Afterthoughts

Writers Sugata Mitra and Payal Arora were invited to provide some afterthoughts having read each other's papers. As Arora observes, the Hole-in-the-Wall approach has shown that the absence of a teacher can sometimes encourage children to explore more bravely than they would in their presence. However, as she again observes, institutional indifference may result in abdication of responsibility and lack of sustainability. It sells its products to schools and hence locates its kiosks on school playgrounds. She also wonders whether placing of computers in playgrounds may not only breed collaboration but competition and discrimination. Payal Arora likes to focus on just two aspects of the Kalikuppam experiment. The design of the experiment itself and the role of the mediator. It is important to bear in mind that the children coming to these learning kiosks also continued to be taught in the formal classroom.

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