A Hole in the Wall sounds very convincing to me, thanks to its catchy name. As stated in the article, A Hole In The Wall is also known as MIE or Minimally Invasive Education. According to the finding, the researchers placed several computer into the walls, connect them with internet, and allows the children to explore knowledge through internet facilities. Undeniably, this is a good approach as they are fresh and supposedly interesting as opposed to the traditional chalk and talk.
Children, particularly will be motivated to wake up early in the morning to sit in front of those holes in the wall and exploring what they have to offer to them. As reported in the research, “Most of the slump children were able to use the computer to browse, play games, create documents and paint pictures within a few days. Thus, it was observed that, even in the absence of any direct input, mere curiosity led groups of children to explore, which resulted in learning. This, coupled with minimal input from peers, or from anyone familiar with computers, helped the children learn more.” (Mitra, 2000)
Personally, I agree with the finding and yes, children learn best when they are ‘at it’. Meaning, with trial and errors and multiple other difficulties to get the computer to work for them, it is actually a rewarding experience when they are able to achieve something. For example, as stated in above that after sometimes, they are able to create documents, paint pictures, browse for information and so forth.
Judging that it is rare for the rural area children to be able to manipulate computer vastly as what the children in Mitra’s research had. Therefore, I feel that these children do not want to miss this opportunity thus making the most of what offered to them, that is to explore, explore and explore, which eventually explain how this research is very successful indeed. Praising Mitra, I think he succeeded in opening the eyes of many people in convincing that technology can function too even in environment with lesser opportunities; e.g: rural area (when the coverage of internet is restricted and limited electricity,etc) With determination and persistence, technology can now be incorporated everywhere; thus providing equal chance and possibility of education to be experienced by less fortunate children, like in Village D. Salhundi, Karnataka, India.
Eager children. And curious too.
Holes of wisdom (and knowledge)
However, despites the advantages and how much these children benefit from the experiement, I feel that there still are some disadvantages that are possible to happen.
1. The computer and its hardwares need to be constantly maintained for it to always be in tip top condition, since the children are relying on it to gather knowledge.
2. should the internet connectivity or the electricity goes down, it’ll be a limitation to the children. The computer should also function properly in order to sustain the children’s interest and keep them motivated.
3. over certain period of time, the programs and software should be updated to avoid boredom as children are curious and (supposedly) fast learners.(probably should not be underestimated)
4. need to hire good and competent IT personnels to maintain the computers. And hopefully it’s not too expensive to pay for maintenances.
But yes, I think that Minimally Invasive Education might probably work out well if it is to be done in Malaysia. There are still so many aspects for us to explore. We should give it a try as I feel that no children should be deprived from experiencing the advantages of technology. It might work out well. Hopefully.
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