In 1999, Sugata Mitra carried out a simple experiment, the results of which led to this computer scientist dedicating the following two decades of his life to the pursuit of a revolutionary new kind of education.
Mitra’s 1999 ‘Hole in Wall’ experiment in the slums of Delhi saw him place computers within walls, at children’s eye level. These children had never seen a computer before and yet it quickly became clear that they were completely capable of organising independently, to learn to use this new device. Over the years, Mitra developed on this experiment, cumulating in the ‘School in the Cloud’ and ‘Granny Cloud’ projects, engaging grandmothers to log on to praise children’s successes; having discovered that children work best when rewarded with congratulations. Mitra dismisses our existing education system, arguing that children no longer need to learn traditional subjects in school. What they need, is safe, unrestricted access to technology, to answer questions for themselves and most critically in the 21st century, to learn how to search for knowledge.
Mitra’s revolutionary claims are clearly supported in ‘The Open Window’ Documentary, where we follow the lives of two schoolgirls in India, whose world, thoughts and character have been irreversibly shifted by the introduction of a ‘Cloud’ experiment at their school. Jaya and Deepa’s thirst for knowledge confirms Mitra’s claim that a child with a computer can learn anything. The girls run their own project on Japanese culture, learn critical teamworking skills with their peers and even remarkably teach themselves a new language from scratch, so as to better navigate the English dominated internet. Mitra is triumphant.
‘In India, family is the whole world of a girl’
Mitra’s experiment however is a costly one. After three years of enabling exploration, the lab is removed as the Head Teacher doesn’t see it as beneficial to continue beyond the experiment’s end. We can only assume that cost factors play into this decision. While Jaya gains access to the internet via her sister’s mobile, we are left concerned of Deepa’s uncertain future. Being forced into a life of domesticity is dreary for any woman, but is it better or worse to have been enlightened to your own subservience?
Even aside from the ethics of this case, I am sceptical of Mitra’s claim that this is a universally applicable revolution for education (for those with access to technology). For self-organised learning, children must be highly motivated, confident enough to push to the screen first, and have both the attention span and physical abilities to utilise tech. Even if we accept Mitra’s rather utopian claim that there is no need for children to learn specific things, I personally believe that teachers can and should be compassionate than computers. They can provide role models and safety nets for children with difficult home lives and thus should not be dismissed as obsolete.
‘The more we learn the more we want’
In short, Mitra’s theory works for the Jaya’s and Deepa’s of the privileged world, but what about all the other (less motivated) students? To me, the solution is to blend existing systems with SOLE, rather than to overrule them entirely.
Bibliography
The Emerging Future of Learning
The Professor with his head in the Cloud
Slum chic: 7 reasons for doubt
Image Credit: http://www.teach-well.com/mitra-myths-slum-children-with-no-english/
Rosie Roams 
Great blog and I love the fact that you question everything. Reference your title – I know Sugata has talked about the end of knowing – not sure about the end of learning – that would be radical! You could also add a question mark. In your bibliography also include the full details of the source, followed by the internet link.
With reference to the following paragraph:
Even if we accept Mitra’s rather utopian claim that there is no need for children to learn specific things, I personally believe that teachers are more compassionate than computers. They can provide role models and safety nets for children with difficult home lives and thus should not be dismissed as obsolete.
I’m going to play devils advocate! Are you claiming that all teachers are always more compassionate than computers? What about all of those teachers who continue to use corporal punishment ‘the deliberate infliction of physical pain or discomfort and psychological humiliation as a response to undesired behavior by a student’. What about those teachers who dont even turn up? What you could say is ‘I personally believe that teachers can be more compassionate than computers’ and that this is definitely something that we should be aiming for.
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Thanks for this feedback! I chose the idea ‘ the end of learning’ due to the increased focus on the importance of finding, rather than remembering knowledge. (But yes effectively chose for dramatic effect also!) I suppose it really does raise questions about what ‘learning’ actually entails!
Thanks for the advice on Bibliography, I will update accordingly as soon as I get a chance and make sure to do this properly going forward.
I think you are completely right that not all teachers are kinder than computers! I think it shows the privileged life I have led that I did not even consider this! I did want to include the wonderful quote from the girls in the Documentary that the computer is ‘never off sick’ and never ‘has to attend to a wedding’. I loved this statement, as they were so compassionate to their teachers absences. I found it quite heart-breaking how ready they were to excuse such behaviours. I did however want to try and stick under 600 words hence the fact this quote didn’t make the cut! I have reworded this section now, thank you!
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It is a possibility that Jaya or Deepa could grow up to find themselves having to settle for fewer and less attractive opportunities. And this is the sad reality for a lot of children in the developing world. I think we feel more empathetic towards the two, mainly because we can see how much potential these children have and the likeliness of it remaining untapped.
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Great blog Rosie! It is so important that we consider the sustainability of introducing technology within learning to girls like Jaya and Deepa and I loved how you considered the ethics behind doing this for the purpose of short-term research. I also found your comments on compassion really interesting, although relying on teachers for this is too ambiguous to be reliable, can we ever expect computers to provide the same possible levels of compassion to children? Lucy Brown 🙂
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Thanks Lucy!
I agree that not every teacher can be guaranteed to be compassionate, but on the I do believe there is a real value to having a human presence in a classroom. However, I will admit I do really like the idea of the “Granny cloud” – that’s a very clever way of ensuring children get human interaction, support and praise.
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I really enjoyed this – particularly because I think you and me have quite different views to Mitra’s experiments. I am fully behind blended learning though – there can’t be only one way to educate the world.
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So true! I think it boils down to the fact different styles work for different people/ ages/ subjects.
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