: Here’s a contradiction of sorts. According to a recent circular from the state education department, while a junior college teacher in any subject can teach environmental education part time, only a qualified science teacher with an MSc and BEd degree can be appointed to teach the subject full-time.
Sharwaree Gokhale, principal secretary, school education, refused to speak to this reporter or respond to SMSes on the issue.

“This is bizarre,’’ says Arundhati Chavan, principal of Aishabai College of Education, Byculla. “Environmental education is an integrated subject that affects every aspect of life. Several junior colleges have appointed geography teachers for environmental education. How can the department say that only science graduates are qualified to teach the subject fulltime?’’ she asks.
While environmental science is a compulsory 100-mark subject in Std XII, a junior college with under 12 divisions cannot appoint a full-time teacher for the subject, and has to make do with the existing staff. Currently, the subject is taught by a crosssection of teachers from various fields, including Hindi and mathematics. Teachers who take less than 26 periods a week are asked to teach environmental education.

“I have taught mathematics all my life. While bouncing math problems off students is my forte, I am clueless when asked to teach environmental education,’’ a college lecturer told TOI. A Hindi teacher who could barely string together a few sentences in English, said she found it rather hard to teach environmental education.

A college principal said the state had made a mockery of environmental studies. He said most colleges were shortstaffed and it was tough on the existing staff to juggle environmental education alongside their regular curriculum. What’s more, he felt the recent circular was discriminatory, as only science teachers were allowed a full-time appointment for environmental studies.

A changing syllabus for changing times

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Not so long ago, ICSE and ISC schools were among the city’s most elite of the elite, with the who’s who of Mumbai opting for them. But with international boards making in-roads into the education market, ICSE schools are now reinventing themselves as affordable options for an English-speaking middle-class that wants quality education.

English happens to be the ICSE board’s forte. Not only is the level of English high at ICSE schools, but ICSE is the only national board that certifies only English-medium schools.

The ICSE board insists that it in no way feels threatened by international boards. “How can a regular Indian family afford a school that charges Rs 1 lakh a year?’’ asked Gerry Arathoon, additional chief secretary and officiating chief executive of the ICSE board, when talking of fees at international schools.

Arathoon pointed out that of the 52 ICSE schools in and around Mumbai, only seven have opted for the IGCSE (Cambridge examination) and three for the International Baccalaureate (IB) alongside the ICSE course.

The ICSE board regularly revamps its curriculum. Four months ago it announced plans to revamp the ISC syllabus. The new syllabus will be tested in the 2010 board examination. Most of the changes are in physics, chemistry and mathematics.

While the old syllabus gave students a choice between JAVA and C++, the revised syllabus will only offer JAVA. In ISC chemistry, the board has reduced the portion that deals with rote learning. The board has also done away with business maths as it overlaps with a section of the regular math. In economics, there will be more focus on the international arena.

The changes are aimed at preparing students for competitive exams to courses like medicine and engineering. “Several students from our board have topped the list in a number of competitive exams, including the IIT-JEE,’’ said Arathoon.

While principals say that a number of students from elite ICSE schools are opting for international boards, the ICSE board has not run out of takers.

ICSE GETS JUNIOR COLLEGE BOOST

With Results Being Announced Today, A Look At How A Growing Number Of Schools Are Offering The ISC Curriculum

Anahita Mukherji | TNN

Mumbai: While the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) exam is widely known across the country for Class X, the Indian School Certificate (ISC) for Class XII, which is conducted by the same board, is not so well known but rapidly gaining steam. In the last six months alone, 50 schools have introduced the ISC.
Of the 1,600-odd ICSE schools in India, Dubai, Sharjah, Singapore and Indonesia, 800 now offer the ISC for students in classes XI and XII. While 97,303 students appeared for the ICSE in 2007, there were 45,293 who took the ISCs. The board is
expected to announce the number of
2008 candidates on Tuesday when it
releases the ICSE and ISC results.
In Mumbai, though, the number of ISC schools is minuscule. Only seven out of the 52 ICSE schools in and around the city offer the ISC. “We hope that, eventually, all ICSE schools offer the ISC as well,’’ said Gerry Arathoon, additional chief secretary and officiating chief executive of the ICSE board.
And here’s some good news for students from other boards. A student who has cleared Class X from any board—including the SSC, CBSE or IGCSE—is eligible for the ISC and can switch boards. This means that an SSC student from Mumbai need not simply apply to a junior college that offers the HSC, but can also give the ISC a shot as well.
“We have had a few SSC and CBSE students joining our ISC course for classes XI and XII,’’ said Meera Isaacs, principal of Cathedral and John Connon School, Fort. “Though they were very bright, some found it tough to cope with the curriculum, especially in science and English literature,’’ she added.
Another ISC school, Lilavati Podar School at Santa Cruz, also takes in students from other boards for its ISC course.
“ISC is the natural progression from the ICSE board. But for those who switch over from other boards, we provide counselling to help them choose their stream,’’ said Norina Fernandes, principal of Lilavati Podar.
The admissions procedure for the ISC is decided by the schools and not the board. While there are five ISC schools in Mumbai city, there’s one in Thane and one in Navi Mumbai.
The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, which conducts the ICSE and ISC exams, is the only national board that has only English-medium schools as affilites.
anahita.mukherji@timesgroup.com

KNOW YOUR SCORE The ICSE and ISC results are expected to be out by 3pm today. They can be accessed via the internet as well as through SMS.

