by Sugata Mitra

本文作者蘇伽特·米特拉是英國紐卡斯爾大學(xué)教育、交流和語言科學(xué)學(xué)院的一位教育技術(shù)教授。他因自己的教育實驗——“墻中洞”，而為人所熟識。他是NIIT（National Institute of Information Technology，印度國家信息技術(shù)學(xué)院）榮譽退休的首席科學(xué)家，并憑借“墻中洞”實驗項目成為2013年TED大獎的獲得者。TED是“Technology， Entertainment， Design”的縮寫，是美國一家私有非營利機構(gòu)，該機構(gòu)以其組織的TED演講大會而聞名，會議宗旨為“用思想的力量來改變世界”。 TED大獎設(shè)立于2005年，每年的三位獲獎?wù)叱说玫绞f美金外，還有機會在TED會議上公開闡述自己的TED愿望，而TED的組織者將竭盡全力幫助其實現(xiàn)愿望。

What is going to be the future of learning？ The kind of learning we do in schools today originated about 300 years ago， from “The British Empire”. Imagine trying to run the entire planet， without computers， without telephones， using handwritten pieces of paper， traveling by ships. But 1）the Victorians actually created a global computer made up of people. They made another machine to produce those people： the school. Schools produced people who 2）were identical to each other. They engineered a system so robust that its still with us today， continuously producing identical people for a machine that no longer exists. How is present-day schooling going to prepare children for the future？

Well， I 3）bumped into this whole thing completely by accident...

I used to teach people how to write computer programs in New Delhi. Right next to where I used to work， there was a slum with many orphaned children. We also had some rich parents with computers， who used to tell me about how gifted their children are. I suddenly figured that， How come all rich people have these extraordinarily gifted children？ What did the poor do wrong？

I soon made a hole in the boundary wall of that 4）slum， and stuck a computer inside just to see what would happen. All the children came running in. They said， “What is this？ Can we touch it？”I said， “If you wish to...” Then I went away， and eight hours later， found them browsing and teaching each other how to browse. My colleagues said， “One of your students must have showed them how to use the mouse.” So I repeated the experiment， this time 300 miles out of Delhi， in a remote village， where the chances of a passing software development engineer were very slim. So I stuck my computer in and went on my away. After a couple of months， I returned to find kids playing games on it. They said， “We want a faster processor and a better mouse.” So I said， 5）“How on Earth do you know all this？” And they said， in an irritated voice， “Youve given us a machine that works only in English， so we had to teach ourselves English in order to use it.” Thats the first time， as a teacher， I had heard the words “teach ourselves” said so 6）casually.

I repeated the same experiment， over and over， with the same results every time. So I decided to destroy my own argument by making a ridiculous 7）hypothesis. Can children in a remote south Indian village learn the biotechnology of DNA replication， in English， from a street-side computer？ I figured the experiment would fail a few times， at which point I could go back to the lab and say， “we need teachers.”

I put the Hole in the Wall computers in a village called Kallikuppam， and downloaded plenty of stuff about DNA replication before I left. I came back a few months later， and the children said，“Weve understood nothing.” It was as I expected... Then a little girl raised her hand， and says in broken 8）Tamil and English， “Well， apart from the fact that improper replication of the DNA 9）molecule causes disease， we havent understood anything else.”

未來的學(xué)習(xí)會是怎樣的呢？現(xiàn)今我們在學(xué)校中的學(xué)習(xí)模式起源于大概300年前，源自“大英帝國”。想象一下在沒有電腦，沒有電話，只有手寫紙張和航運的情況下試圖操縱局勢，運轉(zhuǎn)整個星球，那是什么樣子的。但是維多利亞時代的人真的用人創(chuàng)造了一臺全球計算機。他們制造了另一機器去培養(yǎng)那些人：學(xué)校。學(xué)校制造出類似的人。他們設(shè)計了一個強大的系統(tǒng)，強大到至今我們?nèi)宰卟怀鲞@個體系，繼續(xù)為這不再存在的機器培養(yǎng)著相同的人?，F(xiàn)今的教育要為未來培養(yǎng)出怎樣的孩子呢？

