Rupee for Thoughts

Rupee for Thoughts

13th of December was the last PPD session for the first year. As usual we had an interesting session on this day also. This week's session is called "Rupee for Thoughts".

First our madam Miss.Sarasi collect a coin from each of us and put it into a purse. And then the purse was passed from one person to another. When our madam tapped on the table we had to stop passing the purse and the person who is currently holding the purse must take a coin from the purse. That particular person had to talk about his/her memories related to the year of the coin.

The session was going awesome. My fellow mates brought out their remarkable memories when they got the chance to present their memories. Those were very funny and some are very interesting.

Unfortunately I haven't got the chance in this time. But I enjoyed this session by listening to my friends' stories.

So the last session for first year was ended by this activity and all those sessions gave us valuable lessons and good precious memories. So all these sessions were awesome.

As the other sessions this PPD session also filled with knowledge and happiness. The final PPD session for the first year ended up with sharing our memories with each other. 

Culture

Culture

On 6th of December was a very special day. The reason for that is during that day in GNCT lecture we had a different experience that we never faced.

Culture was the topic for this week's PPD session. First we had a discussion on culture, like what is culture and from what it is made of. Culture : the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively. This is the dictionary meaning which was given to the word 'Culture'. Simply the Culture is  people's behavior, customary beliefs, social forms, material traits and norms found in human societies.

For the activity of this we were divided into two groups by our madam. We had to create an activity according to a new culture. The activity should contain a name to the country, a specific language according to the culture, an anthem, a dance and a song. Madam gave us time to discuss with the group members and create those above mentioned aspects of our culture.

Our group planned an activity with a different kind of scenario. That occasion was an event with some entertaining events which were happened according to our own traditions and customs. We were given about twenty minutes to prepare for the event. After some preparations we came up with the event and it gone totally wrong due to our own mistakes. But other team performed their act in more organized way comparing to our act. It got good feedback from us and also from the lecturer.

Then our lecturer explained things that went wrong for both teams.

The other group also had made a nice activity. That was a wedding ceremony which was following their culture. They had their own rituals at the wedding according to the culture.

From this activity we had a clear idea on what are the main aspects of a culture.

Most Inspired Leader

Most Inspired Leader

On 29th of November 2018 we had an interesting session in GNCT lecture on Leadership. Initially our lecturer explained some key points of leadership using a presentation. From that we got an idea of what was that day's scenario.

My Most Inspired Leader

In my life my most inspired leader is Lord Buddha. As being a proud Buddhist, our leader is Lord Buddha. Being our religious leader is not the reason for above mentioned situation. There are many reasons except being our religious leader.  The teachings of the Lord Buddha is the main reason why I consider him as my most inspired leader. Lord Buddha is a leader who never give up on any thing. 

A leader should have a vision and a mission, the most essential ingredient in leadership. A vision is a clear picture of the future. It defines what one wants to become or achieve as a goal. Above mentioned features were displayed from Lord Buddha clearly. Also a leader needs to have knowledge, rather be more aware than the rest of the people. Leader could keep followers cool in adverse situations, and care for the welfare of the followers. Leadership is indeed a challenging responsibility. But Lord Buddha overcame all the obstacles successfully.

Following are some unique characteristics of Lord Buddha,

• Serving any kind of man kind without checking the persons' status.
• Explaining any kind of matter at any time if someone wants to know.
• Not getting angry in any kind of situations.
• Very peaceful. 
• Tolerate anything.
• Dedication.

Above those characteristics are the things that I admire most. 

If we talked about Lord Buddha's life we can not end it easily. There are so many things and facts regarding Lord Buddha. 

Leaders should be morally integral, compassionate and must have a clear vision and mission. They should not abuse their leadership for self glorification or personal gains. They have to be good communicators and be able to represent the group as persons able to talk for the group.

Personal Goals

MY PERSONAL GOALS

On 15th of November 2018 PPD lecture we had to display our personal goals on a bristol board and had to present that in front of the class. We all prepared that previously as our lecturer informed about this activity in last week session.

Following are main points of my personal goals.

• My first goal is to be graduated  in Software Engineering degree in 2022. 

• After graduation my main goal will be securing a job opportunity in 2023 at recognized IT related company. If that company is Google or Microsoft it will be great. At the age of 28 or 29 I will get married. By 2031 I will build my own house and I will buy my own car as soon as possible. Because it is my one of main goals.

