Information Report

Sugata Mitra: Agent of Change

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.