Aryan's Information Report

 Agent of Change: Sugata Mitra

Professor Sugata Mitra is an Indian scientist who carried out an experiment that we can all learn from. This experiment was called the ‘Hole in the Wall’ and it helped lots of kids to learn even though they couldn’t read or write in English.

Sugata Mitra is an agent of change. An agent of change is a person who changes people’s lives. As a scientist he wanted to find out if kids could learn without a teacher. Professor Mitra didn’t use lots of computers because he wanted the kids to help each other and learn together.

The computers helped the kids learn how to speak English as they slowly learned how to use the computer. He tried his experiment in South Africa, Italy and other parts of India. Each time the kids were able to understand what they were doing. The children in Italy worked out that they could use the computer to translate the English words to words from their own language.

Professor Mitra thought carefully about a way he could keep this learning going so he introduced the ‘Granny Cloud’ to support the kids learning. The ‘grannies’ used praise and questions to help the kids learn but they didn’t tell them the answers. The kids in different countries liked talking to the grannies on Skype and were happy to show them their work.

His experiment shows that maybe one day in the future teachers may not need to be in the classroom.

Candice's Information Report

Agents of Change can make a difference in children’s education

Isn't it amazing how one man can change thousands of lives. Professor Sugata Mitra is a man who made some of those changes, the man who introduced computers and technology to a whole new audience. His experiment has made massive changes in children's lives, especially the ones who are living in poverty and have never touched a computer before.

This thinking has made him an agent of change.  An agent of change is someone who is inspired to make a difference in the world. He has made that difference by inspiring children to learn by opening the door to learning digitally by giving them the tools to learn with.

Sugata Mitra went to one of the poorest places in India, and outside of a slum he installed something that has become known as the ‘Hole in the Wall. It was a normal computer that was placed into the wall so that the children in India could explore the device.  The Hole In The Wall experiment continues to change a lot of lives for children. It helps them to work collaboratively and improve their English and their computer skills.

Another way that the children learn is with the  “Granny Cloud”. The Granny Cloud is a group of grandmothers in England who volunteer to help children in other parts of the world over Skype.  They teach in special way.  Granny clouds encourage, praise and guide the children but they do not actually tell them how to do stuff.

These experiments show that in the future the teacher may be replaced by the computer. It also means the kids in places where people don’t want to go and teach will no longer miss out on walking down the exciting pathway of learning because of the changes made by Professor Sugata Mitra.

Classroom comparisons over time

Room 9 worked together and used what they have learnt so far to help them brainstorm these ideas. The columns show what classrooms were like in 1900, are like now and might be like in 2100.