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TheSelfOrganisedLearning
Environment(SOLE)School
SupportPack.

SugataMitra
ProfessorofEducationalTechnology

DavidLeat
ProfessorofCurriculumInnovation

PaulDolan
TeachingFellowinTechnologyEnhancedLearning

EmmaCrawley
Year4Teacher,StAidansChurchofEnglandPrimarySchool

3/12/2010
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Contents

1. Introduction
2. WholeSchoolImplications
3. Benefits
4. SettingupaSOLE
5. WhatMakesaGoodEnquiryQuestion?
6. TheRoleoftheTeacherinaSOLE
7. TheRoleoftheStudentManager
8. CommonSituations

Appendices

1. SelfOrganisedLearningEnvironments
2. Exemplarstudentwork

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1.Introduction

ThisdocumentisdesignedtosupporttheimplementationofSugataMitrasSelfOrganised
LearningEnvironment(SOLE)intomultipleschoolcontexts.Itcontainswholeschool
relatedinformationforHeadTeachersandseniorstaffinadditiontoteachingandlearning
supportforteachersandsupportstaff.
WhatisaSOLE?
Inthisdocument,SelfOrganisedLearningEnvironmentreferstotheadaptationofaschool
spacetofacilitateEnquiryBasedLearning.Ateacherencouragestheirclasstoworkasa
communitytoanswerquestionsusingcomputerswithinternetaccess.Theclasswork
aroundaguidingsetofrules:

Studentsneedtoformgroupsofabout4
Childrenchoosetheirowngroups
Theycanchangegroupsatanytime
Childrencanlooktoseewhatothergroupsaredoingandtakethatinformation
backtotheirowngroup
Theyshouldbereadytopresenttheiranswersbacktotheclassattheendof
thesession

AlthoughMitrasresearchcontainsdesignsforspeciallydesignedSOLEs,formostschoolsa
SOLEwillconstituteaclassroom,asetoflaptopsandateacherwillingtoexperimentwitha
differentteachingstyle.Asaresult,thisdocumentfocusesmoreonthemechanismsand
strategiesteacherscanemploytosuccessfullymanageaSOLEthantechnicalrequirements.
Thisdocumentisinanearlystageofdevelopmentandwouldbenefithugelyfromthe
experiencesofstaffundertakingthisparticularmethodofEnquiryBasedLearning.Each
sectionshouldberegardedasastartingpointforyourownpractice.Ouraimistodevelopa
documentthatmakesitquickerandeasierforschoolstoadopttheSOLEmethodofEnquiry
BasedLearning.Thiswillbeconsiderablymorevalidifitcontainsyouropinionsand
experiences.

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2.WholeSchoolIssues

HowShouldaSchoolgoaboutsettingupaSOLE?

Thisdependsonthespecificcultureandstructuresthatexistinyourschool.However,itis
suggestedthatthesecriteriaareessentialtosuccessfulimplementation:

SupportiveSeniorStaff
Anenvironmentinwhichstafffeelabletomakemistakes
Staffwhobuyintothebenefits
Acommunicationsystemforstafftoshareideasandexperiencesofworking
withinaSOLE

IntegrationintoCurriculum.

Therearearangeoflevelsatwhichaschoolcouldintegratethismethodintoexisting
curriculumstructures.Itisadvisableinthefirstinstancetotrialthemethodaspartofatopic
andthenextendusageonceateacherisconfidentenough.
SomeschoolsusetheSOLEatthestartofatopicasawayofgeneratinginterestand
allowingstudentstofindtheirownrouteintoasubject.
SomeschoolsusetheSOLEmoreoften,respondingtoeitherthestudentspreferencefor
howtheywouldliketolearnortheteachersperceptionofwhereanEnquiryisbestplaced
withinatopic.Successfulimplementationwilllikelydifferfromschooltoschoolbutadhere
totheabovesuccesscriteria.
SOLEscanbeusedtoallowstudentstolearnaboutanysubject.Thereareofcourse,time
implications.Itislikelythattheteacherwillatfirstenvisageasmallrangeofopportunities
forwhatinformation/skillscanbelearntusingthemethod.Astimegoeson,andtheteacher
growsinconfidence,moreopportunitieswillpresentthemselves.
Foranysignificantchangetooccur,leadershipmustgiveactive,sustainedandinformed
support.Leadershipcannotallowotherprioritiestocompete.
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IntegratingSOLEsintothecurriculumrequiresseriouscurriculumplanning.
KeyStageConsiderations

