Future Challenges: MOOCs and their impact on Pakistan’s traditional education system

Originally published at Future Challenges.

Future Challenges: MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) and their impact on Pakistan’s traditional education system

Since the past few decades, technology has not only developed itself at an exponential rate, it is also revolutionizing other aspects of our life. Food, communication, health, businesses; many industries have gone through disruptive innovation because of technological advancement. Interestingly, tech didn’t take much long to revolutionize the education industry, that too at a major scale. With this massive recent influx of technology inside education, educators are worried if this trend would prove to be fatal to the traditional pre-determined learning track.

Will MOOCs promote education or worsen it?

It hasn’t been too long since Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) started reaching out to us in the form of platforms likeCoursera, edX, Udacity and more. While MOOCs is relatively a newer concept, ICTs resources required in classrooms are at a rather smaller scale as online discussion forums, tutorials, lecture videos, and collaborative online projects substitute the traditional learning environment. It is not until recently, though, that the prestigious names of the educational world have joined the race and their offerings have attracted eyeballs worldwide. Enrollments in these free online courses are ballooning by thousands with each new offering.

Educationists worldwide are discussing if MOOCs will disrupt the way education has been since past many decades; having a strict

Throwback Thursday – Beautiful Karachi Port

Mesmerizing Karachi port at sunset

Oh look! There’s a train being watched by a caring lonely star in the sky.

Dervla Murphy – Travelogues (Where the Indus is Young)

Last week, I finally got myself some travelogues – not that I hadn’t had any, but it’d been a while since I last visited Afghanistan by the eyes of Rory Stewart. I decided to continue that journey but move inside towards Pakistan. Dervla Murphy is my new body (however that sounds) travelling through Islamabad, Pindi, Swat, Gilgit, and now Skardu Baltistan.

Murphy is travelling with her daughter – 6 years old, can you believe that? – during the extreme cold months of December-January (it’s still going on, i think it’ll continue till March). This journey is based in the year 1975 with apparent differences one would notice especially after 9/11. She talks about rather naive people of Gilgit and Skardu – she actually names some as idiot and oaf which is very uncalled for coming from a writer.

However, the book is full of stories, landscape explanations (rather visual), apricots-eating weeks, games of getting kerosene oil to keep warm, filthy state of being unwashed for weeks, thrills and anxiety of travelling with a tiny little child, Fillipo De Fillipi quotes, and well a few buckets of adjectives.

Murphy is travelling the northern plate of Pakistan which boosts a plenty of highest mountains of the world. Those sheer peaks properly presented by Nature with beautiful, transparent lakes, unharmed by little hamlets, and very simple life of locals make for a pretty riveting read.

It’s actually quite exciting and relevant to read this book during the final days of Muharram where Murphy is talking about bloody flagellations witnessed in Skardu. She has painfully described the mourning day when a few thousands of people beat their own chests, cut their scalps and backs with knives and keep on thumping their chests for hours in a below freezing temperature. During those few pages, I felt rather upset due to the fact Murphy was witnessing this with her 6yr old. Travellers have their own ways, perhaps?

I am planning to read Stewart again after I finish Dervla Murphy’s Where the Indus is Young to compare if that one was indeed a better read. It should be noted that Stewart’s journey started post 9/11 which could be a reason it felt more relevant to me. Throughout last 4 days I have been in a nostalgic memory of travelling with Stewart but let’s focus on Murphy, Baltistan and adjectives for now!

More updates once I finish the journey!

Southern(lower) plains of Pakistan – in stark opposition of Northern side of peaks!

*Muharram is a holy month in Islam when the Shiah sect of Muslims mourn the barbaric deaths of Prophet’s grandson Hussain and his followers. This mourning is in the form of rallying but sometimes it gets violent when mourners start injuring themselves. This month is revered and respected by almost all sects of Islam. Read more on Wikipedia.

P.S. Must thank Kitabain.com for delivering some beautiful titles for half the prices!

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Pakistan: Are Urban Women’s Growing Baking & Sewing Interests Problematic?

It’s increasingly being considered as a good thing from economic perspective. However, restricting women only to a few skills such as sewing and backing could yield long term economic depressions with no foreseeable equal participation of women in workforce.

[Photo Story] How Karachi lights up for Eid-ul-Fitr!

From decked up malls to Chennai Express running to packed houses, the Eid weekend in Karachi was fast and flashy with a saccharine ‘meethai’ sweet in flavour.

It was my first Eid in Pakistan’s largest town – Karachi. Being more of a small town girl, I was keenly looking forward to the festivities that Karachi would offer on Eid.

From where I saw it, city people seem to be very much inclined to spending money and shopping, and less in meeting people and celebrating Eid traditions. Commercialism and capitalism galore!

 

Let’s start with the chaand raat – the evening when the moon is sighted after a read more…

Why should you volunteer?

Facebook makes you waste a lot of your time, right? But it also gives you ideas, motivation, inspiration just when you need them the most. Yes, it does sadden you when you are already enough vulnerable but let’s focus on positivity for the sake of this post, shall we?

One of my Facebook friends shared a meme which reminded me of a post I was supposed to write back in February.

The image above shows a public mindset that’s prevalent in the society of Pakistan – I cannot be sure about other developing countries; it is though quite sought-after for a Pakistani youngster to yearn for a government job while having condescending views about the

Morning Click

Beautiful mornings of Karachi.