Re-starting the discussions for the new year

A very happy new year to all of you!

We have not been using the blog as much as we could, so I thought we should re-start the discussions. To begin the new year, I thought we could start our discussion with the following:

"Spending time in pursuit of beauty is a waste in times of economic turmoil and global terrorist threats"

Do put in what you feel about this... I shall too. 

PowerPoint- Death of Visual Literacy

Dear Students,

We would be learning the effective way of making Power Point Presentations during the course as a visually aided tool for communicating our ideas.

Therefore the question is that if PowerPoint is a visual tool, and if we are a visually illiterate society, why is this method gaining such importance.Is this kind of visual sophistication literacy? Is it a powerful tool being used wrongly?

PowerPoint: A powerful tool poorly used or a poor tool overused?

I would be happy to hear your thoughts on what other ways we can use to communicate our points impactfully to an audience. We can try these out in the class and then arrive at a conclusion on this debate. so lets explore alternate mediums to convey our thoughts.

Where does the line blur?

Where do you all think the line blurs, when it comes to Serious Learning vs. Fun Learning? Is it a better way to learn while having fun at the same time? If so, at what cost? What about learning in a very serious environment, where there is nothing that you can count as fun? What would be the advantages and disadvantages there?
Let me know what you think...... then I will also give you my views.

Welcome- Classes of Life have begun

I have not had the opportunity of interacting with all the students of Foundation(minus the ones still missing). It has been a great and rewarding experience and I am all charged up to take you guys through the journey of life.

Hopefully we all will learn along the way!

Lets get ready to Rock the boat!

Hope to see you on this blog.

Welcome to the new batch of 2008!!

A warm and happy welcome to all the new students of Foundation Design 2008!!
All of us here wish you a great year ahead, with lots of interesting things to do and activities to engage in... I will be posting something interesting from time to time, with the intention that it will stimulate your thoughts and prompt you to participate in this blog..
Do see some of the questions posted (as well as the answers and further thoughts) that are already there, and feel free to add to them if you have something to share....
Get going and have a good time....
I will also be uploading some of the presentations etc., that I will be doing in the class, so that you all can get them as reference material if you need.... + anything interesting that I feel I should share with you...

Intuition vs Logic

I throw open a perennial and unending debate which troubles every design student.... What is more important? INTUITION or LOGIC? Looking deeper, what is INTUITION? And what is LOGIC?
It would be great if all of you could put your thoughts on this onto the blog.. Do some research and let us share... I will put my thoughts as well (But first, one of you should start the discussion).

Reflections on PAF

Hello!
All of you have been in PAF now for more than half a year. In your learning experience (as much as in your life), reflecting on yourself, your activities and your time is very essential to look at what you have gained. It would be great to share some of your thoughts on this. I shall begin with mine..

For me, this past half year has been very rewarding. Having to look after the needs of all 80 of you has been a challenge! We (the course team including Deepak Sir, Chatterjee Sir, Vijay Sir as well as Rahul Sir, Neeta Ma'am and Khushboo Ma'am) have spent a lot of time time discussing and planning how we can really link up all our courses together so that you all get a well rounded and fulfilling learning experience. We are learning things ourselves as to how we can give you the best of inputs while making sure that you don't miss out on anything. We are all very excited about the results that will emerge towards the end of the semester. All of us believe that you all have the capabilities and skills to excel in your work.. we just need to make sure that we direct you properly. So, to that extent, we are working hard!! We hope you all are working hard as well!!