| NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE |
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| 25th February 2002 - Page 4 |
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THINK |
A team from Digital Partners, USA, visited our school last week and interacted with Cass VIII. They are setting up a project where these students can collaborate with the students of the same age group of the EAS school in the US. | ||
| 1) A man is lying dead in a field. Next to him there is an unopened package. There is no other creature in the field. How did he die? 2) Five pieces of coal, a carrot and a scarf are lying on the lawn. Nobody put them on the lawn but there is a perfectly logical reason why they should be there. What is it? 3) A man rode into town on Friday. He stayed for three nights and then left on Friday. How come? 4) A woman had two sons who were born on the same hour of the same day of the same year. But they were not twins. How could this be so? 5) Why is it better to have round manhole covers than square ones? 6) A blind beggar had a brother who died. What relation was the blind beggar to the brother who died? (Brother is not the answer). 7) A man walks into a bar and asks the barman for a glass of water. The barman pulls out a gun and points it at the man. The man says 'Thank you' and walks out. ANSWERS 1) The man had jumped from a plane but his parachute had failed to open. It is the unopened package. 2) They were used by children who made a snowman. The snow has now melted. 3) Friday is the name of his horse 4) They were two of a set of triplets 5) A square manhole cover can be turned and dropped down the diagonal of the manhole. A round manhole can’t. 6) The blind beggar was the sister of her brother who died. 7) The man had hiccups. The barman recognized this from his speech and scared him to cure them. It worked and so he thanked the barman. |
Q&A
What does Digital Partners do? Digital partners is a non-profit organization, which hopes to bring the world closer. As in a classroom you share knowledge we hope to do that between different schools all over the world. We don’t have geographical barriers to mean knowledge barriers. That's why the project is called global classroom. How is technology a part of Digital Partners? Our main goal is to tap the power of the digital economy to benefit the world’s poor. Technology is making things possible for us. With the spread of email and videoconferencing solutions such as Net Meeting, it is now possible to connect the entire world. When we advance from walking to cycling we increase our speed three to four fold. But if you start e-mailing instead of sending by post you increase the speed by a factor of thousands. An example I like to cite is that earlier a farmer in a rural area could easily be duped by being offered low prices for his crop. But in the digital age, he can now posses the information he requires at his fingertips. Our goal is to ensure that this farmer, and many others like him, are not missing out on making hard earned profits because of a digital divide. This is one leap that we want everyone to take with us. Where else in India are the digital partners currently working? The Baramati conference recently took place in Baramati, a progressive village and an industrial zone. In fact, it is even more technology savvy then Vasant Valley. |
Here presentations were given on ‘Achieving Connectivity for the Poor in India’. Do you consider the planned link between our school and EAS as a long term project? We think that this depends on the progress that is achieved by the students. Are you planning any real-time conversations between the two schools? No, differences in time zones will prevent any kind of a real-tome chat. We expect that exchange of information will take place through the medium of e-mail. What kind of response are you looking for from Vasant Valley? We want the students of Vasant Valley to help schools in villages that don't have access to information. The aim of this project is to invite participation. Participation is a whole new dimension in education. Vasant Valley School should be taking digital partners through India. We need leaders, and what better place to find them? Interviewed by Piya Kishore Ritwick Ghosh Class XI
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