Computer Game to boost mathematical ability

September 27, 2008 — theultimaterenaissance

A daily dose of computer games can boost maths attainment, according to a study carried out in Scottish schools.

 

Learning and Teaching Scotland – the main organisation for the development of the curriculum – analysed the effect of a “brain training” game. It also found improvements in pupils’ concentration and behaviour.

The study involved more than 600 pupils in 32 schools across Scotland using the Brain Training from Dr Kawashima game on the Nintendo DS every day. The project followed a pilot study in Dundee last year.

LTS worked with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education and the University of Dundee to see if the pilot results were replicated on a wider scale.

 

Improved scores

 

A group of pupils played the game, which included reading tests, problem-solving exercises and memory puzzles, for 20 minutes at the start of their class for nine weeks. A control group continued their lessons in a more traditional manner. The pupils were tested at the beginning and then the end of the study. Researchers found that while all groups had improved their scores, the group using the game had improved by a further 50%. The time taken to complete the tests also dropped by five minutes, from 18.5 minutes to 13.5 minutes. The improvement in the games group was double that of the control group.

Less able children were found to be more likely to improve than the highest attainers and almost all pupils had an increased perception of their own ability. The study also found that it made no difference if the children had the game at home and noted no difference in ability between girls or boys.

It found improvements in absence and lateness in some classes. Derek Robertson, LTS’s national adviser for emerging technologies and learning, said the results offered the first independent, academic evidence that this type of computer game could improve attainment when used in an educational context.

He said: “Computer games help flatten out the hierarchy that exists in schools – they are in the domain of the learner as opposed to the domain of the school. “This intervention encouraged all children to engage and get success in a different contextual framework; one in which they don’t know their place.”

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Change in categories

September 27, 2008 — theultimaterenaissance

Hi Friends, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for visiting my blog, and encouraging me with your comments. Hereby, I announce that there will be a drastic change in the categories in which I post my articles. Hereon, the only categories would be: Automobiles, Technology, and Research.

Please feel free to write to me about your opinion. And, keep visiting…

 

Cheers!!!

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Intellectual Giftedness

September 20, 2008 — theultimaterenaissance

Intellectual giftedness is an intellectual ability significantly higher than average.

Giftedness is a trait that starts at birth and continues throughout the life-span. Giftedness is not a marker of success, but rather of aptitude or the inherent ability to learn. Gifted children often develop asynchronously; their minds are often ahead of their physical growth, and specific cognitive and emotional functions are often at different stages of development. Gifted individuals also experience the world differently, resulting in unique social and emotional issues. Some research suggests that gifted children have greater psychomotor, sensual, imaginative, intellectual, and emotional “over-excitabilities”. Many schools use a variety of measures of students’ capability and potential when identifying gifted children.

These may include portfolios of student work, classroom observations, achievement measures, and intelligence scores.

Most educational professionals accept that no single measure can be used in isolation to accurately identify a gifted child.

Most IQ tests do not have the capacity to discriminate accurately at higher IQ levels, and are perhaps only effective at determining whether a student is gifted rather than distinguishing among levels of giftedness. Although the Wechsler tests have a ceiling of about 160, their creator has admitted that they are intended to be used within the average range (between 70 and 130), and are not intended for use at the extreme ends of the population.

Generally, gifted individuals learn more quickly, deeply, and broadly than their peers. Gifted children may learn to read early and operate at the same level as normal children who are significantly older. The gifted tend to demonstrate high reasoning ability, creativity, curiosity, a large vocabulary, and an excellent memory.

They often can master concepts with few repetitions. Some gifted individuals experience heightened sensory awareness and may seem overly sensitive to sight, sound, smell and touch. For example, they may be extremely uncomfortable when they have a wrinkle in their sock, or unable to concentrate because of the sound of a clock ticking on the other side of the room. Hypersensitivity to external stimuli can be said to resemble a proneness to “sensory overload”, which can cause persons to avoid chaotic and crowded environments.