IIT wants 10 great ideas to change world...

GOLDEN JUBILEE

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: “All advancement and progress come through ideas, not through physical force or mechanical force,’’ Emerson had said. So when an institution like the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) celebrates 50 years of its existence, what message does it like to pass on to its students and faculty? To think harder.
On Friday, IIT-B unveiled its golden jubilee celebration plan to invite ideas that have the capability of changing the way the world lives. The IIT is seeking ‘10 great ideas to change the world in the next 50 years’ and has called for applications from students, alumni, faculty, present and retired staff members.

As IIT-B director Ashok Misra explained: “It will require research, innovation and creativity for any university to surge ahead in the 21st century.’’

Ideas can be in the area of information technology or social work, in agriculture or health engineering, but they must transform the way people get on from one day to another. Chairman of Godrej Group, Adi Godrej, said that if India has to achieve 10% growth rate and come up with solutions to the problems of poverty, education and health, and if societal transformation has to take place in the real sense, people need to come up with “out-of-the-box ideas’’. He added, “World growth for the last few years has been the highest ever in history because production has been high, caused by technological changes.

Those associated with IIT and interested in participating in the ‘10-great-ideas’ competition can send in their ideas by October 30, 2008. A website http://10greatideas.iitb.ac.in has also been created. Entries will be judged by an international panel of ideators, including principal scientific advisor to the government R Chidambaram, head of nanoscience at Cambridge University Mark Welland, chief mentor of Infosys N R Narayana Murthy, Naushad Forbes, director Forbes Marshall India and Ajay Piramal, among others. The panel will be chaired by former president A P J Abdul Kalam.

IIT-B expects at least 100 entries. Selection of the 10 greatest ideas will be completed by February 28, 2009. Those whose ideas are selected will be invited to present a white paper at a round table summit in March 2009.

IITs need to adopt engineering colleges...

NKC Says Move Will Help Raise Edu Standards

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Concerned over the “glaring regional imbalance’’ in engineering education, the National Knowledge Commission has suggested that the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology should adopt some lesser known engineering colleges to raise their standard.
In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, NKC chairperson Sam Pitroda has also suggested integration of science and engineering education. Pitroda pointed out that two-thirds of the engineering institutions were located in the four southern states and Maharashtra. Therefore, he said, a framework of public-private partnership was needed to establish new quality institutions. Therefore, the IITs should “mentor’’ new institutions to raise their standards, he said.
“Mentoring by its definition is a voluntary activity, but if we can create an atmosphere where institutions of distinction feel a sense of calling in the interest of the larger national good, it would transform our education,’’ Pitroda said. Therefore, institutions like IITs should bear some additional responsibilities. “In particular, the existing IITs could mentor the new ones being established. The latter, in due course, could play a similar role vis-a-vis others,’’ he said.
As for integration of science and engineering education, Pitroda said, “We have entered a period in history where the distinction between sciences and engineering has all but disappeared.’’ In order to reduce the perceived gap between sciences and engineering, there was a need to create mechanisms that allowed mobility between the two streams, he said.
In this regard, Pitroda said that one option could be to start four-year undergraduate programmes in sciences, initially in institutes of excellence where facilities for such courses already exist. It would enable pursuing doctoral programmes in science and technology, without a master’s degree.
Pitroda also said that several initiatives were necessary to promote research in engineering. Vibrant and well-funded PhD programmes with opportunities for international exposure should be provided to attract students who currently go abroad for doctoral degrees, he said. Also, the new academic and research institutions being established should be so located that they could optimise mutual collaboration.
Means-cum-merit scholarship
The Cabinet has approved a “means-cum-merit scholarship” of Rs 6,000 per year to prevent economically weak but meritorious students from dropping out of school.
IIM-A director explains fee hike
The director of the IIM-A, Samir Barua, has written letters to the institute’s alumni, explaining why the recent fee hike was necessary. The fee hike proposed by the IIM-A has created enough resentment from various quarters. In his email to alumni, though, Barua seems to be in an explaining mode.
In his letter, Barua explains why the fee hike of 300% was proposed for the June 2008 batch. The letter specifies the objectives of the fee hike as: providing relief to students who come from lower income families, continuing to significantly subsidise the PGP from the surplus generated from other activities of the Institute. TNN