Building Schools in the Cloud - Sugata Mitra

 

   Sugata Mitra is an educational researcher who delivers an interesting speech on TED Talk about the future of education. He points out that education as we know it today is outdated and doesn't prepare students for the workforce that they could be entering as technology evolves. 

    Sugata Mitra's most famous study is the "Hole in the Wall" study in which he puts computers in certain communities throughout India to see what happens when children are left alone with the technology in a language they do not speak. His expectations were low but he was determined to find out. After eight hours of leaving the computer in the Dehli community near his work, he saw kids teaching other kids how to browse. Not only were children learning quickly about the computer, they were teaching others how to use it. This study extended throughout India and for much longer time frames to see how students studied certain questions and used computers. Mitra was so impressed with his findings that he is advocating the idea of "Schools in a Cloud" or SOLES (Self-Organized Learning Environment). SOLES are driven by students and guided by big questions. When students are self-driven and an active participant in their learning, that is when we see the real magic happening.

    

    When I watched Sugata Mitra's speech and listened to his observations, I reflected on what I have seen in my own classroom. I agree with Mitra that when students are driven by questions that interest them, they will leave no stone unturned to find out as much information as they can. The last two years we have done "Passion Projects" with our middle school students so they can research and present something they are passionate or curious about. It is so fun to watch students really dive into this project on their own and produce something they are excited to share. 

    While I appreciate Mitra's goal of making education self-driven, I think teachers add to our current education experience, too. During distance learning, students felt isolated when doing assignments online. The face-to-face components such as Zoom allowed students to bring the humanity back to school and brought back the community. I bring this conversation back to Turkle and Wesch from yesterday. Turkle stresses that using technology to the extent that we have been can lead to people becoming more alone even when surrounded by people. We our losing our ability to have conversations, which Wesch emphasizes is important in education. Wesch, also, makes the point that educators should be guiding students into a relevant education and supporting as needed. Teachers can play such an important role in inspiring and mentoring students.

    It is clear that students need to be exploring their own interests and have an education that is relevant to them. When students are asked to stay in a certain lane, it limits creativity and chances for learning. While I think Mitra's SOLES model could be beneficial for this self-driven education, I think teachers play an important role in education, as well.