Others, however, are able to tune out any unwanted distractions as they focus on a task or on their own thoughts, and seem to seek and thrive on being in the midst of lots of activity and stimulation. Some children are born with innately higher intelligence levels than others. These children are often labeled as gifted or talented.

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Top 10 IT-BPO Destinations in India

September 14, 2008 — theultimaterenaissance

A study — conducted jointly by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) and global management consulting firm A T Kearney — has identified 10 cities in India that are good for the IT-BPO industry. The study took into account the following key parameters to arrive at its inference: Knowledge pool and skill-set availability; infrastructure; social and living environment; enabling business environment; government support; and operating cost. So here are India’s best cities for IT-BPO centres.

Rank 10: Nagpur

Nagpur, the second capital of Maharashtra, has for long suffered due to lack of strong leadership and political will. Thus the manufacturing boom that many other Indian cities embraced with elan bypassed Nagpur. However, as if to compensate for this ‘loss,’ the city has turned into a major trading hub.

Rank 9: Jaipur

The capital of Rajasthan, Jaipur is a major IT-BPO centre. The city has seen large investments by Genpact, Infosys, etc in the IT BPO sector, making it a vibrant destination for such companies. The boom in the IT sector in Jaipur has also led to a mushrooming of shopping malls, large retail outlets, entertainment facilities, etc. The boom has also attracted big funds into the city’s real estate sector too.

Rank 8: Mohali / Chandigarh

Mohali sits cheek by jowl to Chandigarh. The Punjab and Haryana governments’ incentives and friendly policies have seen many an IT-BPO firm set up base in the two cities. A vibrant IT talent pool, apart from impressive infrastructure attracts IT-BPO companies to these cities.

Rank 7: Kolkata

Often termed fondly as the cultural headquarters of India, Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal has a population of 5 million. The city has seen a surge of investments in the housing infrastructure sector.

Several new projects have come up in recent times. Kolkata has been ranked as the one of the most attractive destinations for investment, especially in the IT-BPO sector. The city has good infrastructure, great manpower and talent pool that make it an attractive base for many an IT-BPO firm.

Rank 6: Mumbai

Mumbai, the commercial capital of India, is one of the world’s top ten trade centres. The city contributes 25 per cent of industrial output and 70 per cent of capital transactions to India’s economy.

Rank 5: Pune

Pune, in Maharashtra, has emerged as not just a major automobile and manufacturing base, but also as a powerful software industry hub. Already IT giants Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro, Infosys and Tech Mahindra have their base here. The booming information technology industry has seen Pune come forth as a force to reckon with. The city has good infrastructure, great talent pool, an enabling business environment, government support, etc have boosted the city’s image as one of the best to set up IT-BPO centres in India.

Rank 4: Hyderabad

Hyderabad, the financial capital of Andhra Pradesh, is also known as ‘Cyberabad’ because of the rapid progress it has made in the field of IT. As per 2006 statistics, the per capita income of Andhra Pradesh was at Rs 25,625 (less than Rs 200 of national average). The city, that used to be a service city, is now the seat of many businesses, including trade, transport, commerce, storage, communications, and most importantly IT. Like Bengaluru, Hyderabad too has witnessed a real estate boom in recent times, mainly because of the growth of IT and retail business in the city.

Rank 3: Chennai

Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, has emerged as a major exporter of software, IT, ITeS services in India.

Rank 2: Bengaluru

Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka, is also called the Silicon Valley of India due to its towering stature in the field of information technology. For long considered one of the best places to do business in the wired world, Bengaluru’s creaking infrastructure is taking some gloss off its image. Yet, IT and BPO firms keep making a beeline for the city, because of the availability of talent and a great business environment. Bengaluru is home to India’s best known IT firms like Infosys and Wipro.

Rank 1: Gurgaon

Gurgaon is the best city for setting up a software or a business process outsourcing centre in India. The Haryana city is home to dozens of top BPO firms, earning it the sobriquet: India’s outsourcing hub.

