2013 Coursera Round-up

This year has been very good in terms of learning for me -- thanks to Coursera. In chronological order, here is my 2013 journey:

• Statistics: Making Sense of Data offered by the University of Toronto
• This was an introductory course that allowed me to gently dip my feet into the waters of Statistics. A good start for someone who hasn't done Statistics beyond school. Also good in that "R" was optional so I was able to focus on core learning without worrying about programming skills.
• Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

• Internet History, Technology and Security offered by the University of Michigan
• This was a lightweight course about the Internet. I learned a few nuggets of useful information.
• Rating: 3 out of 5 stars 

• Introduction to Systematic Program Design offered by the University of British Columbia
• This was one of the most awesome courses I have ever done. I've been a "developer" and have taken "programming" courses in the past, but this was a completely mind-blowing experience. Professor Gregor Kizcales started simple -- catering to non-programmers but covered immense ground by the end of the course, even simplifying hairy concepts like recursion and making practices such as Test Driven Development and Refactoring come to life.
• Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

• Information Security and Risk Management in Context offered by the University of Washington
• I signed up for this course thinking it would offer me good insight into Security Testing. It was the only "management" course that I took this year, and frankly was quite disappointed by the breadth and lack of depth. Only a few nuggets of actionable (for me) information. 
• Rating: 2 out of 5 stars 

•  Computing for Data Analysis offered by Johns Hopkins University

• This was a short and sweet introductory course in R and served me well for the next course that I did. 
• Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

• Statistics One offered by Princeton University
• I signed up for this thinking it would serve as a good refresher to the Statistics course I did earlier in the year. This course is a *mind-blowing* introduction to Statistics. Professor Andrew Conway *really* explained the concepts (v/s just applying the various tests) in a way that demystified introductory Statistics for me. 
• Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

• A Brief History of Humankind offered by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• I signed up for this course out of curiosity and I must say I enjoyed watching the videos. Professor Harari introduced more than a few hilarious moments while taking us through the history of humankind. A moment forever etched in my mind is that of a modern day human being hurriedly gobbling chocolate cake from the refrigerator in order to save it from the local baboon band! What I particularly appreciated about the course was the way the professor attempted to present conflicting theories to explain events without being judgmental. A fun course to take.
• Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

Doing seven courses in one year has been absolutely phenomenal for me (I'm a mom with a full-time day job). It feels great to be part of an era where the best of professors from the best of universities are teaching me advanced topics that I never thought would be accessible to me so easily and at such awesome quality. 

Free availability of such superior learning on the Internet should also give pause to the rank-and-file centers of learning of my country that churn out brain-dead graduates who spew memorized material with little or no understanding of it.

On a sobering note, while the courses have put me in a very sharp place mentally, the pace is not quite sustainable and I plan to have no more than one active course at a time in 2014.

Education as a For-Profit Enterprise

An article about the for-profit sector in K-12 education posted on Twitter got me all worked up and the 140 character twitter rant limit means that it is now a (long overdue) blog post.

While it is an open secret that most schools are run as for-profit enterprises, making money in the name of building funds, donations, non-refundable deposits (what in the world is that?) and even each pair of school socks that they sell, this article removed even the emperor's garment from the greed of the sector.

It is scary when educating the future of a nation gets measured against profit. To me the article seems to show that the *entire* focus is on profit, with the quality of education being an unintended by-product, if at all.

Good teachers, like good professionals in any field, are few and far between. They are far more valuable than a "curriculum", no matter how great it is. A great teacher doesn't need a curriculum while the best of curricula are rendered useless by bad or even mediocre teachers.

These for-profit enterprises would do well to reflect on the fact that they are playing with the future of the nation by setting up schools without a thought to the quality of teachers and thereby education they serve up.

It's All About Attitude

Muddling through or conscious engagement.

I have seen two distinct attitudes that shape the ethos of organizations developing software and the quality of their products.

The first attitude is "muddling through". As the name suggests, in this model of product development, there is no need for experts in any area (technical, domain, management). This model is followed either by large service organizations, who have accidentally stumbled upon a product or by start-ups who feel their idea is unbeatable and there is no possibility of competition.

This attitude is characterized by late nights, long meetings and general fumbling around that occasionally delivers results -- of questionable quality. It is *the* way of working for most of Indian IT.

Conscious engagement is the other style.This style is characterized by small, self-managed teams of individuals who are very competent in their skill -- be it technology, domain or management. This the way most start-ups that make their way to success begin.

