Ted Talk Sugata Mitra Response
http://video-subtitle.tedcdn.com/talk/podcast/2010G/None/SugataMitra_2010G-low-en.mp4
For various reason good schools do not get built and good teachers cannot or do not want to go
Good places where teaches won’t go to places where they are needed the most
New Delhi slum – computer experiment all over India and worldwide
Noticed children will learn to do, what they want to do, no matter who or where they are
A teacher who can be replaced by a machine, should be
If children have an interest than education happens
Stuff on Google, so why stuff it into your head
Self taught & encouragement improved grades
Photographic recall due to group work and collaboration
Scores go up as students continue and return to researching topic
“Granny cloud” 1 hour a day, once a week via Skype
Self Organized Learning Environments (SOLEs), big screens, in groups, 1 computer per group, or interactive with a Granny
A structure appears without outside influence, and it does the unexpected
Education is a self-organizing system, where learning is an emergent phenomenon
Y8 SY1213 Documentary Job Tasks
8-1 Qs for Documentarian SY1213
After viewing Sugata Mitra’s video link today, I too had a barrage of thoughts running through my head: ideas, quotes, advice, cautions… thanks for sharing yours on your blog!
Like you, I was intrigued by how kids learn. Do we even need teachers or schools to assist children in the process of learning? It seems the innate desire ‘to understand’ may drive us forward regardless of the learning parameters. Is the granny system all we really need? It certainly has worked for me – tell me I’m good at something and I will make sure I am! The self fulfilling prophecy still renders true in the ICT era. The connection to others (and ourself) is an important part of learning, as we are learning in this course.
This link to a newer video of his challenges our thinking wrt providing information. I do believe learning will happen if we just ‘let them learn’:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/jun/15/schools-teaching-curriculum-education-google?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
But teachers, schools, libraries help bring them together and (sometimes) give context and focus to that learning!
Thanks for this Doni!
The “Granny Cloud” and the Beatles were right when they apply “all you need is love!” It is truly amazing how a positive person, comment, or experience can become a self realizing prophecy! However, positivity is only part of the “setting students up for success” model!
Jen,
Thanks for sharing that TED talk, I had seen one before where Sugata Mitra spoke about the hole in the wall project, but I didn’t know how far-reaching his research had become.
He makes some very good points, such as why do we need to have in our heads what we can easily find in google, and the effect of collaboration in learning. I really like the SOLEs, where students can easily cluster around the computer. I am looking at technology integration in primary classes, so this supports my thoughts that children should be working together on computers, not individually.
I do still wonder about the social aspect, are the students who don’t get along with their peers going to be excluded from learning? Will we get the same “Sorry, our group is full” exclusion that I see with my students sometimes, and how will that be moderated without an adult? Mitra said students will learn how to do what they want to do, but I am wondering if the learning is going to be completely guided by the students, or if there will be a “curriculum” of questions posed. Who determines what the children are going to learn? And is there any thought given to evaluating sources? Not all information on the internet is reliable, if students aren’t taught to think critically they may just take the first answer they find as true.
This is definitely food for thought, with all our discussions this week about changing the system!
Thanks for this Amy!
I’ve been to India about 4 times and I have seen the slums and education system first hand. There are some amazing brains there (and in my classes overseas), all but for lack of resources and the cultural – caste issues that block some children from education, success, and social mobility. It is frustrating as an educator and outsider to see some of these things… I really did like the idea of the “granny cloud” as both encouragement and oral traditions in education is a very human need and experience!
As for the SOLEs, like anything else that is inquiry based, there DO need to be some guidelines! YOU need to facilitate this and “set the students up for success!” You also do need to info without plagiarizing. It takes a few classes to get ready for inquiry based assignments if it is a first for you and them! By the time my students get to me in Grade 6 they are so used to inquiry based assessments, that we just do a quick refresher of do’s and don’ts, go through the rubric, review the task sheet, and a Q & A session before setting off!
I start by making the groups (balancing writing skills, ICT skills, and language levels), and then I ask if there are any MAJOR issues. You would be surprised how rarely students will gripe over classmates (cliques or gossip issues versus getting good grades/smart people) unless there is a genuine personality clash.
Next is a task sheet that has the “challenge” or task. In this document I give the students any scaffolding that is needed (i.e. baby steps and checklists for the task). This helps me keep track of their progress and allows me to document their “formative assessments” (drafts, mind maps, bibliography, blurb, etcetera…) as they work their way through the assessment. I can also note anything that can be later used for the anecdotal comments in both their final grade and report card! ;D
I also give the students the grade-criteria or rubric with the assessment. That way the students know EXACTLY what they need to do in order to achieve top scores.
Some of the time can be used in class, and other parts of the task as homework. I use Google Docs in my school (we are an Apple hardware & Google software school), and that also allows me 24/7 access to their work. I can also see their editing process and progress with the task this way too.
I hope this helps!