In the past, I have discussed how the Internet, technology and computers have connected us to more information and individuals around the globe than ever before. This connection to everything has developed into a learning device and mode of accessing information from within the classroom. This week, I stumbled across a video titled, “Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education” on TED.com that emphasized this belief in scientific reality. Sugata Mitra, an education scientist, studied how giving students – from poorly educated regions of the world – self-guided instructions in a collaborative environment with access to technology could revolutionize their ability to learn.1 Mitra’s findings and main points caught my attention, making me think about the ways we view teaching and learning.
“If children have interest, then education happens,” says Mitra.
What Mitra found through his experiments was that students will use technology to learn and discover the world if they are given the opportunity. He demonstrated this by embedding a computer in the wall of a highly underprivileged area for children to experiment with on their own. Each time he conducted this experiment he found that children learned what interested them most. In addition, they taught each other new skills and knowledge by working together. Mitra says, “We concluded that groups of children can learn to use computers and the Internet on their own, irrespective of who or where they were.”
What we see here is that Mitra’s studies can support the use of technology in schools and after-school programs to help students learn. In addition we see that collaboration (working together) is a key component of learning. Let’s talk more about this.
Learning is a collaborative process between students.
Mitra emphasized in his speech at TED that each of his experiments involved learning with a group of children working together to uncover answers or solutions. On occasion the students worked under the supervision or mediation of an adult, but these adults did not teach the material to the students. For example, he asked an adult friend to sit in with the students and use what he called the “method of the grandmother.” This method has the adult simply ask clarifying questions and provide encouragement to the students as they work. What Mitra found was that children working together will self-organize to learn. He states it as “education is a self-organizing system, where learning is an emergent phenomenon.”
I would argue that his findings support theories around Project-Based Learning, encouraging students to develop projects around their particular interests and work collaboratively to solve problems and learn new information. Mitra shows that students can successfully problem solve, gain knowledge and learn when you combine the power and resources of the computer with small groups of children working together and self-organizing. With technological resources, levels of interest and a classroom environment, students can teach themselves even some of the most complex learning materials. Yet, some of you might ask, is Mitra saying teachers can be replaced by computers?
Today’s learning is a complex recipe.
Mitra’s studies show us that technology plays a major role in students’ curiosity, interest and resourcefulness in learning. While it’s fascinating and encouraging that the students in Mitra’s studies performed so well on the experiments, I don’t think his findings should suggest that we can ever replace learning support from a teacher with a computer.
Looking at his studies, it’s clear to me that a teacher is instrumental in planting the seed of curiosity in students and in encouraging their learning. Mitra needed to embed the computers in the wall to capture interest in learning how to browse the Internet. He encouraged students to translate and understand the lesson on biotechnology. He wrote the questions on the board for students to answer. He built the “method of the grandmother” into his process. In every example, he sparked interest among the students and gave the students the reigns and tools to discover the answer on their own terms.
A quality teacher has always been someone who encourages and guides their students to learn. Sometimes in this environment of measurement and testing, we forget that. So I would suggest that we consider the following adaptations to develop a key recipe for learning based on Sugata Mitra’s studies and popular learning theories:
- Plant the seeds of curiosity in our students
- Help our teachers provide ongoing encouragement for their students
- Equip classroom with resources to support exploring information, reading and communication of knowledge
- Create an environment of student collaboration and self-organization
- Bring laughter and joy back into learning
Remember that at the core of all these things is the teacher. The supportive teacher, that encourages learning, asks the questions, guides the process, creates the learning environment and most of all, plants the seed of excitement and interest that is the key to student learning.
What do you think of Sugata Mitra’s studies around a child-driven education?
Mona Westhaver
President and Co-founder, Inspiration Software
- Mitra, Sugata. “Sugata Mitra: The Child-driven Education | Video on TED.com.” Speech. TED: Ideas worth Spreading. Web. 04 Mar. 2011. <http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/sugata_mitra_the_child_driven_education.html>. [↩]