好了，我觸碰到這個關(guān)于未來教育的議題完全是意外……

我曾在新德里教人如何編寫計算機程序。恰巧在我工作地點附近，有一個住著許多孤兒的貧民窟。我們也認識一些能給孩子用上電腦的有錢家長，他們過去常常跟我說他們的孩子多有才。我突然間想，為什么所有有錢人都擁有這些天賦異稟的孩子呢？窮人家做錯了什么？

不久后，我在貧民窟的邊界墻邊挖了一個洞，而后在里面裝了一臺電腦，就想看看會發(fā)生什么事。所有的孩子都跑了進來。他們問道：“這是什么？我們能摸摸么？”我說：“隨你喜歡……”然后我走開了，八個小時以后，我發(fā)現(xiàn)他們正在瀏覽信息并互相教對方如何瀏覽信息。我的同事說：“肯定是你的其中一個學(xué)生教他們怎么用鼠標了?！彼晕矣种刂昧艘淮螌嶒灒@次是在離德里300英里外的地方，一個偏僻的村莊，在那里，軟件開發(fā)工程師路過的機率很小。我安裝好電腦之后，便走開了。幾個月過去了，我回來后發(fā)現(xiàn)孩子們在電腦上玩游戲。他們說：“我們想要一個更快的處理器和更好的鼠標?！蔽揖蛦枺骸澳銈兊降资窃趺粗肋@些的？”然后他們就忿忿地說道：“你給了我們一臺只能用英語操作的機器，所以為了使用它，我們不得不去自學(xué)英語?！边@是第一次，作為一個老師，我聽到“自學(xué)”這個詞兒被如此隨意地說出來。

我重復(fù)了相同的實驗，一遍又一遍，每次都會有相同的結(jié)果。于是我決定建立一個荒謬的命題來打破自己的論點。在偏遠的印度南部村莊的孩子們能從街邊的電腦上用英語學(xué)會DNA復(fù)制的生物技術(shù)嗎？我設(shè)想過這個實驗會遭遇幾次失敗，這樣的話，我會回到實驗室并且說：“我們需要老師?！?/p>

我把“墻洞”電腦安裝在一個叫作“卡里古帕”的村莊里，并在我離開前下載了大量關(guān)于DNA復(fù)制的材料。幾個月后我回來了，孩子們說：“我們什么都不懂?！边@如我所預(yù)期的一樣……然后一個小女孩舉起了自己的手，用她蹩腳的泰米爾語和英語對我說：“是的，我們知道DNA分子的錯誤復(fù)制會導(dǎo)致疾病，除此之外，我們不明白其他任何東西?！?/p>

It was an educational impossibility. They tested at zero to 30 percent， after two months， in tropical heat， with a computer under the tree， in a language they didnt know， doing something a decade ahead of their time. Absurd！ But 30 percent is a fail， in Victorian terms. We needed 20 percent higher， and I couldnt find a teacher. But I did find a 22-yearold girl who was an accountant and played with the kids all the time. I asked her， “Can you help them？” She said， “Absolutely Not.” So I suggested she use the grandmother method；“Stand behind them. Whenever they do anything， just say， ‘Well， wow， how did you do that？ Whats the next page？ Gosh， when I was your age... You know what grannies do.” After two months， the scores jumped to 50 percent. Kallikuppam had caught up with my control school in New Delhi， a rich private school with a trained biotechnology teacher. Now I knew how to level the playing field.

這是教育范疇上不可能的事情。在熱帶酷熱的環(huán)境下，用一臺在樹下的電腦，用他們不懂的語言，超前學(xué)習(xí)十年后才會學(xué)到的東西，用兩個月的時間，從0分漲到了30分。太荒謬了！但是以維多利亞時代的規(guī)范來說，30分是失敗的。我們需要再提高20分，然而我找不到一個老師。但我找到一個22歲做會計的女孩兒，她總和那些孩子一起玩。我問她：“你能幫助他們嗎？”她回答說：“絕對不行?！敝笪医ㄗh她使用老奶奶的方法；“站在他們背后。無論他們做什么，你只需要說：‘哇，喔，你是怎么做到的？下一步要做什么？天啊，當(dāng)我像你這么大的時候……你知道這就是老奶奶們干的事兒。”兩個月之后，分數(shù)漲到了50。卡里古帕村趕上了我在新德里那所用來對照實驗的學(xué)校，那是所富人就讀的私立學(xué)校，有訓(xùn)練有素的生物老師。如今我知道如何大展拳腳了。