TheSOLEmethodcanbeadaptedtoworkwithmostKeyStages.Someaspectsmayhaveto
bemodified.Forexample,withyoungerstudents,theresponsibilityforbehaviour
managementcanbedelegatedtoapolicepersonwhotendtoenjoywearingapolice
helmetaspartoftheirrole.Witholderstudents,itmightbenecessaryforthisroletohavea
moreprofessionaltitle,suchasstudentmanager.Theprincipleofnominatingastudentto
beresponsibleforstudentbehaviourremainsthesame.
Theageormaturityofastudentmaybeacauseofconcernwhenchoosingwhichyear
grouptoworkwith.However,SOLEsallowstudentstheopportunitytodeveloptheirsocial
skillsatafasterpacetoaconventionalclassroomenvironment.Thismeansthatafteran
initialadjustmentperiod,evenyoungchildrencanfunctionasagroup.

Staffing

AsaHeadteacherofSeniorStaffmember,itisusefultoconsidertheeffectsonteachers
usingtheSOLEenquirymethodforthefirsttime.
Itcanbedifficulttostepbackfromtheconventionalroleofteacherandassumetheroleof
afriendlymediator.Teachersshould,wherepossibleandappropriate,actaspartners,
ratherthanmentors,exhibitingcuriosity.Ittakestimeandsupporttohelptheteachergain
confidencewiththetechnique.
Iftheteachersexpectationsoftheoutcomesarenotmetduringearlyexperiencesitcanbe
disheartening.Itislikelythattheclasswillalsofinditdifficulttoadjusttotheirownrole
changes,makingitunlikelythatateachertriallingthemethodforthefirsttimewill
experienceinstantsuccess.
Havingsaidthat,withtherightdirectionandsupportfromtheteacher,theclasswill
improvequickly.Itisimportanttohavefaithintheclassandteacherthatoverashort
periodoftime,theywilladapttoworkinginaSOLE.
Teachersareguidedintheiractionsbytheirbeliefsaboutlearning.Theremaybeneedtobe
someunlearningtomakeSOLEsworkwell.
Itcanbeusefulforstafftopartnerwithcolleaguestoshareexperiencesandtalkthrough
someofthechallengesofadaptingtotheSOLEenquirymethod.
Discussingandevenarguingaboutpracticebeliefsandoutcomesisimportant.Such
argumentisbestinformedbyevidenceandfeedbackfromthepupils.
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Whatotherwholeschoolissuesdoyoufeelneeddiscussing?

Notes

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3.Principles.

Sometimesdidacticlessonscanimposedefinedboundariesonstudentprogress.Within
SOLEsstudentprogressisnotlimitedbyteacherperceptionsorexpectedcurriculumlevels.
Studentscanbecapableoflearningandunderstandingmorethantheteacherand
curriculumgivesthemcreditfor.
Studentscanlearnsociallybeforeinternalizingtheirknowledge.Thiscanhelpwithmemory
recallandalsodevelopmentofsocialskills.
Studentsactivelyconstructtheirownunderstandingofnewknowledgeandconcepts,
whichtheydobyrelatingittowhattheyalreadyknow.Sometimesexisting,erroneous
knowledgehastobechallenged.
Activeconstructionofunderstandingrequiresthoughtandtalk,especiallyexplanatorytalk.
Learningtocollaborategreatlyimprovesexplanatorytalk.
Choicegreatlyimprovesmotivation.
Childrenhaveasignificantcapacitytoteachthemselvesandtheycanlearncriticality
surprisinglyquickly.
Learningismorethanacquisitionofspecifiedcurriculumknowledge,itisalsoabout
participationbeingabletouselearningtools.

