Session 1 :)

Okay! The much anticipated school term has finally begun.

I thought that TWC to kick start things would be interesting as technology is everywhere in this era. We are essentially living and breathing technology in our everyday lives as it has become part and parcel of our being. For instance like what I shared in class was that I would need my ipod to sing me to sleep almost every night. I couldn't do without it sometimes and I would specially charge up my ipod before I sleep just for this purpose. It's a silly example, but a realistic illustration of our reliance on technology in our daily lives. From the MRT rides that we take and even lectures in school, we all can't deny the existence of technology in them and how it has enhanced our standards of living.

The class was conducted with an open discussion where students would share their take on the topic of the day: Technology is easy, people are hard. I was honestly stumped when Prof. Singh asked me about my opinions and I could not quite find the right words to describe what I was thinking. So in this sense, I felt the need for improvement on my part. The sharing was nothing like what I had gone through in the Polytechnic and it was enlightening to hear the different comments presented by my peers with real-life examples cited to back them up.

Another interesting discussion brought to the floor was the difference between "innovation" and "creativity" and whether is an invention birthed at the end of these 2 processes or is does the cycle begin with an invention? In my opinion, it depends on what perspective you see things from. I would think that an invention would be followed by creativity which is in turn needed to innovate the existing product into something new. Let's take correction fluid for example. It began when there was a need to rectify an error made on a typewriter. Over time, the idea developed to what we have today, correction tape. So although a correction fluid and correct tape serve the same purpose, they are actually different products altogether. On the other hand, if the correction fluid bottle was improved in such a way that the ergonomics are suitable for everyone’s palm, then I would say it’s not a new invention. So that supports my opinion about where an invention is in a cycle, depending on the angle you look at things.

I would say the learning session was a productive one. It has definitely sparked an interest in me but I feel that more on historic backgrounds on certain issues should have been addressed. Like our reading material 1 for instance, there was a lot of information to digest and it required contextual knowledge to comprehend the material. So it would have been more interesting to give us more insights on the background of the reading materials.

As a whole, I would rate the session as 8/10.