小鏈接

Hole in the Wall “墻中洞”項目

1999年，“墻中洞”項目（Hole in the Wall，簡稱為HIW）作為一個針對于孩子學(xué)習(xí)的教育實驗首次啟動。起初，一臺電腦被安放在德里Kalkaji貧民窟的一面墻亭里，孩子們可以免費使用這臺電腦。這個教育實驗的目的是要證明在沒有任何正規(guī)訓(xùn)練的情況下，孩子們可以通過電腦輕松學(xué)習(xí)。蘇伽特稱這種學(xué)習(xí)為鑿壁上網(wǎng)教育計劃。這個實驗在多地進行，在印度郊區(qū)有40多個“墻中洞”項目。2004年，柬埔寨也進行了這個實驗?！皦χ卸础表椖康呐d趣點包括教育、遠程展示、自發(fā)組織體系、認知體系、自然科學(xué)和意識。

“墻中洞”實驗項目在流行文化里也留下了深刻烙印。印度小說作家兼外交官維卡斯·史瓦盧普讀了有關(guān)蘇伽特實驗的報道后，有感而發(fā)，創(chuàng)作了小說處女作《Q&A;》，隨后被改編為奧斯卡金像獎獲獎電影《貧民窟的百萬富翁》。

There is evidence from 10）neuroscience. The center of our brain， when its threatened， it shuts down everything else. Punishment and examinations are seen as threats. So we basically make our children shut their brains down， and then we say， “Perform.” We need to look at learning as the product of educational selforganization. The teacher sets the process in motion and then stands back 11）in awe and watches as learning happens. My wish is to build these Self-Organized Learning Environments； design a future of learning by supporting children all over the world to tap into their wonder and their ability to work together. Help me build this school. It will be called the School in the Cloud， where children go on these intellectual adventures driven by lifes big questions.

Plus， you can also do Self-Organized Learning Environments at home， in school， outside school， in clubs. Its very easy to do. Theres a great document produced by TED which will tell you how to do it. Please do it across all five continents and send me the data， then Ill put it all together， move it into the School of Clouds， and create the future of learning. Thats my wish.

And just one last thing. At the top of the Himalayas， at 12，000 feet， where the air is thin， I once built two Hole in the Wall computers， and the children flocked there. And there was this little girl who was following me around. I said to her，“You know， I want to give a computer to everybody， every child. I dont know， what should I do？” She suddenly raised her hand， and said to me， “Get on with it.” I think it was good advice. Ill follow her advice.

神經(jīng)學(xué)上有支持的證據(jù)。我們的大腦中樞在受到威脅的時候會關(guān)閉一切功能。懲罰和考試被視為威脅。所以基本上，我們是令孩子關(guān)閉了他們的大腦后再命令其“運作”。我們需要將學(xué)習(xí)視為自發(fā)式教育的產(chǎn)物。老師在初始時設(shè)定進程，然后以敬畏的姿勢退到一旁，觀察學(xué)習(xí)的發(fā)生。我的愿望是建立這種“自發(fā)組織的學(xué)習(xí)環(huán)境”；設(shè)計一種未來的學(xué)習(xí)模式，給世界各地的孩子們提供支持，幫助他們滿足好奇心并挖掘他們團隊合作的能力。幫助我建立這所學(xué)校吧。它將被稱為“云學(xué)?！保谀莾?，孩子們在人生難題的驅(qū)使下繼續(xù)這些智力旅程。

另外，你可以在家，在學(xué)校，在校外，在社團里，組織自我學(xué)習(xí)。這很容易做到。TED制作過一部很棒的紀錄片，將告訴你如何去做。請把這個信息帶到世界各地，并把數(shù)據(jù)發(fā)給我，然后我會將其組合在一起，放進云學(xué)校，創(chuàng)造未來的學(xué)習(xí)模式。這就是我的愿望。

最后一件事情。在喜馬拉雅山的頂端，在12，000英尺的高空，那里空氣稀薄，我曾置放了兩臺“墻洞”電腦，孩子們聚集在那里。而后有個小女孩跟著我轉(zhuǎn)。我對她說：“你知道吧，我想給大家每人，每個孩子一臺電腦。我不知道，我應(yīng)該做點什么？”她突然伸出自己的手（向我要電腦），對我說：“行動起來呀?！蔽艺J為這是很好的建議。我會聽從她的建議。