In a New Delhi slum, a strange object
suddenly appears…
Carved into a wall, encased in concrete and
protected by plexiglass, it’s something that the curious and excited gaggle of
children surrounding it has never seen before.
Yet to you and me, it’s one of the most
common, everyday items.
A computer.
The children, who know no English and
haven’t received any formal school education, quickly begin playing with the
machine and, within days, they’re learning English, browsing the internet and
teaching each other what they discover.
This experiment, dubbed “The Hole in the
Wall,” occurred back in 1999 and was the brainchild of Professor Sugata Mitra,
Chief Scientist at NIIT.
It was repeated in villages and slums
across India – and each time, it yielded results that were “too good to be
true.”
The program’s success spawned a major
venture called Hole in the Wall Education Limited (HiWEL) in 2001, which has
since impacted hundreds of thousands of children across India and Africa.
On a wider scale, Professor Mitra’s
experiment triggered a new, innovative learning concept known as minimally
invasive education (MIE), which shows that children will collaborate to learn
and learn to collaborate… even in the most challenging environments.
And as technology has advanced
substantially since the original Hole in the Wall experiment 14 years ago,
we’re seeing collaborative learning spread across the education world.
Here are some of the companies leading the
way…
From “Batch Processing” to Collaboration
The education sector is in the middle of a
paradigm shift – from a one-size-fits-all “factory approach” to more tailored
learning. The question is: Why now?
~ Population Dynamics: Although the world’s
population continues to rise, the fertility rate, especially in developed
countries, is decreasing. Parents with fewer children and more resources now
want the education system to conform to the child, not the other way around.
~ Technology: More advanced technology is
fundamentally changing our relationship to information. Children are now
surrounded by answers, with Google (GOOG), Yahoo (YHOO) and others all
retrieval systems for that information. The educational value, however, lies in
guiding children to ask the right questions and giving them the critical
thinking skills to discern the right answers from all the noise.
After all, in a fiercely competitive job
market, companies want employees who boast critical thinking and
problem-solving skills, can collaborate across networks, and bring creativity
and imagination to the workplace. The earlier children begin building these
skills, the better.
TOOLS FOR KIDS
SMART Technologies Inc. (SMT), long known
as the leader in the digital whiteboard market, recently unveiled the SMART
Table.
It’s designed with collaboration in mind –
a portable, 360-degree, multi-touch surface with a high-definition 1080p LCD
display. The table recognizes up to 40 simultaneous touches at a time and comes
with over 1,500 activity packs, which encourage group problem solving.
It’s also wheelchair-accessible and
kid-proof – sturdy enough for a child to climb on without it toppling over.
TOOLS FOR TEACHERS
Skype, now owned by Microsoft (MSFT), has
created a platform for teachers called Skype in the Classroom.
Simply put, it allows teachers to create
projects that they can then share with other classes across the globe.To date,
nearly 51,500 teachers have signed onto Skype, taking advantage of 2,619 “Skype
Lessons” and 817 distinct resources.
My own alma mater just made news on two
continents when its eighth grade Film Studies teacher arranged for a Skype
interview with the Italian filmmaker that the class was studying. For close to
an hour, the students were able to ask the filmmaker a range of artistic and
technical questions...
