School in the Cloud

Professor Sugata Mitra’s cur­rent work is on the internet and children’s learning. He retired in 2019 as Professor of Educational Technology, Newcastle University.He conducted the Hole-in-the-Wall (HIW) experiment in 1999, embedding a computer within a wall in an Indian slum at Kalkaji, Delhi; children were allowed to use this computer freely. The experiment aimed at proving that kids could be taught computers very easily without any formal training. Mitra termed this minimally invasive education (MIE). The experiment has since been repeated at many places. He is the recipient of many awards and honorary doctorates from India, the United Kingdom, the United States, and many other countries in the world. His interests include children’s education, remote presence, self-organizing sys­tems, cognitive systems, complex dynamical systems, physics, and consciousness. The Hole-in-the-Wall experiment has left a mark on popular culture. Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup read about Mitra’s experiment and was inspired to write his debut novel that went on to become the Oscar-winning movie of 2009—Slumdog Millionaire. Mitra holds a PhD in physics and is credited with more that 25 inven­tions in the area of cognitive science and educational technology. He was conferred the prestigious Dewang Mehta Award for Innovation in Information Technology from the Government of India in the year 2003. Amongst many other awards, he received the first ever million-dollar TED Prize in 2013. Recently, he used the money he was awarded when he received the TED Prize to put his educational ideas together to create seven laboratories called “Schools in the Cloud.” Here he studied learning as emergent phenomena in an educational self-organizing system. These results question the ideas of curriculum and exami­nations, as well as the meaning of “knowing” itself, in the internet world of the twenty-first century.The effects of Sugata Mitra’s work on the lives of people and the economies of the countries in which his “Schools in the Cloud” have existed can only be guessed at.

• List of FiguresList of Companion Website ResourcesForeword John Hattie, Class 3G, Belleville Primary SchoolAcknowledgmentsAbout the AuthorPrelude: A Matter of ImaginationThe School in the Cloud: A ChronologyPART I: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN CHILDREN MEET THE INTERNET?Chapter 1: Self-Organizing Systems in Learning1999—The Hole in the WallCan Children Learn With Technology?2007—The Gateshead Experiments2009—The Granny CloudAdmiration as Pedagogy: The Kalikuppam ExperimentSkype GranniesThe Hyderabad Project, 2007–2009The Atlas Learning Centre (ALC) in Gosavi Vasti, India, 20122010—When the Rubber Hits the Road: Implementation Around the WorldChapter 2: Schools in the CloudTED: An Idea (I Hope Was) Worth SpreadingThe Schools in the CloudPART II: SCHOOLS IN THE CLOUDChapter 3: Area Zero: Gocharan, the Baruipur Municipality, Bengal, IndiaLearning and Some Huge ChallengesResultsChapter 4: Area 1: Korakati, the Sundarbans, Bengal, IndiaResultsChapter 5: Area 2: Chandrakona, West Midnapore, Bengal, IndiaLearning and Some ChallengesChapter 6: Area 3: Kalkaji, New Delhi, IndiaThe Early SOLE at GGSSS/GBSSSLearningResultsChapter 7: Area 4: Phaltan, District Satara, Maharashtra, IndiaMaking Sense of the Data From PhaltanWhat the Phaltan Data SaidChapter 8: Area 5: Killingworth, North Tyneside, EnglandChapter 9: Area 6: Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, EnglandChapter 10: How to Build Your Own School in the CloudWhy Would You Want to Build a School in the Cloud?Will the Internet Ever be Allowed During Examinations?SpaceFurnitureComputing EquipmentPower, Internet, and Climate ControlThe Dasghara ModelUsing the School in the CloudCreating and Posing Big QuestionsWhen SOLEs Go WrongPART III: GLIMPSES OF THE FUTURE OF LEARNINGChapter 11: What Did We Learn From the Schools in the Cloud?How Much Can We Rely on the Research?What Did We Learn From the Schools in the Cloud?Chapter 12: Is No Pedagogy Good Pedagogy? Minimally Invasive EducationEducationEducation and CognitionUsing the PastAssessmentA Different Type of ExamCurriculumChapter 13: Where Are the Schools in the Cloud Now?An Uncertain FutureWhat Is Happening With the Schools in the Cloud?Schools in the Cloud Spreading Around the WorldChapter 14: Projection, Prediction, Prophecy, and PhantasyLooking for the FutureProjectionPredictionProphecyPhantasySpontaneous OrderEpilogueDocumentary Discussion GuideReferencesIndex

"This isn’t another book about boring old teachers."