ERIC Number: EJ1147725
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 4
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0009-4056
EISSN: N/A
Answering Big Questions through Self-Organized Learning
Rix, Sally
Childhood Education, v93 n4 p316-319 2017
Self-organized learning was developed by Professor Sugata Mitra of Newcastle University on the foundation of his firm belief that learning will emerge spontaneously when children are encouraged to be curious and are allowed to self-organize. There are seven dedicated Self-Organized Learning Environments (SOLEs) that Mitra established in conjunction with TED, five of which are in India and two in the United Kingdom. Over the last few years, SOLEs have also been set up by enthusiastic facilitators all around the world, sometimes as part of existing schools and sometimes as a way of extending access to education to children who are being left behind by existing structures and systems. The facilitators provide computers with Internet access (always fewer computers than children to promote collaboration), pose a curiosity-stimulating Big Question, and then stand back while children self-organize to find their answers. While it is always noisy, even chaotic, when children share what they've found, the adults listening are often amazed. This article briefly describes two SOLEs--one at George Stephenson High School, located in the middle of a small town in northeast England and one in a stand alone room in the remote village of Korakati, India which is located in the middle of the world's largest mangrove forest. [This article was first published in "Childhood Explorer."]
Descriptors: High School Students, Student Reaction, Teaching Methods, Independent Study, Active Learning, Discovery Processes, Inquiry, Educational Strategies, Foreign Countries
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: India; United Kingdom (England)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A