• Also I will go a trip around the World I have so many places to visit . 

• I intend to retire from all my career activities at the age of 60 and may be before that. After that I will spend my remaining life with my family and grand children. 

Those are the key points of my personal goals. There may be many other goals in addition to above mentioned goals. 

From this activity we all were able to identify our goals and how to adapt to those goals in order to achieve those goals. This session was very fantastic and it really helped to identify our inner thoughts well.

This activity is really important since it helped us identify what are the challenges of our lives which are yet to come and have plans to overcome them. This was a nice activity as all of us shared what are our goals with our batch mates.

Stand on The Paper

Stand on The Paper

This time for the PPD session we had an interesting work using a paper which was given us by our madam Ms.Sarasi.

At first we were divided in to 4 groups, 8 members in each. Then each team was given one sheet of a newspaper, in which all the members had to stand on that paper. We had to stand sticking to one another and each members legs had to be inside the paper.

Our task is to stand all the group members on that paper until our madam asks us to stop. The rules are we cannot keep feet outside the paper and paper should not be torn. If the paper is torn the team will be out from the game.

First we were given time to discuss the strategy. And then the game started. All the teams tried to complete the task. We also tried but we had to exit from the game since our paper was torn. After standing about five minutes on the paper madam asked us to stop. Then she gave another commad to fold the paper and again stand on it. And again after about five minutes our madam told to fold the paper again. And finally one team as able to survive in this game and it was the winning game of the day.

From this activity we learned to accomplish a given task with the help of team members and many more things like,

• Team Work
• Time Management
• How to execute the plans
• How to stratagise a given task
• Co-operation
• Endurance
• Helping Others 

Lava River

Lava River

This week for the PPD session we had an interesting activity which was given us by our madam Ms.Sarasi. 

We had some real fun because of the activity we got to do today By name it is called Lava River.

 We were divided in to 4 groups 5 in each, and we were given round shaped card boards. The activity we were supposed to do was to cross the classroom from one end to the other using the limited card boards we had got, with all the group members while ensuring that non of us our feet touched the tile instead of  the card board.

For this activity we were divided into groups by our madam. There were 20 students and then we had 4 groups. In each group there were 5 members. Our team members are Chamith(me), Hasitha, Pankajan, Faheem and Sandali.

Our madam had brought the resources for the activity. They are cardboard plates which were cut in the shape of circles. She called them as stones.

First our madam gave instructions to telling us how we should do this activity. Lava River is a game. In this game we have to cross a lava river using those stones. Each group was given 4 stones. We have to go from one bank to the other bank of the river using those stones. All 4 stones should have the human touch through out the process. If it lose human touch we will lose the stone and we have to cross the river with the remaining stones. And if someone step on the lava, that group have to start from the beginning. And only 3 times we can step on lava. 

First we were given 10 minutes to discuss about a strategy on how we should cross the lava river.

After that 10 minutes we started to cross the river and our madam started to count the time which we take to cross the river. At the beginning itself we lost 2 stones but we tried to cross the river using remaining 2 stones. And then we stepped on lava and started from the beginning. Anyhow we managed to cross more than half of the river and unfortunately again we had to step on lava. And again we started from the beginning. In the third attempt we managed to go to the other bank of the river. 

Even this was  a small challenge, we learned lots of things through this challenge. We were able to build our team spirit, the team courage and team work. This activity immensely helped in building up our patience too...

Barter Puzzle

Barter Puzzle

On the 4th of October we had another interesting activity as usual. This time it was a puzzle. At first we were divided in to several groups and one from each team was summoned to the lecturer's table and all were given a piece of cardboard with one side blank and the other side with an image.

For this work we were divided into groups by our madam Ms.Sarasi. There were 4 groups and our group was group 2. Madam called two people from each group and gave them a board to cut into 95 pieces. One person cut it and other one count the pieces and put them in to an envelop. This process was done by all 4 groups.

After cutting the board in to 95 pieces madam took 10 pieces from each group and mixed those pieces with other groups pieces. Our group also had 10 pieces from another group. Then our madam gave us our envelops which included 85 pieces from the board we cut and 10 pieces from another group. And our task is to complete the picture in the board as it was before cutting into pieces.

For that, first we had to get our 10 pieces which were mixed with other groups' pieces. To continue the work we looked at the pieces which were given to us. We recognized the pieces that does not belong to our group. We gathered all those pieces and kept them aside. One of us went to the other groups to find our missing pieces while others kept on working with our puzzle's pieces. 

