Teachers & Bhopal

The past two days have been pretty packed. We had a two day focus group with local teachers where we showed them a lot of our multimedia and got their feedback on what they thought worked, and what needed to be modified. Despite the long hours, they were very receptive and seemed to enjoy the experience. Despite cultural and linguistic barriers, we had a lot of common ground due to our mutual interest in science and our experiences teaching. From what I have seen, the educational system in India is already highly impressive, but I think the technology tools we are developing will help to present science in a new way so that many more kids can succeed.

In between breaks, I managed to get out to a nearby field and watch a few kids playing cricket. One kid was consistenly sending the ball over the fence - it was pretty fun to watch. The weather was pretty hot, but they were out there all day.

After work, one of our co-workers took us on a whirlwind tour of Bhopal. We saw several lakes, went on a motor boat ride after walking on some a precarious dock, took a walk around a temple, saw a student-centered market place (reminded me slightly of an american college down - but still totally different), and took a walk around the campus where our translator taught. Quite the tour! And in the midst of it I got some nice footage for use in our CD. Traffic is pretty intense but somehow everyone does okay. Defininely a different world and keeps my eyes open.

Tomorrow we visit two schools and begin additional design work on the CD. Then in the evening it is off to Dehli for a night, then we fly to Bangalore. Overall, ten more days in India not including travel back to the U.S. So far an amazing experience.