Category Archives: SOLES

Look Deep into Your SOLE

Questions, SOLES

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Next Wednesday Sugata Mitra, the inventor of the Hole-in-the-Wall experiment and the SOLE (Self Organized Learning Environment), will visit Acton Academy.

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In preparation, Eagles prepared their own list of five questions each, then met in Clearness Committees to critique and prioritize.

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Each then brought their best questions to a studio-wide discussion to select the best “abstract” and the best “concrete” questions.

Some of the finalists:

  • Who invented the first sport?
  • Is there something invented long ago by humans that hasn’t changed at all?
  • Why don’t we remember our dreams?
  • What is the motivation of the Taliban?
  • What are thoughts?
  • How and why is the universe endless?
  • What steps have we taken to make money more valuable?
  • Are zoos good for animals or not?
  • If all humans were to die, would another species take over the earth?

Here’s a challenge for you: “Which of these questions are ‘abstract’ and which questions are ‘concrete?’ Why?”

The SOLE winners:

Concrete: “You crash in the West Texas desert where you are certain you will be stranded for several days to one month.  What are the five most important things you need to do?”

Abstract: “Why are humans inclined to judge?”

This week Eagles will divide into teams to dig for research and begin preparing to present their findings.

 

 

A Curiousity Filled Summer

Quests, SOLES

Middle school students all across America are eager to be released from bondage, looking forward to forgetting facts as quickly as possible.

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At Acton Academy, our middle school Eagles are preparing for six weeks of freedom and curiosity in Session Seven, exploring the questions that interest them most.

In the Inquiry Quest each Eagle will choose one or more of the following:

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1. Attacking a SOLE (Self Organized Learning Environment), digging deeply into a serious question;

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2.  Taking something apart;

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3.  Building something useful with his or her own hands;

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4.  Working on mastering a new skill at DYI.

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Each Eagle will start with a Curiosity board, filled with puzzling questions.

Next a Project Plan and then the journey will begin.  (And yes, all of this will occur on the days when our Eagles aren’t in the real world working at their apprenticeships.)

Sure sounds like more fun than spending all summer forgetting random facts.

Sugata Mitra, SOLES and Acton Academy

Culture, Hero Story, Hero's Journey, Independent Learner, SOLES, Storytelling

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Sugata Mitra is the father of the Hole-in-the-Wall experiments, where in poor neighborhoods all around the world, he installed computer terminals that allow students to “self-organize” to learn.

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In case after case, the poorest of children  —  without a teacher or school –  outscored the most privileged private school students in their countries, leading to Mitra winning the first $1 million TED talk prize.  Mitra went on to create Granny-in-the-Cloud, an army of British grandmothers who acted as virtual Running Partners (coaches) for Sugata Mitra’s students.

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Now, Sugata Mitra will be coming to Acton Academy the second week in June, to lead our Eagles in a SOLE (Self-Organized-Learning-Environment.)

How does a SOLE work?  Eagles form into four person teams, around one computer.  Mitra asks a compelling question, and the Eagles go to work.  An hour or so later, the teams convene to present their findings.

Here’s an example of a SOLE Sugata Mitra led for group of poor Indian children a few months ago:

He started with a story:

“Five hundred years ago, barbarians invaded India and were repelled, because the natives had better weapons, forged from superior steel.  The barbarians regrouped, wondering how to acquire such steel.   One suggested: ‘Perhaps we could just offer to buy some steel from them in the normal course of trade.”

Another replied: ‘Surely they would not fall for such a trick.’  But they did.  The barbarians analyzed the steel and created a superior metallurgy, forging weapons three inches longer.

Because of that three inches, the barbarians were successful in their second invasion, changing India forever.”

Mitra then asked his question: “What were the metallurgy changes and the science that made the extra three inches possible?”

He left and came back a week later.  The presentations were powerful, incorporating deep questions in and lessons about chemistry and metal working.

Mitra then issued his second challenge: “What problem can you find in the world today, where ‘three extra inches’ would change the world, and how would you propose to solve it?  I’ll be back in two weeks.”

A compelling story to set the stage.  A powerful question.  Four students, a computer and a great deal of faith.  No adult in sight. Perhaps the most effective curriculum and classroom of all.

(By the way, during his visit to Acton, Mitra will invite an Acton parent who knows little about science to lead a second SOLE on physics.  Consider it our chance to learn from a modern day Socrates.)