Teaching in the Future

Posted on November 7, 2021 by vanbraman

Tonight I was teaching tomorrow.

The Dominion, Bangalore, Trip to IndiaThis is becoming a little more common for me as we increase the amount of virtual learning opportunities we offer.

Bangalore, India, Farthest Distance from home?For my students, it was Monday morning and for me it was Sunday night. I used an image I had to show how far away our office in India was, but the students were at home and up to 9,000 miles away from me.

Oolong Tea, Vahdam Tea, Heavy Oxidized OolongI made a cup of  oolong tea from India to sip on during the training and started my class.

Manipal County, Bangalore India, Resort, Tropical ResortDuring the training I thought of some of the places we had held classes before in India, and how times have changed when it comes to training.

I thought about how training in the future will be. As technology changes we are able to implement innovative training methods to further reduce the need for in person training, or shorten the time needed.

However, there are many challenges in global training, especially because of differences in time zones.

Bangalore, India, Swimming Pool, TropicalNow back to today. The students are taking a test and I will check the results tomorrow, which is when they are taking the test.

Steven

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Changing your Sundial?

Posted on November 6, 2021 by vanbraman

Don’t forget to set your clocks back as Daylight Saving Time is ending. We are switching back to regular time.

Angbuilgu, Joseon Era, Sundial, Solstice, Time Keeping, time changeCould you imagine having Daylight Saving Time if we only had sundials? How in the world would we synchronize our sundials?

The sundial in the picture above is an Angbuilgu from the Joseon era in Korea. The word “Angbuilgu” means “upward-looking kettle that catches the shadow of the sun.”

This type of sundial was developed in 1434. It is very sophisticated and can not only show time of day, but also the time of year.

Angbuilgu, Joseon Era, Sundial, Solstice, Time Keeping, time changeThis Angbuilgu is smaller than the one in the first picture, but works the same way. The sundial is aligned to the North Star.

Turkish Sundial, Gunes Saati, sundial, IstanbulThis sundial is in the Topkapi Sarayi Museum. You can read more about the museum in my post: Historic Istanbul

The sundial is from about the same era as the one in Korea. The sundial was made during the reign of Sultan Mehmed II (1451-1481).

Sundial Surface, Topkapi Sarayi Museum, Istanbul, Turkey, Time ChangeHere is the surface of the sundial. This is also a very complex sundial as it has two gnomons and three dials. The gnomon is what casts the shadow onto the dial. If you look closely you can see that the small spike in the middle throws a shadow. The other gnomon is the wire that stretches to the top of the ornate spindle.

I am thinking of what clocks that I need to change tomorrow. Most of mine change automatically. I only have to change a few of them.

Enjoy that extra hour of sleep.

Steven

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