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4.Benefits.
Pleaseratetheimportanceofthesesuggestedbenefitsbycirclingthenumbersforeach
statement.
1=important;2=fairlyimportant;3=notimportant;4=dontknow
Therearealsospacesinthetableforyoutocontributeyourownsuggestions.

Reductioninstressasteacherstudentresponsibilityratio
becomesmoreequal
1 2 3 4
Studentsdevelopquestioningskills 1 2 3 4
Improvedrepertoireofstrategiesforcommonclassroom
problems
1 2 3 4
Sharedresponsibilityforclassprogress 1 2 3 4
Greaterinterestintopicsfromstudents 1 2 3 4
Thesenseofoccasionalteacherfallibilitycanimprove
relationshipswithclassandprovideasensethattheteacheris
learningalongsidetheclass.
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
Teacher
1 2 3 4
Notes

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1 2 3 4
Ownershipoverlearninganddirectionoflearning. 1 2 3 4
Memoryrecall 1 2 3 4
GreateropportunitiesforIntrapersonalandInterpersonalskill
development
1 2 3 4
Abilitytoworkwithinpreferredlearningstyle 1 2 3 4
Improvedsenseoftrustwithteacher 1 2 3 4
Incorporationofexternallearningintoclassroomtopics 1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
Student
1 2 3 4
Studentslearnindependentlearningskillsearlierinschoollife.
Leadstostrongerindependentlearningprogression.
1 2 3 4
Effectonstudentperceptionofownershipandconnectionto
school.
1 2 3 4
Aclimateofenquiryisestablished.Theremovalofteacher
imposedknowledgeparametersleadstostudentswithalarger
desireforknowledge.
1 2 3 4
Greateropportunitiesforinterpersonalandintrapersonal
learningtooccur.
1 2 3 4
Schoolisofferingpersonalisedlearning. 1 2 3 4
Improvedteacherstudentrelationships 1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
School
1 2 3 4



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5.SettingUpaSOLE

AlthoughSugataMitrasSOLEdesignsinvolvetheinstallationofcustomfurnitureand
technology,thesameresultsareachievableinanormalclassroomwithasetoflaptopsor
netbooks.Thefollowinginformationdescribestheminimalconditionsnecessarytomakea
SOLEfollowedbyMitrasadvancedsetup.

Suggested Minimum Set Up Please describe your set up:
Enoughlaptopsforoneper4students.
Notes

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Laptopswithlargerscreensarepreferableasthey
enablethegrouptogetabetterviewofwhatison
screen.
Ablackboard,whiteboardorinteractivewhiteboard
onwhichtowritetheEnquiryquestion.
Paperandpensforthestudentstowritenotes.
Foryoungerstudents,apolicehelmet,sheriffs
badgeorsimilarsymbolofauthorityforthestudent
manager.
Aspaceforstudentstopresentbacktheirfindingsat
theendoftheEnquiry.

Pleaseratetheattainabilityofthefollowingadvancedsetupsuggestionsbasedonthe
followingscale:
1=EasilyAttainable;2=Attainable;3=Difficult;4=Impossible;5=Dontknow