One thing that makes this style stand out is how RARE it is. It is rare for a number of reasons. The most prominent reason of course, is that it is VERY hard to find half-way decent professionals in the field of technology. Those that are good at what they do are also very picky, which makes it harder still. What also makes this style a rarity is the fact that "management" is usually threatened by competence. "We don't need superstars" is an oft-heard refrain -- when actually 5 superstars can replace 25 mediocre technical folks and the 4 equally mediocre managers who "manage" them.

However, when conscious engagement is achieved in a team, success, I believe is inevitable.

Introduction to Systematic Program Design -- a Review

As someone who is a manger in her day job, I was bulldozed by a friend and signed up very skeptically for "Introduction to Systematic Program Design" on Coursera.

I was completely blown away by the *way* the Prof. Gregor Kizcales brings concepts to life.

In the field of IT, we all have heard of TDD and Re-factoring being preached. But to actually watch it in action and gain confidence doing it hands-on is just mind-blowing.

The course starts off very simple -- since it is for non-programmers, but covers tremendous ground all the way to recursion which is something that people really struggle with.

A wonderful course that should be mandatory for everyone who hopes to be a part of the IT field in technical capacity. Also good for managers to appreciate concepts that "techies" talk about.

A Wonderful Getaway to Nature

A visit to the Jungle Lodges Galibore Nature Camp is an experience to remember. A myriad group of two seniors citizens, one young man, a ten year old,  and of course, yours truly visited the property and spent two wonderful days.

At the "Sangam" of the rivers Cauvery and Arkavati, a kaccha road of 9 kilometers leads to Galibore, which is a small property that has just 12 tents, and 5 "executive" tents with the "luxury" of electricity within the tent. There are no air-conditioners, just a couple of pedestal fans if you need them.

We visited the camp at the end of December and the days varied from warm to tolerably hot. Nights were cool, and a sweater or shawl was welcome.

The camp had nice activities. On the day that we checked-in, we relaxed on hammocks while the younger ones played on basic wood swings and climbing ropes. After lunch, we traversed the river Cauvery on a coracle. Apart from various water birds, we saw a huge grey crocodile sunning itself on the river bank. In the evening we had a barbeque on the beach with yummy eats. Sunset by the riverside revealed beautiful colors in the sky, and once the sun was down, the starlit sky was special for city dwellers since the lack of artificial lights allowed for a skyful of bright stars. To keep the experience as close to nature as possible, the only light came from a couple of traditional lanterns and a bonfire.A wildlife film was followed by wholesome, tasty (and thankfully un-spicy) dinner at the "gol-ghar" -- which is the in-house restaurant.

The next morning started early, with a guided walk that started by the riverside. The good thing was that each group had it's own guide, so could choose it's own route and pace. After walking on the sand for some time, we chose to get onto the kachcha road, where the guide pointed out the flora and fauna along the way. Apart from various birds, we saw tracks of several wild animals that had visited the river at night.

Sumptuous breakfast was followed by a jeep ride to Mekedatu where the River Cauvery has cut an almost 70 feet deep gorge. There are extremely decent steps that take one more than half-way down the gorge to some majestic structures created by the river in stone. Some monkeys came and claimed the biscuits of the ten year old, which was a bit of a let-down, but still -- an experience! The sad part of the place were the footprints left by fellow tourists in the form of chips packets, juice boxes, paper plates and all manner of rubbish.

Another great lunch and some rest was followed by another coracle ride where we saw more water birds and an even bigger crocodile that obliged us by providing a view of ambling off the shore and sliding into the river. A starlit barbeque, followed by dinner with an unusual "bread-cake" for dessert (I have the recipe now :-)).

The next morning, the guide took us for a nature walk along the kachcha road and then cut across to the river to offer a view of the rapids. We spent some time by the river, admiring the view and collecting river stones. We also had a throw-the-stone-farthest-in-the-river game and a bit of splashing in the shallow part of the river.  It is always a good idea to do an activity even if it is a repeat, since the guide will find ways to introduce interesting variations.

Incidentally, once the monsoon sets in, the rapids are raft-able at Galibore and anyone over the age of 10 can go rafting. The manager told us that August was the best time for rafting; when we visited at the end of December -- there wasn't enough water for rafting.


While all the Jungle Lodges properties that I've visited have had courteous staff who go the extra mile to make guests comfortable, the warmth and hospitality at Galibore takes service to a whole new level.

A wonderful two nights in the lap of nature...