Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Sugata Mitra: Build a School in the Cloud

This is an interesting concept because it demonstrates unfettered, uncontrolled learning in the context of poverty and ignorance. Given the opportunity, particularly children with curiosity, will use the technology to learn. Mitra wants to build schools with this approach to learning and only wants Granny’s to staff the school.


In my thinking I now have a spectrum to guide my approach. If I think ‘middle of the road’ I will tend towards an innovative school approach. If I move right of this, towards Mitra’s school of the cloud, I would probably meet up with some innovative home schoolers. No doubt I would like to visit Mitra’s school just to see how it works because it is totally beyond anything I could conceive working as a viable educational institution. What about assessment (formative, of course)?
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6 comments:

  1. The Shrews - Wicked Educational ProvocationsApril 21, 2015 at 3:39 PM

    Hi Phil, for some reason I can't see the image?

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    1. pdbrownApril 21, 2015 at 5:48 PM

      Should work now.

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    2. The Shrews - Wicked Educational ProvocationsApril 21, 2015 at 6:38 PM

      Yep...it does....I have one problem with Mitra's claims - where sit leaves teachers....what do you think Phil?

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  2. pdbrownApril 21, 2015 at 6:49 PM

    I am amazed at his results although we don't hear much about the failures. What about those kids that find whole the thing too much and are content to look on? In any case those kids have little choice - no TV, Xbox, iPad to distract them, just painfully raw technology. I can't see it working in our context. But there is plenty of room to make our educational process much more liberating and he demonstrates that by the bucket load.

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  3. UnknownApril 27, 2015 at 11:10 PM

    Hi Phil, Mitra's results are amazing and really highlight how the curiosity and creativity within us all will surface when given the right environmental stimulus...and as Fullan suggests, if the stimulus is irresistably engaging the learning will flourish.
    I think you are right that it is hard to see the exact model working in our local context of mainstream schooling but I think he deliberately challenges us to rethink our environments to examine how we might better allow for greater student agency, flexibility and opportunity.
    Perhaps the notion of students having a time in their week where they are "supervised" by the "granny" as they work on their passion projects might be a way of integrating the positive aspects of Mitra's school in a manageable way within the normal school timetable The "grannies" could be community members, local artists, business people..etc etc...another audience for the students to work with from beyond the school wall. ( not withstanding issues of working with children of course!!)

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