I had previously watched the TED talk with Sugata Mitra describing the Hole in the Wall experiments. What really thrilled me in both the lecture and the book was the use of the ‘Granny Cloud’. I thought that was brilliant! I absolutely love how Mitra and his team incorporated an adult to help the students along with their learning without providing direct instruction on the topic. The adult provided an opening question, and support, encouragement. The concept of the Granny Cloud really seemed to tap into my belief system and must ring true with my teaching philosophy, because I felt like shouting YES at the end of the segment. Like Professor Mitra, I am also a big fan of letting students work together to find answers and often work to provide my students with support and further questions without offering the answer, instead letting them search the text or computer to find the answers they might be looking for.
I also really enjoyed how Professor Mitra persisted in his research of how children learn and how technology and education can work together in non-traditional ways. His research led him to a concept he called ‘Self-Organized Learning Environment’ or SOLE. Through reorganizing different aspects of the SOLE trials (such as type of questions asked, or placement of computers) Professor Mitra and his research team have been able to analyze learning itself and find ways to improve their Hole in the Wall experiments and thereby education at large. The picture below is a screenshot of the Kindle app; a highlight on the page indicates where SOLE was first mentioned in the book.
Although I have had a Kindle app for years, it has been used for free time reading, not textbooks. This quarter I have 4 textbooks that I’m using on the Kindle app rather than having a hard copy. I’ve found that I’m using numerous highlights and bookmarks while reading the textbooks. In using the Kindle app for my reading I feel a sense of discomfort in not knowing how to quickly and easily go back and find the information I need. Unlike a book where I could ‘see’ (remember) where information was on a page, I now have to rely on the various bookmarks and highlights.
My comfort level with reading textbooks with the Kindle app is still in the ’emerging’ stage. I’m fairly certain that after this quarter my comfort level and familiarity with eText will increase tremendously.
EDTC6431
Granny cloud
SOLE
References:
Mitra, S. (2012). Beyond the hole in the wall: discover the power of self-organized learning. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Hole-Wall-Discover-Self-Organized-ebook/dp/B0070YZSFQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1421203200&sr=1-1&keywords=beyond+the+hole+in+the+wall+discover+the+power+of+self-organized+learning
Beyond the Hole in the Wall: Discover the Power of Self-Organized Learning by Sugata Mitra
TED Talk with Sugata Mitra, (2007). Kids can teach themselves.
Kindle Reading App download link
Lewis is learning 
Hi Marcy,
Your reflection got me excited about this ‘granny cloud’! All of my electronics are a little dated, and I have no idea how the cloud works so the potential promise of a cloud that is easy enough for grandmas to figure out makes me feel like their is hope! Also, I totally agree with you that using the kindle app is a bit confusing and I find myself constantly full of distrust and doubt in its abilities. For example, I like being able to reference page numbers (like for this class I need to find the page numbers in order to do APA) but can only find a the percent read. What am I supposed to do? Write my citation: Author Name, x% read. 🙂
Best,
Ellen
Hi Ellen,
Just a quick clarification about the Granny Cloud. Although it does have the word ‘cloud’ in it, it’s actually more about using computers to network people together and not about storing any information. The ‘granny’s’ are the helpful, friendly people who provide encouragement and motivation to the students (online). Much like how you might use Skype to talk to your grandma. What they don’t do is offer actual answers! They leave all the research up to the children.
HI Marcy,
I loved reading your post, and it has me excited to read “Beyond the hole in the Wall”, it’ll probably be my next book. I also love challenging my students to find the answer themselves and having students with the right supports work together to solve problems and discover where the information may be. This has me excited to read about his SOLE development and research and I look forward to reading more of your posts. I also have to second what Ellen mentioned about the percentage read (I have actually been doing what Ellen mentioned) but it seems so weird especially when I’m use to always have page numbers to reference.
Marcy,
Great post! I started reading the Mind Amplifier book so it is nice to read about one of the other books that we will be reading. From what you’ve posted I am looking forward to reading Mitra book. The self-organized learning environment seems like it may be very beneficial if implemented in the right way. I am eager to learn new ways to incorporate technology in non-traditional ways. I also see my self as an ’emerging’ kindle app reader and am hoping to learn how to use the app with all its potentials.
Ashley