Ovations to the Keynote Speaker, Professor Sugata Mitra
The conference Keynote Speaker, Professor Sugata Mitra, talked about autonomous learning within primary education - and the way he did it totally captivated the audience!
Professor Mitra's field research both in India and UK strongly suggests that there is amazing learning potential in autonomous learning groups. The results of his "Hole In The Wall" experiments - where groups of children have been learning together using a single computer, without a teacher or a school schedule - first seemed completely incredible. After a while, however, it all started to make sense: just consider the way young people acquire amazing language skills today through collaborative computer games.
Another interesting aspect in the work of Prfessor Mitra has a connection to the OLPC initiative which focuses on supplying laptops to the developing countries, with the ultimate goal of one laptop per child. If the learning magic is all about the group dynamics, there is no need for every child to have a computer of his or her own. Indeed, this might even be counterproductive!
The final message from Professor Mitra that touched me the most was when he stated that children can learn pretty much anything - it you let them, and if they want to. It's as easy - and difficult - as that.
Podcact
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Posted by: Niilo Alhovaara, eTwinning ambassador at Tunaskolan in Luleå, Sweden
Email: niilo.a@gmail.com
Web: webzine Tunabladet