RE: Hole in the wall... looking at other issues (fwd)

Dr Mitra, You might be missing out of the discussion if you're not part of
the BytesForAll_readers mailing list. (This is a different list from the
BytesForAll broadcast-only list.) Please do join it via the sarai.net
server. Will forward your comments to the readers list, where the
hole-in-the-wall issue is being currently debated. FN

On Mon, 28 Oct 2002, Sugata Mitra wrote:


> Is there any proof that kids of 2 can learn to use a computer on their own?
> I would be interested in reading this. But only if it is a scientific study
> and not some anecdotal media report. 
> 
> 
> Sugata Mitra 
> Centre for Research in Cognitive Systems 
> Synergy Building 
> IIT Campus 
> Haus Khas 
> New Delhi 110 016 
> India 
> If you must speak or fax: 
> Telephone: +91 11 658 1022 direct, 658 1017-20 ext 7001 
> Fax: +91 11 658 1022/23 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Frederick Noronha [mailto:[email protected]] 
> Sent: Monday, October 28, 2002 3:04 AM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: Hole in the wall... looking at other issues (fwd)
> 
> 
> 
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> 
> its good to debate these issues. i am all for sugata carrying out his 
> intellectual quest and doing what he is doing.  i am all for sugata proving 
> these points. he is blessed with the talent to carry out such studies and we
> 
> must pay attention to such studies.a
> 
> however, point is made- that kids in 6 to 13 age group can learn to navigate
> 
> a compter without anyone's help. but if kids from 2 or 3 onwards can do it 
> without manual because they could not read anyway, what is the gain in 
> proving that point. we presume if something can be done by grade 1 students,
> 
> grade 3 students can do that anyway. if not there may be other issues 
> involved.
> 
> i am also sensitive to it because it sounds a little racist to me that what 
> the kids in industrial world can do at age 3 the kids in slums can do at 6
> to 
> 13. I have found some of the children who beg on the streets of delhi 
> extraordinarily intelligent in several cases but with a lack of
> opportunities 
> they may not achieve their potential. but does that need to be proved. 
> intelligence is almost evenly distributed across all societies. it is its 
> application, the learning curve that we are on, the experiences we have, the
> 
> culture we live in may shape many of our preferences.
> 
> i am a child of deprivation myself and after getting an opportunity to go to
> 
> school i went to harvard, fletcher, and half a dozen schools in the western 
> world. i perhaps was the youngest editor and heda of a newsweekly in the 
> national press in india at under 30 years. but if someone carried out an 
> experiment saying that a child of deprivation could become the editor of the
> 
> times of india group at under 30 therefore......... will that prove
> anything?
> 
>  where i have an issue is in turning that into a model that will route funds
> 
> into a direction that may not be necessary. that is expensive. or not 
> cost-effective. each point has its purpose and helps us move forward as a 
> society. but i have an issue when it directs resources in a direction that 
> may require greater scrutiny. even more so when the resiurces are public.
> 
> i get upset when someone like the ceo of globalvision - at the strength of 
> the argument provided by one of our own colleagues- comes and tells me in an
> 
> email that 15 year old indian kids could be less intelligent than 3 year old
> 
> american kids. when i know well that his asosciate is a child adopted from 
> bihar and brought up in italy and now has an italian name. for me he is
> proof 
> enough that we do not need to prove these points anymore. there was a 
> hollywood film with dan arkroyd and eddie murphy- for one dollar or 
> something- where the point was  proved for masses. i thought that should
> have 
> closed the issue. the point is about how we can better use of technology not
> 
> about they can also learn it and the others can also learn it
>  
> i am more than happy having other inputs and try to see other perspectives
> as 
> well. but the impressions created and perceptions developed will last longer
> 
> than any intellectual clarifications some of us may be able to achieve.
> 
> thanks much
>