Advanced Set Up 1 2 3 4 5
Identifyalocationintheschool,typicallyaroomthatishighlyvisibleto
passingadults,forexample,theHeadoftheschool,theteachers,the
parentscomingtopickupchildrenandotherchildren.
1 2 3 4 5
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Createglasswallsfortheroomsuchthattheentireareaisvisible.Putin
brightCFLlightingandpaintthewallsinlight,cheerfulcolours.The
flooringshouldbeeasytocleananddustfree.
1 2 3 4 5
Designfurniturethatenablesgroupsof612yearoldchildren(usually4
to6inagroup)tointeractwithacomputerwithoutovercrowding.
1 2 3 4 5
About6itemsoffurniturewillenableaclassof2430childrentousethe
facility.
1 2 3 4 5
Designthefurnituresuchthattherearenosharpedgesanywhere.All
furnitureshouldbeeasytocleanand,preferably,washable.
1 2 3 4 5
Purchasedesktopcomputers,oneforeachgroupof46children.The
computersshouldhavefastprocessors,alarge(atleast19inch)LCD
monitor,speakers,wirelesskeyboardsandwirelessmouse.Fixthe
speakerssecurely.
1 2 3 4 5
PlacetheCPUofeachcomputerinasafeplaceunderthetables.The
powerswitchesofthecomputerandtheconnectingcablesforpower
andmonitorshouldnotbeaccessibletothechildren.Placemonitorsona
standsuchthattheyareraised,atleast12inchesoverthesurfaceofthe
table.Thiswillensurethatthemonitorsareclearlyvisiblefromthe
outsidewhenchildrenareusingthemandarenotblockedfromviewby
theirheadsorbodies.
1 2 3 4 5
PlacetheCPUofeachcomputerinasafeplaceunderthetables.The
powerswitchesofthecomputerandtheconnectingcablesforpower
andmonitorshouldnotbeaccessibletothechildren.Placemonitorsona
standsuchthattheyareraised,atleast12inchesoverthesurfaceofthe
table.Thiswillensurethatthemonitorsareclearlyvisiblefromthe
outsidewhenchildrenareusingthemandarenotblockedfromviewby
theirheadsorbodies.
1 2 3 4 5
EnsurethatallthecomputershavebroadbandInternetaccessatspeeds
of2MBpsormoreifpossible.Donotusefirewalls,unlessunavoidable.
Wirelessbroadbandisrecommended.
1 2 3 4 5
Allelectricalwiringandoutletsshouldbeconcealedbuteasilyaccessible
whenrequired.Itshouldnotbenecessarytocrawlundertablestoaccess
connections.
1 2 3 4 5
Installanyfreeware,suchasOpenOffice,forthechildrentoworkwith.
Softwareforpainting,suchasMSPaintorAdobePhotoshopor
equivalentfreewareisamust.
1 2 3 4 5
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OneofthecomputersintheSOLEshouldhaveawebcameraand
microphoneinstalled.Thecamerashouldbepermanentlymountedsuch
thatitenablesafullviewoftheSOLE.Acamerawithpanandtiltfacilities
andabuiltinmicrophoneisrecommended(forexample,theLogitech
Spherecamera).ApersonaccessingtheSOLEover,forexample,Skype,
shouldbeabletoseemostofthechildreniftheygatheraroundthe
computerwiththecamera.
1 2 3 4 5
Installadequateandappropriatepowerconditioningandbackup.An
UPSisrecommendedinareaswhereelectricitysupplyisnotreliable.A
generator,orsolarpanelsandbatteriesshouldbeusedinareasthathave
noelectricity.
1 2 3 4 5
KeepasmalltableandchairintheSOLEforanattendant. 1 2 3 4 5
ChecktoseethatallmonitorsareclearlyvisiblefromoutsidetheSOLE. 1 2 3 4 5
TheSOLEwouldtypicallybesetupbyavendorwhowouldalsoprovidea
technicalpersonforattendingtoanyproblems.Thispersonshouldbe
capableofattendingtoelectrical,electronic,softwareandconnectivity
problems.
1 2 3 4 5

6.WhatMakesaGoodEnquiryQuestion?

