Mouse Trap

Times Of India, September 21, 2004

In the last five years, 40,000 children living in the villages of nine Indian states have become computer literate, thanks to Sugata Mitra’s ‘minimally invasive education’ experiment. Mitra, chief scientist, NIIT, faced much derision when he first suggested that children could teach themselves computers. However, such was the success of the experiment that in April 2004, former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee gifted Cambodia with computers for four similar kiosks. Egypt and South Africa have also replicated the experiment successfully. Mitra tells Swapna Majumdar it is time that the idea was integrated into the primary education system:

When did you first propose the concept of 'minimally invasive education' (MIE)?

In 1988, I presented a paper on a computer-assisted learning programme at a conference of education experts. My view was that, given a computer, children (in the age group 8-13) could become computer-literate on their own through exploration and discovery, and without the intervention of a teacher. I believed that the brighter children would help the others, and that would lead to a greater number of computer-literate children. There were 2,000 principals of various schools at the meeting and they debunked my theory. They couldn't see how children could teach themselves.

Did that put you off?

No. I was used to having my theories rejected. The big opportunity to test my theory came only 11 years later. In 1999, I set up a computer in the wall of the NIIT compound in Kalkaji, South Delhi. There were some slums nearby and, to check whether the computer would attract children, we also put up a surveillance camera. The coinage 'hole-in-the-wall' (HIW) probably came about because we, quite literally, knocked a hole in the wall and placed the computer in it.

Did that computer attract children?

Yes, and much quicker than we expected. Even I thought it would take at least a day, but within 30 minutes children were clicking new desktop files.

But those children, presumably from the slums, are unlikely to have even seen a computer before. How did they figure these things out?

We were watching on the surveillance camera. We noticed that one child would experiment with the mouse and by trial and error discover that by pressing down on a folder, a new icon would come up. He would then tell his friends of his discovery. They would then try it out. Another one would discover something else and pass on that information, and very soon the whole group knew how it worked. The best part of this experiment was that, despite the fact that the games and links on our computer were all in English, the children figured it out. It took them a little time to grasp the links between the icons and what they could do with it. We then tried out the same experiment in Shivpuri (MP) and Madantusi (UP) to see whether the same premise held for different geographical locations and cultural backgrounds.

Were the results any different?

No. In fact, we tried the experiment in 23 different locations across India, and the results were the same each time. This confirmed that, no matter what group, children don't need to be 'taught' how to use computers. It is amazing that the minds of children work in the same way, whether in Kashmir, Kanyakumari, a village in Rajasthan, or in the Sunderbans.

What did the children learn?

They taught themselves how to open and close files, draw and paint pictures on the computer, load and save files, play games, surf and chat on the Internet (where a connection is available), and send and receive e-mail. They manage to do this irrespective of their educational background, literacy levels, proficiency in the English language, social or economic background, ethnicity, place of origin, gender, geographic location and intelligence.

Why did you tie up with the World Bank, and not the government, to further the HIW experiment? Especially since the Delhi government had funded your first initiative...

Actually, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and her cabinet members were undergoing a training course in computers in 1999 at NIIT, Kalkaji. When she saw the children operating the computer mounted on a wall and heard about the HIW experiment, she (Dikshit) was very impressed. This prompted the Delhi government to fund 30 computers for the Madangir experiment. We needed more resources to install computers in other states. This time, the World Bank expressed interest. Had the government expressed interest, we would have tied up with them.

Can the HIW experiment provide a solution to the problem of absentee teachers if you provide school curricula through computers?

We are considering it in Delhi and Nagpur. To begin with, we will have curricula for Class 5 in history and geography, and CBSE examination preparation software for Classes 7, 8, 9 and 10. We are also investigating the feasibility of providing spoken English and written English coaching software and computer-assisted physics and chemistry laboratory kits for science education in schools that have no laboratory facilities. We need to investigate whether this could solve the problem of absentee teachers. It certainly has the potential of providing supplementary assistance.

(Courtesy: Women's Feature Service)