Tag Archives: india

Minimally Invasive Teaching

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“The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say, “the children are working as if I don’t exist.”
- Maria Montessori

During the last year, I’ve been following the KhanAcademy locomotive as it chugs on to distant fertile lands and glory.   I’m a big believer of video and its revolutionary impact to disrupt normal channels of educational delivery.  The KhanAcademy user group (google) emails are just mind boggling. Seems everyone from the granny on the couch to CEOs of major companies are leaving desperate messages – “get intouch with me!”, they scream.  However, I must say that they are on the wrong educational bandwagon.

This post I recently read, highlighted one problem not addressed by the Khan Academy – the motivation of the learner.  Even self directed learning won’t just magically generate a “self directed learner”.  What counts is the environment in which the learner is found. The teacher is essential to this. However, in a very indirect and “get out of the way”, way.

I firmly believe that given a free start, each child, each student, wants to learn and will learn.  We must create the environment from which their seed will grow.  Just like there are seldom any “bad” teachers, just teachers in the wrong environment and place – so too we must get students encountering a world of learning that they themselves encounter, they explore, they engage and nurture. Sugata Mitra has it right – learning is a self-organizing principle.

So without further ado, here is the man. Click the photos of the presentation to get to my favorite presentations detailing his beliefs. See my own posts mentioning him.  Here’s my bio of the man for further reference.  Sugata Mitra

I sure wish Bill Gates would have given him that big bundle of cash. 

 

 

 

 

 

The Future of Learning

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sugatamitriI have written and pounded the pulpit long and hard on the issue of teachers “getting out of the way”.  Ranted and pleaded with teachers to be more inductive in their approach, more sandbox about the learning environment.

No greater compliment to my own constructivist and technology enabled vision can I find than Sugata Mitra. He’s a wonder and I’ve been writing about him for the last 3-4 years.  I try to spring him into any of my lectures, on as many occasions as is possible. He really makes it clear, usually through the voices of children – that they can learn on their own. That indeed, one of the biggest obstacles to student learning is the teacher (and by default, the administration and curriculum).

I’ve now found the perfect presentation by Sugata – The Future of Learning. It outlines in lively form, all his research and thoughts. You got to take a look. Yes, his other talks are wonderful but here, he lays it all out succinctly and of course with his trademark giggle.  A gem.

Things I found particularly important, even revelatory:

1.  The discussion at the 1 hour mark is the major highlight. Sugata rightly suggests that we should un focus from content – the content can be found easily. We need to ask the right questions and turn into question based curriculum experts. Also a great part about designing the right classroom….

2.  Students CAN obtain educational objectives on their own. Sounds impossible? Well, watch/think/listen.

3. Students CAN create the curriculum. This is especially important to note for language teachers. We shouldn’t straight jacket how students process information and interact with information.  We must remove the doctrine, the brainwashing of our curriculum – make it active.  The answers are available and the students know how to get to them. Teachers have the job of making the information relevant, that’s all.  (and turning the curriculum upside down).

4. Technology provides tools that enable students to become self directed learners, life long learners.

5. Learning is self organizing, social and even organic. It is for teachers to assist this process and allow its creation through arranging the proper learning environment.  There doesn’t need to be outside intervention (by teachers, staff, admin, parents) for emergence to happen. Learners are their own way.

6. The  “I’m going away” methodology. He reminds me that the cause of all learning is desire/hunger. “When learners have interest, learning just happens” says Arthur C. Clarke and Sugata.  Reminds me of my own experiment collecting student’s questions – What’s Worth Knowing.

7. A new discontinuity has arrived. We’ve profoundly underestimated how fast, what, how high students can learn.Students need strong reading skills, strong search skills and a belief system that says anyone can learn anything, any time.

So much more….

If I’d been there though, I’d really have liked Sugata to talk a bit about the difference between “knowing” and “understanding”. Students can learn facts, information – but I still think they need to learn the “nuance” of information.

What are your thoughts about the implications of Sugata Mitra’s research and findings? How might we change our teaching, our own “system”?