UberSmart Learning Hour

UberSmart Learning Hour: 

The prevailing model of education is very old, and doesn’t adequately meet the needs of the future. In fact, Anthony Seldon in his book “ The fourth education revolution” states that there have been only three education revolutions in the last three to five million years. And the third education revolution happened about 400 years ago, with the arrival of the printing press. 

There is vast amount of research demonstrating the ineffectiveness of lectures, but most of present day education is still centred around lectures. Innovations such as ‘ flipped learning’ have greatly improved learning outcomes. The learning pyramid ( https://www.educationcorner.com/the-learning-pyramid.html) suggests that “Lecture” is one of the most ineffective methods for learning and retaining information. Lecture is a passive form of learning where you simply sit back and listen to information being spoon fed to you by your teacher or professor. Guy Claxton draws attention to the unintended consequence of present day schooling to produce victims of ‘taughtitis’ (  https://youtu.be/JxWybvns1jg ). It is therefore of great importance that we help develop active learners. 

Of the various possibilities for education in the third decade of the 21st Century, before teachers are replaced with AI, I have created a model  for a ‘niche’ that is aspirational,for those who hope to prosper, thrive and flourish in the coming age of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Technologies, when the majority is condemned to perish,becoming part of the “ useless class” identified by Yuval Noah Harari (https://youtu.be/OMDlfNWM1fA). 

The UberSmart Learning Hour is an attempt to develop active learners, who can then evolve to self-directed lifelong learners. The futurist Thomas Frey says “ Over the coming decades, if we continue to insert a teacher between us and everything we need to learn, we cannot possibly learn fast enough to meet the demands of the future.”

The UberSmart Learning Hour comprises 4 familiar elements, to make it more effective than the standard lecture. The first is a 20 minute explainer talk by the faculty, similar to a TED talk, delivered through WhatsApp. This is followed by about 30 minutes of Q&A by the learning cohort. Finally a 10 minute wrap up by the faculty based on the interaction that happened. The fourth element is a set of further readings and links to audio and video resources to pursue further.

The UberSmart Learning Hour will be observed around dinner time from 8pm to 9pm, on Monday to Friday, has at present 10 topics which are delivered according to the following schedule:

Monday (1st and 3rd week of the month)  : Making Sense of Artificial Intelligence

Tuesday (1st and 3rd week of the month) : Avoiding Natural Stupidity

Wednesday (1st and 3rd week of the month) : Re-Program your mind

Thursday (1st and 3rd week of the month) : Living a long fulfilling life

Friday (1st and 3rd week of the month) :  Quantumgency Planning  ( Contingency Planning for a Quantum World)

Monday (2nd and 4th week of the month): Reading Effectively

Tuesday (2nd and 4th week of the month): Using Artificial Intelligence to improve your English

Wednesday (2nd and 4th week of the month): What is worth learning?

Thursday (2nd and 4th week of the month): Dispositions for Success

Friday (2nd and 4th week of the month): Exploring human consciousness 

In addition to this “menu” of topics, if a learner is curious about anything else such as time crystals, meta verse, metallic hydrogen or anything else, that you would like someone to ‘explain’ to you, just go ahead and make a request to Prof MM Pant by sending a WhatsApp message at +919810073724. Active and regular participation in these UberSmart Learning Hour( USLH) is a sensible “ Quantumgency Planning”, Contingency Planning for the age of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Technologies. 

Methodology : 

Every evening there is a USLH, according to the schedule given earlier. 

You can begin by sending a WhatsApp message to +91 9810073724 indicating the topic of the session and the day/ date when you would like to join. 

Please do mention your name and WhatsApp contact information on which you would like to participate in the session through WhatsApp

The participation fee for each session is Rs. 500/– (Rupees Five Hundred-only) may be remitted by PayTM to mobile number 9810073724 or deposited into the following Bank account:

Name: Madan Mohan Pant

HDFC Bank Account No. : 26451000000301*

*(The account number is 26451 followed by six zeroes followed by 301)

IFSC: HDFC0002645

Address: HDFC Bank, Unitech Cyber Park, Sector 39, Gurgaon

Should you desire to know more, please WhatsApp, your query to :

 Prof. M. M. Pant  at +91 98100 73724

About mmpant

Prof. M.M.Pant has a Ph.D in Computational Physics, along with a Professional Law Degree, and has been a practitioner in the fields of Law, IT enabled education and IT implementation. Drawing upon his experience in world class international institutions and having taught in various modes of Face-to-Face, Distance Learning and Technology Enhanced Training, Prof. Pant is now exploring the nature of institutions which will be successors to the IITs, which represented the 1960s, IIMs, which represented the 1970 and Open Universities which were the rage of 1980s & 90s. He believes that the convergence between various media and technologies would fundamentally alter the way learning would be created, packaged, and delivered to learners. His current activities are all directed toward actual implementation of these new age educational initiatives that transform education in the post Internet post WTO era.. Prof. Pant, has been a Former Pro-Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and has been on the faculty of IIT – Kanpur (the premier Engineering institution in India), MLNR Engineering College and Faculty & Visiting Professor - University of Western Ontario-Canada. He has been visiting scientist to research centers in Italy, England, Germany & Sweden and has delivered international lectures with about 80 papers published. During his association of almost 15 years with the IGNOU, Prof. Pant has served as the Director Computing and has been the Member of All Bodies (i.e. School boards, Academic council, Planning board, Finance committee and the Board of management). With his interest in Law, backed with practice of Law in a High Court, and his basic training in Science and IT, Prof. Pant has been particularly interested in the Cyber Law, Patent & trade mark issues, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues etc. and has been involved with many activities, conferences on “Law & IT” Prof. Pant is presently; • Advisor to Media Lab Asia - Chairman of working group on ICT for Education, chairman of PRSG handling projects on ICT for education. • Lead Consultant for an ADB funded project for ICT in Basic Education in Uzbekistan • Member of the drafting Group for India’s National Policy on ICT in education • Chairman of the group creating books for class 11 and 12 students on ‘Computers and Communication Technology’ appointed by the NCERT • Preparing a ‘Theme Paper” for the NCTE in the area of ICT and Teacher Training • Advisor and mentor to several leading Indian and Multi-national Companies in the area of education. Prof. Pant has in the recent past been ; • Member – Board of Management – I I T, Delhi for 6 years (two consecutive terms) • One-man committee to create the Project Report & Legislation for Delhi IT-enabled Open University • Advisor to the Delhi Government on Asian Network of Major Cities Project (ANMC-21) distance learning project in association with Tokyo Metropolitan Government. • Chairman Board of Studies, All India Management Association With his mission to create and implement new business opportunities in the area of e-learning & learning facilitation, Prof. Pant has promoted Planet EDU Pvt. Ltd., as its Founder & Chairman, along with a team of highly experienced and skilled professionals from Education & Training, Operations, IT and Finance.
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