Whole On the Wall 🖥

 

Sugata Mitra’s, “Build a School in the Cloud” was very inspirational in many ways. His experiments of putting computers or as he called them “whole in the walls” for children to see, feel, touch, read, and observe was genius on so many levels. Mitra gives us some historical context and that reminds me that humans have the fundamental learning gene, we all have it!

His experiments touch on Sir Ken Robinson’s “curiosity and creativity” as two forces that lead to better learning. It also connects to Michael Wesch’s concept of learning being a fundamental human trait. 

My role as an educator with young people in an online environment is similar to Danah Boyd’s central point of digital literacy between a student and a teacher, we can both learn together. With the vast amounts of technological tools out there, there are many opportunities to experiment. As mentioned before, with experimentation comes curiosity and creativity and when you have both in place you have learning happening in your very own eyes. 

As a future English as a Second Language teacher, it was amazing to discover how learning is possible with the use of just one computer. In Mitra’s talk, I go to see and hear young people learn a new language without any teacher's help or aid. Not only were they learning a second language they were learning skills I don’t possess such as biology and the functioning components of a computer. It is here and it has been proven that all humans can learn, so there shouldn’t be an excuse whatsoever.

Mitra’s Self Organized Learning Environment (SOLE) is the modern Montessori pedagogy. Both pedagogies demonstrate just how students can learn when you implement an environment where students are self-drive, there is organization, and there are learning materials that can spark curiosity and the learning light bulb brighten up. My role is to implement a SOLE!