Large,open,difficultandinterestingquestionsoftenmakethebestEnquiryquestions.
Questionsthatareunanswerable;suchasWhomadespace?aregoodtoencourage
studentstooffertheoriesinsteadofconcreteanswers.Attheendofanenquirysessionan
answersuchasWell,noonereallyknows,butwethinkthatithappenedbecauseoftheBig
Bangmaybearrivedat.Questionsthatcannotbeansweredbyyesandnoandrequire
developedanswers,thoughtanddiscussionarepreferable.
Notes

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Enquiryquestionsshouldengagetheclassforaroundfortyminutesofenquiry.Itis
importantnottoaimlowandaskquestionswitheasyanswers.Howmanycountriesare
there?canbetypedwordforwordintoasearchengineandansweredalmostimmediately.
QuestionsthatencouragestudentstouseHigherOrderThinkingSkillstendtoengagefor
longerandpromotedeeperconversationsamongstgroupsandpeers.
IfyouareaskinganEnquiryquestionsaroundatopicalreadytaughtinclass,itcanbe
helpfultoaskaquestionslightlyremovedfromthespecificsofpreviousclasswork.A
questionthatreferstothebigpicturecanoftenyieldmoreinterestingresults.For
example,duringatopiconVikings,studentsatSt.AidansPrimarySchoolwereaskedWhat
didtheVikingsbelieveaboutGod?Thiswastoopenupinvestigationintoanareathatthe
teacherperceivedthechildrenhadnotlearntenoughabout.

ExampleQuestionsaskedtoaYear4class:

WhatwasancientEgyptreallylike?
Whatkindsofanimalareendangeredandwhy?
Whatisthefunctionofthehumanskeleton?
Howdoesasolidturntoaliquidthenagas?
Whydopeoplesliponwetsurfaces?
Diddinosaursreallyexist?
WhatistheGreenhouseEffect?

Questions you have asked your class Student Response to Question
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7.TheRoleoftheTeacherinaSOLE.

ThisisaloosemodelforhowteacherscanmanageaSOLE.Thetimingsareastartingpoint
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andmayneedadjusting.Mostcommonly,thetimeallocatedfortheEnquirycanbereduced
whilststudentsarefamiliarisingthemselveswithhowtoworkinaSOLE.Dependingonthe
complexityofthequestionposedandanswerscollected,theReviewwillregularlyrequire
differentamountsoftime.

Phase Time Activity
Question Approx
5mins
Poseanenquiryquestion(seeWhatMakesaGoodEnquiry
Question?),perhapsgeneratinginterestbyshowing
visual/audiostimulusandhavingabriefdiscussionaroundthe
question.
Explaintherules(printablelistinAppendix2)
Nominateastudenttotakeresponsibilityforbehaviour
management.Discussbrieflywhatthisrolemayinvolve.
Enquiry Approx
40mins
Letthestudentsworkingroupsforaround40minutestofind
answerstothequestionsonlaptops.
Interveneminimally,withurgentissuesdelegatedtothestudent
managertotakeresponsibilityfor.
Avoiddirectinterventionsandinstructionsthatunderminethe
authorityofthestudentmanager.
Trynottogivestudentsanswersforthesakeofspeedingthings
along.Instigatekindandpurposefullearninginterventionsin
theformofusefulandopenquestions.
Recordthesituationtakenotesdirectquotations,photographs,
audiorecordingsandpresentitbacktotheclasswithout
judgement.Askquestionsaboutwhattheythink.Inevitablythey
willpresentacomparablejudgementtoyourown.Thiscanbe
anexcellentopportunitytoreflectonbehaviourandgroup
dynamicsduringthereview.

Review Approx
1020mins
Organisestudentsinaspacewheretheycanfeedbacktheir
answers/information.
Facilitateadiscussioninwhichstudentsareabletogiveopinions
onthequestionitselfandthenhowtheywentaboutanswering
it.Forinstance,theyclassmayhavegeneratedexcellent
information,butbehavedinappropriatelywhilstdoingso.
Notmakejudgementcallsontheclass,butaskquestionsthatallow
themtoassessthemselves.

