In 1999, the Indian physicist Sugata Mitra discovered that
engaging children to learn, be creative, and be problem solvers could be
accomplished without any teachers at all! “Mitra designed a simple experiment.
He cut a hole in the wall and installed a computer and a track pad, with the
screen and the pad facing into the slum. He did it in such a way that theft was
not a problem, then connected the computer to the Internet, added a web
browser, and walked away. The kids who lived in the slums could not speak
English, did not know how to use a computer, and had no knowledge of the
Internet, but they were curious. Within minutes, they’d figured out how to
point and click. By the end of the first day, they were surfing the web and—
even more importantly— teaching one another how to surf the web. These results
raised more questions than they answered.” (Kotler and Diamandis 2012)
Mitra continued his experiments by making small adjustments to the learning environment. For example, Mitra recruited grandmothers from across the United Kingdom to donate one hour of their week providing encouragement to these Indian children via Skype. On average the “granny cloud”, as Mitra called it, was found to increase test scores by 25 percent. In Mitra’s next experiment he accomplished the unthinkable: after four months of self-organized learning, Mitras students (only 12 years of age) were able to achieve test scores in the subject of biotechnology equal to the average scores of high-school students studying biotech at the best schools in New Delhi. This and other milestones led Sugata Mitra to formalize a learning method called “self-organized learning environments” (SOLES).
Mitra continued his experiments by making small adjustments to the learning environment. For example, Mitra recruited grandmothers from across the United Kingdom to donate one hour of their week providing encouragement to these Indian children via Skype. On average the “granny cloud”, as Mitra called it, was found to increase test scores by 25 percent. In Mitra’s next experiment he accomplished the unthinkable: after four months of self-organized learning, Mitras students (only 12 years of age) were able to achieve test scores in the subject of biotechnology equal to the average scores of high-school students studying biotech at the best schools in New Delhi. This and other milestones led Sugata Mitra to formalize a learning method called “self-organized learning environments” (SOLES).
The Sugata Mitra example was made popular only recently by
the book Abundance upon its publication in February of 2012. The author
states most inspiringly, “If what’s really needed are students with no special
training, grandmothers with no special training, and a computer with an
Internet connection for every fourth student, then the Darfur of literacy need
not be feared. Clearly, both kids and grandmothers are plentiful. (And,) wireless
connectivity already exists for over 50 percent of the world and is rapidly extending
to the rest.” (Kotler and Diamandis 2012)
Bibliography
Kotler, Steven, and Peter H. Diamandis. Abundance.
Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2012.
