Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education [Review]

I really enjoyed listening to Sugata Mitra's speech. It was very interesting to learn about his "Hole in the Wall" experiments and what he discovered. He pointed out some important things that we as teachers should keep in mind. It is important to keep in mind that students can help teach other students. Therefore, teachers should give students plenty of time to work together in groups and to learn from one another. Groups should be composed of students with differing abilities and backgrounds.

Mitra also points out that students will learn what they want to learn. I think this is good to remember as well. Teachers should give students time for exploration especially when introducing new materials. This helps motivate students and keep them engaged in the learning process.

I also think it is valuable what Mitra pointed out about the students who worked on computers in groups. They were able to learn more from one another because of the discussions they had working together. This helped them to have a deeper understanding. The students were able to retain the information more effectively and they were able to recall it two months later. I think this is remarkable. A lot of things learned in school are memorized and then forgotten after the test, but these students were able to recall the information after time had gone by because of the way they had processed the information. Teachers need to keep in mind how valuable social learning can be.

One obstacle that may prevent as much of this social learning is standardized testing and the pressure to teach to the test. This especially effects teachers willingness to allow students free time to explore with materials or allowing lessons to be developed around students interests. However, I do think that it is possible to incorporate more group work into the school day. By allowing students to discuss what they are learning they are able to relate to the subject and better comprehend the subject which will help students remember information that may be tested. I think this may help convince teachers how valuable social education may be.