WorkinginaSOLEenquirybasedlearningsituationforthefirsttimewilllikelytheteacherto
experienceroleconflict.Thestructuresandsystemsthatteachersusetomaintainorderand
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balanceintheirclassroomsallofasuddenbecomejudgementcallsanddirect
interventions.
Theshorttermeffectontheteachercanbedisorientating.Insteadofobserving,reflecting,
andinstigatingkindandpurposefulteacherinterventions,thereisanaturaldesiretofix
problemsforstudents.Shorttermfixes,however,willnotleadtothelongtermbenefits
possiblebyuseoftheSOLEs.
Itisimportantthattheteacherallowsstudentstomakemistakes.Thesemistakes,once
discussedwiththeclasslateron,presentedwithoutjudgement,canleadtotheclasstaking
increasedresponsibilityfortheiractions.
TheproblemwithbeingagoodteacherinaSOLEisthatteachersmustseektoreduce
visibleteachingmechanics,therebyappearingtodolessofthingsthatagoodteacheris
expectedtodo.
ItiscommonfortheteachertoworrythatwhenotherteacherscomeintheythinkthatIm
notdoinganything.
Theteachermustbepreparedtoreflectbackstudentquestionsinsuchawayastoinstigate
newlearningopportunitiesforstudents.Itcanbedifficulttobeefficientinidentifyingand
actinguponthesemomentsinitially,butperseverancecanleadtoinspiredstudentled
solutionsfornaggingandconsistentproblems,suchasarguingoverwhogetstousethe
laptopsfirst.
Tostudents,andteacherswhoarenotfamiliarwithactingasMediators,itcanseemas
thoughtheteacherisnotactivelymanagingtheclass.Indeed,itcansometimesfeellikethis
fortheteacherthemselves.Ultimately,thereductionofteacherswholeclasstalktimeand
instructiongivingisapowerfulstrategyinmaintainingtheshiftoflearnerresponsibilityto
thestudents.

ItmaybehelpfultocomparetheroleofateacherinaSOLEwiththatofaconventional
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classroomenvironment.Pleaseeditthistableandcontributewithyourownsuggestions.

Conventional Classroom SOLE
Teacherpredominantlytells
studentsanswers
Studentsfindoutanswersthemselves
Teacherconstantlymanages
studentbehaviour
Teacherdelegatesbehaviourmanagementtostudent
manager
Teacherorganisesgroup
structures
Teacherperceivesstudentmistakesaslearningopportunities
Possibilityforsocialandpeer
learningislimitedand/or
structuredbyteacher
Studentsfreetoorganisetheirowngroups
Studentsperceiveteacher
controlsthedirectionoflessons
Frequentopportunitiesforsocialandpeerlearning
Studentsperceiveteacheras
beholderofallknowledgeand
infallible.
Studentsperceivegreatercontroloverthedirectionof
learninginlessons
Studentsfeellearningisowned
bytheteacher
Studentsperceiveteacherasequallyfallibleandequally
interestedintheanswertopurposefulquestions.

Notes

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8.TheRoleoftheStudentManagerinaSOLE.
Ifdirectteacherinterventionistobekepttoaminimum,whatstrategiescanbeemployed
tomaintainapurposefullearningenvironment?
Itisanaturalrequirementfortheretobeanauthoritativefigureintheroom.Itcanbe
usefultovisiblypassthisontoastudentorgroupofstudentsinordertosolidifyintheir
mindthatashiftinresponsibilityhasoccurred.
Asinglestudentcanbeputincontrolofmanagingbehaviourintheclass.Dependingonthe
classitself,thestudentcaneithersitoutfromtheenquirytaskandfullyfocustheirefforts
onclassroommanagementorworkwithinateam,occasionallyroamingandrespondingto
problemsastheyoccur.Anewmanagercanbeselectedforeachlesson.Anyinterventions
theteacherwishestoputinplacemustbecoordinatedthroughthestudentmanager.
Thethoughtsandopinionsofthestudentmanageronthebehaviouroftheclassisgenerally
veryinterestingandhelpfultodebriefandreflectonattheendofthelesson.Often,itisthe
firsttimethatthestudenthasbeenplacedinapositionwheretheyfeelsuchresponsibility
forthecollectiveperformanceoftheclass.Acameracanbegiventothepolicepersonto
takephotographsofgoodandbadexamplesofteamworkintheclass.Thiscanformpartof
thereviewattheendofthesession.
Somestudentsarenaturallymoreaccustomedtoimposinglawandorderinaclassroom
situation.Itcanbehelpfultoencouragestudentmanagerstosharebestpracticeduring
reviews,andopenupdiscussionsabouthowtodealwithdifficultbehaviour.
AttheendoftheSOLEsession,theremovalofthepolicehelmetorendofthestudent
managersshiftsignifiesthepassingofresponsibilitybacktotheteacher.
Pleaseusethisspacetocontributeyourownobservationsofstudentmanagergood
practice:

