Vidya Sarangapani

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vidya.sarangapani@newcastle.ac.uk

My life-roles span around being a researcher, educator, learner, mother, warrior, feminist and seeker.

As a researcher at Open Lab, I work with schools in England to examine how they are engaging with digital technologies for teaching and learning purposes. I specifically look at the impact of digital technologies in developing thinking skills in young people within the context of cross-cultural learning and the role of brokerage to facilitate the above. As an educator, I am interested to experiment on the use of non-conventional learning approaches for curricular learning and vouch for the use of EPBL (Enquiry/Project Based Learning) methods. I am also keen to build knowledge networks and I do this by initiating international links between schools/learning institutions.

As a learner, I wish to challenge my ability to engage in new learning by practicing the traditional Indian classical dance Kathak. In doing so I have realised that entwining your passion with a discipline can be meditative. As a mother, I absorb life-lessons from my five-year old daughter by intently listening to her and documenting her little wisdom on my twitter handle @saarangv. As a warrior, I ensure to lend my voice to issues of inequity and inequality, even though, at times, I have found that I am the only one doing it.

As a feminist, I constantly seek to be a reminder on why feminism (and feminist theories/approaches) is important to men, women, animals, cars, computers, rockets, trees, plants and every other molecule occupying this world. As a seeker, I am engulfed by the transformative goodness of Kriya yoga and I soak in the delight it offers by practicing it every single day.

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Feedback from peer-experts impacts cross-cultural learning

Today’s globalised world has sparked our interest to know more about the diverse cultures and heritages that voluntarily or involuntarily shape our everyday lives. Education can prepare students to adapt and live fulfilling lives in this globalised world, but often cultural learning through the curriculum is delivered in a rigid manner.

Cardboard model of an immigration office in a classroom

Deep learning through classroom-community collaboration

The pluralist nature of our society has encouraged young people to explore and experience cultural diversity from a very young age. Schools are championing this approach by entwining curriculum topics with themes of cultural diversity but often this consists of exploring factual knowledge of rituals, practices, objects and historical events.

Schoolgirl putting post-it notes on a map

Virtual cultural collaboration

Technology has many implications for education particularly in scaffolding learning within and outside classrooms. This research focused on how digital technologies could provide avenues for schools and communities to collaborate to produce resources for cross-cultural learning purposes within classrooms.

My research interest within technology mediated cross-cultural learning sparked the curiosity to look at how video technology on mobile smartphones can: support the process of creating rich and authentic cultural resources for learning;