And above all, since the shapes were not regular and the image looked same in most of the places, we found it hard to set the puzzle. And due to this we couldn't complete it with the given time.

And then we numbered the pieces which we had set already and continued the same task on next week and it was 11th of October.

We were able complete the puzzle by 95% and this activity helped us to learn so many things;

From this activity we learned lot of things like,

• Team work
• Time management
• Working Co operatively with others
• Negotiating
• Logical thinking
• Respect others' ideas
• Accomplish a given task in a limited time

And we had lot of fun from this activity.

Egg Cover

Egg Cover

For another PPD session we had to do an amazing activity. This activity was full of fun and logical thinking. 

On September 20 2018 in GNCT lecture we did a small activity which is called EGG COVER. We all were divided into 5 groups and each group had 8 members. All groups were given one egg and 4 A4 papers.

As the name suggested what was to do in this activity it was to cover the egg beautifully. Also egg was to be protected by that egg cover. After we created that egg cover we had to drop egg with egg cover from a high place about 20 feats. If egg was damaged during that process that team was lost.

First it was seem to be a difficult task. But we discussed on what we have to do and figured out what should be done to fulfill the task. We started to tear 4 half sheets into small pieces and made small paper balls from them. Then we paste them on the egg using the sellotape and covered the egg. 

After that we took the remaining half sheet and made a parachute from it and paste it to the egg cover. Then we wrote "F6" on the parachute which means "Fantastic 6".

After the given time was over all groups went out of the classroom to check the power of our egg covers . All the eggs were dropped on the ground and except one team all the other teams had succeed in the challenge. And  unfortunately our egg was broke after the test.

Emerging Technology Trends

Emerging Technology Trends

In Software Engineering at university course of Kelaniya GNCT course our lecturer Mrs. Sarasi Senadeera organized a very important industrial season about future Technologies. The session conducted by Mr. Srinath Perera VP research, WSO2. He gave us very good ideas about  future technologies and history of technologies. 

All the Software Engineering Students in our University has participated to this session.
It was a really important session for us. We learned about many new technologies. First he talked about History of trends. Then he discuss on Gartner Hype cycle. It describes how a technology improving.The session was mainly focused on current trends and emerging trends.

These are some main points that are talked in that session

• History of trends

• Understanding Trends:   Garner Hype Cycle

• Current Trends

API- Relatively simple technology, but enables “API Economy” and most of other economies.Enable Automation.This technology is Very active & growing 50% year over year

Analytics & AI- Enable Computer based Data Driven Decisions.Currently world is limited by human in the loop.Next industrial revolution may be powered by unlimited decision making power ( as oppose

to by unlimited mechanical power in the last)

IoT- Connect real world ( meat space) to digital world to make vision of automation and decision making ubiquitous.This technology is based on sensors,hardware like arduino etc;

Bots-Idea that bots would make much natural interface for humans

• Emerging Trends

Blockchain -A Distributed Immutable Ledger that provides trust without

a third party. Ex:electronic cash(bitcoin)

Sharing Economy - Extending pay per use idea from Cloud to everyday life

AR/VR - Augmented and Virtual Reality. Ex:Education(classes,collaborative work),Interactive, immersive Visualization for analysis and phototyping, Treatment - ( for PSTD),

Training ( skill traning, sport coach) , Games,Fashion and Shopping - virtual try out, fitting,Empathy training

At last I have to say this session was very important to us as software engineers

Expert Game

Expert Game

Each week for PPD we do an interesting activity. Not only interesting is very important activity for our future career. This week we did an activity called Expert Game. It is an activity which we had never asked before and our madam explained what we had to do in this activity.

First our madam divided us into groups. As group members we had to understand the stream what we are expert in. All the group members had to specify the stream which they are expert in. That expert stream can be anything, like expert in a sport, expert in a aesthetic subject such as singing and dancing, drawing, cooking, special knowledge on a particular subject, etc. And with those expert streams we had to make a product or service which we can sell to a customer.

The main purpose of this game was to identify the talents of all the group members and come up with a product or service which can be delivered to the customers, by combining all of our strengths. After discussing and pooling all of our talents in to a sheet of paper we decided to start an Art Academy as almost everyone in the group were having some talent in aesthetic side. For an example, Kavindu was good at drumming, Udith was good at playing Guitar, Sadali was good at playing the flute, Sachindra was famous for playing the organ, Anjana was good at violin, Minsah and Praghashraj were assigned as drama teachers. And finally there is me who will co ordinate the classes and keep vocal training classes.

