Gloria: Great TED Lecture--Build a School in the Cloud--by Sugata Mitra on a different approach to education.

This talk highlighted some of the practices that we have been already been thinking about for some time in working with students with deaf-blindness. Here are some of the highlights:

1) Children learning together. In Mr. Mitra’s presentation, we see videos of children teaching each other, interested in solving what is in front of them on the computer, and creating their own learning process. They seem to be having fun individually and as a group. This reminded me of the advantages of full inclusion, in which collaborative learning by children from different backgrounds and conditions, including children with disabilities, supports everyone in their learning process.

2) The use of computers and cameras as a way to provide a vast window for learning. This prompted me to think of my experience using the iPad with young children with multiple disabilities, and how these children want to engage, reach for, and create their own learning experience, and how many of these children have surprised everyone with their unexpected responses and abilities using this device.

3) The role of the adult as an encourager. Mr. Mitra notes that a group of children can solve problems on their own, and that the role of the adult is to encourage them as they work together. This reminded me of the “intervener’s motto” of “do with, not for” – a great paradigm for any good educational relationship.

Enjoy the lecture!