I had the honour of meeting Professor Sugata Mitra when one of our students was given the opportunity of introducing him at one of the IB conferences. He is a humble, soft-spoken man, who maintained a sense of excitement and curiosity during the entire IB Conference. An inspiring man indeed! He talked about his experiment on Hole in the wall, where he set up a computer in the slums of Delhi, and observed and monitored how children came to the computer and learning happened in spite of the absence of any adult facilitator.
Today I read about how the experiment had been taken further in initiating the Self Organised Learning Environments (SOLEs) in the UK. Children were given big questions and allowed free access of the internet. They learnt by exploring the net and through peer discussions. The model worked and learning flourished. However, the same model could not be replicated in India due to a variety of factors, including internet connectivity, availability of and free access to the computers, etc. Sugata Mitra then moved on to the SOME model - Self-Organised Mediated Environment. He invited 'Grannies' who would be able to volunteer time over skype to children in the developing countries and help mentor the children to learn through the internet while they picked up the necessary English skills. The Granny clouds were used to mentor and encourage the students. The 'grannies' based in the UK helped read, chat, discuss and plan things online with the children, after which the children used the net to explore different areas of learning. I can imagine this being particularly useful in places where local teachers themselves are picking up their English Language skills. (It reminds me of the findings of Tully about the lower strata private schools in India and how they are actually working better than the publicly funded schools, but that is another journey altogether!)
What a fabulous way to harness the skills of the society to upskill the future generation!
The SOLEs or even the SOMEs can be applied easily in schools with computers. Free access to the internet and big questions always allow for meaningful inquiries. Having said that, it is difficult for us educators to let go, many a times! As a teacher, a number of forces and pressures act upon us. From the parents' expectations to the senior managements' expectations to our own expectations, we sometimes do not allow for SOMEs to function effectively. A busy curriculum and calendar is also difficult to manoeuvre if SOLEs/SOMEs are to be effective and vice versa.
One of the important factors here would be learner motivation. The learners need to be motivated and that is the prime function of the teacher. I have no proof or data at the moment but I wonder if the hunger for learning in a population is inversely proportionate to the socio-economic positioning of the population (that is after the basic needs of the population are met). A hungry man will not hunger for knowledge but food! But once the basic needs are in place, the hunger for learning would probably kick in, in order to better the socio-economic positioning of people in developing countries or lower socio-economic groups. That is a food for thought and perhaps another learning journey.
A green school with SOMEs would be a great place to work! The eternal question is.... can the teacher be replaced?
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