Minimally Invasive

Many of my students are comfortable exploring and figuring things out on the computer independently, but many are much more cautious and want more direction and reassurance. Nine times out of 10, when a student asks me a question like "how do you save?" I'll ask the same question back to them, and they'll answer it themselves. For the more apprehensive, I've been telling them the story this week of Sugata Mitra's Hole in the Wall experiment and theory of minimally invasive education.

I tell them that it's not that these kids in India were super-mega-geniuses to figure out the computer with no one teaching them, it's that all kids are super-mega-geniuses. "You all know how to use Kidpix, right? But I never taught it to you! You just figured it out!" (Yes, I gave them tips and taught them a few special tricks, but mostly they made discoveries and taught each other.)

I don't believe 100% in Mitra's philosophy, however. I do lots and lots of teaching every day that I think is absolutely necessary, but I also give them opportunities to explore and set them up to figure things out on their own.