 On the presentation day, we all introduced ourselves to the crowd and what each of us were going to teach in the art academy. All of us braught up our qualifications and the method of how we were going to conduct the class.

The main purpose of this academy is to bring up funds to continue our studies. We planned to conduct home visit, individual or small group classes.

As every other activities, this activity was very helpful for us to identify the talents of our batch mates, and this was a very fun activity, where we enjoyed a lot.

Round Robin Task

Round Robin

 On the 19th of June during the PPD lecture we did a nice & interesting activity called Round Robin.

This game is about to build a story. For this game we were divided in to three groups. Like that there were 5 groups with 7 members each. In this game at first one member from each group has to write one word  on the white board. Then the other members of the group has to follow the first member & write a word to continue the story. Each member of the every group got three chances to participate in this game. As well as in other games this game also have some rules, like,

• We can write only one word at onece
• Till our chance come we have to close the eyes and remain silent and we can't look at the board  

The following picture shows the story which our group was created.

The above story was,

         Girl is wearing a frock and she is ready to go to the party with her boyfriend and he calls to his friends that party is going to be a birthday party which is awesome...

Actually this activity was very fun and I enjoyed it very much. And I also learned how to adopt  different occasions suitably   

BINGO

In Software Engineering at university course of Kelaniya GNCT subject we did small game in our lecture.It call is bingo. First our Lecturer gave us a small paper and explain the game rules. Basicly there are no rules. All we have to do is go to our friends and fill this form. If we fill the that small paper lecturer provide us we must go to the infrount of the lecture hall and say loudly bingo.The our lecture collect the that paper and ask questions using that paper. If we fill wrong informations our marks will drop.These are the basic rules.



Here is the informations about my paper




Kavindu is vegetarian
Ruwan has 4 sibilings
Sunanda hasn't facebook account
Janaka's nick name is chooti
Powsikan was head prefect in his school
Champika enjoys camping
Nipuni hates spiders

The Paper Tower and The Helium stick

The Paper Tower

On the 13hof June for our GNCT course we made a paper tower. The activity was done by 3 groups. Our Madam gave us a six different colored A4 sheets and a sellotape roll and asked us to build a tower from that given limited materials in a given time period.
To win the tower should be stable and should be the highest. 

At the beginning the given task was hard for all three groups. But at the end all the three groups made fine paper towers.

At first no one had a single clue what to do. Then all of us discussed and came up with a plan and we made a sketch on a piece of paper. Our main intention was to make the base stronger,so that it won't fall. All the members in the group were supporting the course and it wasn't very hard to complete the task within the given time. The girls were decorating the tower while others were           cutting, rolling and pasting the papers. We also attached a flag on top of our tower. 

We also managed to bring up the tower for a considerable height, but it was much shorter compared to the other 2 groups.

Eventhough our tower was shorter, we managed to secure the first place as our base was strong. The towers of other teams fell down when they were blown. 

At the end of the session, we were given a stick, which we had to balance it from one of our fingers and being in 2 groups, 5 in each and standing in opposite sides. We had to raise the stick above our heads. The challenge was known as the Helium stick and this was quite challenging because the stick was slippery and we had to constantly adjust our phase according to the speed of other members of the team.

We learned lot of things through these activities. We learned how to manage the time and to come up with a best product with a limited number of resources. We also practiced team work, how to listen and respect others ideas, how to obey the instructions of the group leader etc.. This was a very fun activity and we enjoyed a lot.

My best friend

Friendship Forever

As we all have friends me too have lots of friends, but among them I also have a best friend. He is my friend since my preschool time.When I need him he is always there for me. He knows everything about me. He is the person who help me when I am down, turn my frown upside-down and make me feel better. I can't imagine any better of a friend. 

By name he is Sibathi Sajan. He is 21 years old and he lives in Monaragala. He has  two sisters. First, mine and my friend's paths got crossed when we were in our preschool. He did his advanced level exam in Bio Science stream and obtained 3A's with a district rank. Now He has got selected to the Medical Faculty of University of Rjarata.

He is a very special and close person in my life who I can share the most important things and take support anytime. He can understand other people's feelings very much.We share everything at the school.

I am very lucky to have a friend like him. Though we are not brothers by blood we are brothers by heart.