first learning center
It’s a tale of technological innovation meets social awareness once again. LOVE when these romantic stories cross my desk! So, we came across a TechCrunch article a few days ago on this project, Hole in the Wall. I’m all over finding creative ways to help improve the world, especially if they involve equal access to education and bridging the digital divide. Among other things. And, this definitely fits the profile. It started out in 1999 with the very fundamental idea that kids learn through play, much more so than adults. If you give them something, like a toy, a phone, or a computer in this case, they have the patience and curiosity required to figure it out. Anyway, Dr. Sugata Mitra, Chief Scientist at NIIT (India’s version of the Learning Tree – essentially an IT training institute) decided to take this idea one step further and created an experiment out of it. He literally drilled a hole in the wall of one of the NIIT buildings in Delhi, put a computer there, facing outwards of course, and let the children who were living in the slum behind the building play with it. Amazingly, it only took them a few minutes to catch on! And eventually they started coming up with their own terms for the various components – see the Frontline link below for some of the words they came up with for mouse and hourglass. Very cute.
kids outside a new learning center
The one-time experiment soon transformed into a full-blown project that has now been implemented all over India, including in some of the most rural areas, the primary goal being to provide a basic education to those children who a) don’t have access and b) can’t afford it. The International Finance Corporation actually invested in HiWEL in 2001 because of its great potential and its link to capacity building. It’s amazing not only to see what grassroots-ish, entrepreneurial ideas are out there, but what children are capable of! Not to mention, the role that the simplest of technologies can play in bringing about social change. It’s also very fitting and seems to be well aligned with the emphasis India has put on the IT industry. Not to pontificate on global strategy. Hole in the Wall has been featured on a number of news programs in recent years, including Frontline and BBC. It also received the “Digital Opportunity Award” in 2008. Horray!
And, for all the wonderful educators out there, this is apparently an example of what is referred to as Minimally Invasive Education (MIE). What a crazy, slightly medical mouthful that is. But it makes sense.
Happy weekending!
by Gaurav
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