Notes

9.CommonSituations.
Problem Possible Solution Outcome Your solution Outcome
Childapproaches
teacherwitha
behaviourproblem.
Miss,Lucyisntdoing
anywork
Teacherdivertsresponsibilitybackto
studentmanager.Thatsoundslike
somethingthestudentmanagershould
knowabout.Haveyoutoldthem?
Studentsrealisethattheeasy
optionofhavingtheteacherfixa
problemisnotviable.Thisforces
thestudentstocompromise,
communicateandexperience
difficultgroupsituations.

Onechildinalarger
groupisofftask
Asimplesolutionmaybetoremindthe
studentsoftherules.Theycanchange
groupsiftheychooseto.

Itmaybenecessaryfortheteacherto
speaktothestudentmanager,asking
themquestionsaboutwhythechild
mightbeofftask.Perhapstheother
membersofthegrouparenotlistening
totheirideas.Isthereanythingyou
coulddotohelpthemgetbackontask?
Studentsunderstandthattheycan
changethesituationbymoving
groups.

Studentsbecomeexperiencedat
positivebehaviourreinforcement
strategies.

Agroupareofftask Again,remindthegroupasawholeof
therulesmaypromptthemtochange
groupsandresumeworking.

Teacherspeakswithstudentmanagerto
findasolution.Itcouldbethegroup
needtosplitupandjoinothergroups.
Thestudentmanagershouldmakethese
decisions.
Studentsunderstandthattheycan
changethesituationbymoving
groups.

Studentsrecognisetheimportance
ofchoosingateamthatcanwork
together.



Astudentorgroup
presentbacka
factuallyinaccurate/
irrelevantanswer.
Theteacherdeconstructstheanswer,
asksaboutwhichsourcesthegroup
used.Aconversationabouthowtofinda
reliablesourceofinformationonthe
internethappens.Perhapsthestudents
starttokeepbookmarksoftrusted
sources.
Studentsbegintointerrogate
internetsourcesmorethoroughly.

Astudenthas
difficultyreadingthe
informationcollected
fromtheinternet
Thereareoftendiscrepanciesbetween
thestudentsreadinglevelandthe
complexityofthewrittenlanguagefound
online.Sometimesiteasiertoaskthe
studenttonotreadfromthepaper.The
understandingmaybetherebuttheir
readingabilitymaynot.Askingastudent
toexplainintheirownwordscanavoid
thisproblem.
Studentsdonotperceivereading
abilityasabarrier.Reduces
studentanxietyaboutpresenting
backinformation.

Thestudentmanager
ismisbehaving.
Dependingonthesituation,itcouldbe
thatthestudentmanagerisunawareof
howtomanagetheclass,andwillneed
plentyofhelpfulsuggestionsandadvice
fromtheteacher.Trytoavoid
challengingthestudentmanagerinfront
ofotherstudents.Praisinggood
examplesofstudentmanagerbehaviour
attheendoftheenquirycanhelpother
studentsbecomeawareofwhatthe
expectedstandardis.
Studentmanagerdevelopssocial
skillsandconfidence.
Classbehaviourimproves.
Lesslikelyforteacherbehaviour
managementinterventions.