Great physical and supporting infrastructure, availability of ample talent, impressive real estate boom, affordable cost of living, good governmental support, etc make Gurgaon the ideal choice for an IT-BPO centre. Beside this, workforce and proximity to the airport are some other crucial factors that are heavily considered by most investors before starting a BPO in Gurgaon. However, Gurgaon on its own might not bag the honours: other areas like Delhi, Noida, Faridabad and Ghaziabad, put together make this region a powerhouse when it comes to BPOs. Some of the BPO companies that are housed in Gurgaon include Wipro, HCL Technologies, HTMT, 24/7 Customer, Inc, Infosys BPO, Convergys, Accenture, MphasiS, Daksh, IGate Global, Transworks, Genpact, and WNS.

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Coming Soon : Next Gen cars!!!

September 13, 2008 — theultimaterenaissance

Cars that can shrink into tight parking spaces, are wind-powered, and can even do a u-turn on the spot are among the 29 vehicles that have made the shortlist for the Peugeot Design Contest 2008. The list even includes a car that can bend in the middle to allow the driver a better view of the road ahead, and a two-wheeler that is operated by a joystick rather than a steering wheel. Participants in the event were told to concentrate on environmental awareness, social harmony, interactive mobility and economic efficiency, while retaining the Peugeot style. Ying Hui Choo, a participant from Singapore, said that his Peugeot Blade is designed for “pure driving enjoyment”.

“The Peugeot Blade is the first car of its kind to harness a resource most cars are designed to evade – air itself. It makes use of the air moving across its body to turn a wind turbine designed to generate electricity. The faster the car goes, the faster the windmill turns, the more electricity it will create to feed the electric motor, hence lengthening the electric car’s range and efficiency,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying. Turkish designer Emre Yazici has designed a two-wheel, lightweight electric car for a single passenger, which needs just a third of the parking space used by a typical saloon car. Another quality of his car is that it can do a u-turn on the spot.

The flexible windshield also operates as a door by rolling back into the drum at the back of the car. “Say goodbye to the clumsy and unsafe steering wheel, and also to the pedals. The driver employs a joystick to perform the manoeuvres, and to control the speed simultaneously,” he said. Two French designers – Woo-Ram Lee and Argentine Esteban Peisci – have created cars that run on three spheres rather than traditional wheels. People can vote for their favourite design on the Peugeot website, and the winning design will be picked by Peugeot from 10 finalists and will be announced on October 2 at the Paris Motor Show.

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Planning for an Indian Wedding?

September 7, 2008 — theultimaterenaissance

Wedding exhibition Bride & Groom 2008 was held in Delhi last week. The event showcased everything from this year’s decorating trends to mehendi to clothes and jewellery. Here’s a sneak peek at what trendy couples will be wearing for their nuptials. Fancy looking like a mermaid at your sangeet? This beautiful aqua-silver ghagra choli is from the ‘Manthan of Moods’ collection by designer Sulakshna Monga. Sagar Mehra’s collection sported plenty of colour and jewelled embroidery. Seen here is a heavy but tasteful bridal ensemble in traditional hue, matched with a champagne sherwani for the groom.

 

 

Metal glam continues to be a hot favourite this season — a sari by Megha Hasija shows off Mughal inspiration with rich embellishment and shimmery tone.

 

 

 

If you want to make a statement at a cocktail function, this rich dress by Sulakshna Monga is just right — note the encrusted bodice.

 

 

This beige ‘n’ gold sari with heavily worked choli, also by Sulakshna, is suited to the bride who doesn’t like too many embellishments.

 

 

Designer Anubha’s collection, Le Divas, boasted of several such outfits with becoming touches and light pastel colours.

 

 

Designer Radhika poses with a model wearing one of her creations, an Indo-Western fusion in electric colour.

Lovely, huh! Go for a design that suits you the most. Cheers!!!

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