Astudentcomplains
thereisnothingto
doassomeoneelseis
usingthelaptop.
Perhapstheteacherasksthestudents
howtheyfeelaboutsharinglaptops
duringthereview,andbringsabout
solutionsfromstudentsonsharing.

Studentsdeveloptheirown
solutionsandretainownershipover
theirselfmanagementsystems.

PleasecontributeproblemsyouhaveencounteredwhilstinaSOLE.

Problem Your solution Outcome

Appendix1

SelfOrganisedLearningEnvironments
TheHoleintheWall(referredtoasHiWintherestofthisarticle)experimentswerefirst
implementedin1999,whenacomputerwithaninternetconnectionwasembeddedintoawall,
forchildrentodiscoveranduseunsupervised.Thewalladjoinedaslum;andonlyamonthlater,
itwasevidentthatthechildrenhadtaughtthemselvestousethecomputerandalsopickedup
someskillsinEnglishandMathematics.Thiskindofdesignwasthensetupinmoreremote
areasacrossIndiawithalmostidenticalresults.Thesewerecomputersembeddedinwallsor
kiosksineasilyaccessibleandhighlyvisiblepublicspaces,facilitatingpeerinteraction,discovery
andlearningingroupsofchildren.
Weconcludedthatgroupsofchildrenfromdisadvantagedandremotesettingscanlearntouse
computersandaccessinternetresources,ontheirown,ifgivenappropriatefree,publicand
unsupervisedaccess.
TheseearliestexperiencesalsoshowedthatchildrencoulddevelopsomeskillsinEnglishand
Mathematics.Whatcamethroughunequivocallyinthisandfurtherworkonselforganising
systemsineducationwasthatgroupsofchildrenirrespectiveofwhoorwhattheyare,orwhat
languagetheyspeakin;givenfreeandpublicaccesstotheinternetcan:
1. Becomecomputerliterateontheirown,thatis,theycanlearntousecomputersandthe
Internetformostofthetasksdonebylayusers.
2. TeachthemselvesenoughEnglishtouseemail,chatandsearchengines.
3. LearntosearchtheInternetforanswerstoquestionsinafewmonthstime.
4. ImprovetheirEnglishpronunciationontheirown.
5. Improvetheirmathematicsandsciencescoresinschool.
6. Answerexaminationquestionsseveralyearsaheadoftime.
7. Changetheirsocialinteractionskillsandvaluesystems.
8. Formindependentopinionsanddetectindoctrination.
Wethenwentontoshowthatthequalityoftraditionalschoolingreduceswithacleardeclinein
performance,runningconcurrentwiththegeographicalremotenessofschoolsfromtheurban
centreofNewDelhi.AsimilardeclineisalsovisibleintheUKasonegoestomoreeconomically
disadvantagedareas.Thereasonsforthishavebeenattributedtothelackofandunwillingness


ofteacherstoworkintheseareas.
Finally,wefoundthatthepresenceofafriendly,butnotknowledgeablemediatorcanenable
childrentoreachsimilarlevelsoflearningasinformaladvantagedschoolswithtrained
teachers.WewentontosetupacloudofeMediators,mostlyretiredschoolteacherswith
broadbandaccessfromtheirhomes.SchoolscanaccessthiscloudoverSkypeandchildrencan
interactwiththemediatorsoverfreevideoconferencing.
Interestingly,inthehandsofgoodteachers,thesemethodscanbepowerfulmotivatorsfor
children,resultinginbetterperformance.Whatstartedoutasasolutionforremoteareas
turnedouttohaveuniversalapplicability.
BothHiWandtheworkdonelaterarebasedontheconceptofMinimallyInvasiveEducation
(MIE),apedagogicmethodthatmotivatesgroupsofchildrentolearninanenvironmentwith
littleornointerventionfromteachersorotheradultsandformedthebasisofthedesignofthe
HiWcomputers.

Appendix2
SamplesofStudentWorkMixedabilityYear4class
Pleasecontributeworkfromyourclass.