May 11, 2017

To the Editor of Canadian Business,

This letter is to reference for the article named, “Raising young Einstein” by Rachel

Mendleson dated 14 July, 2011. This article focuses on the role of computer in the process of

learning, she talked about experiments done by university professor, Sugata Mitra. The main

problem with the article is that there is too much emphasis on the computer to educate kids. She

says that we should apply modern practical approaches rather than conventional approaches.

In this article, Canada had been outperformed by other countries statistically in the field of

education, but she hasn’t made it clear the reasons behind lag in performance, it may be because

kids are focused in arts or other fields. I was intrigued by Mitra’s “hole in the wall” experiment,

therefore, I set out on my own journey to check whether it was really true or not. My so called

“phone in the hand” experiment contradicted Mitra’s “hole in the wall” as when I passed my phone

to seven-year-old boy to let him play and learn Sudoku, thereby increasing his mathematical skills.

I observed my phone was damaged and he no longer had any interests in mathematics, But one

can argue that this kid might be mentally disabled or something. Thus, I went on to pass my phones

to many other kids living nearby, But all portrayed their interest in playing video games rather than

learning mathematics or science. I wonder how a computer set up in a rural village made

uneducated kids learn English.

Information isn’t knowledge, But Mitra’s conclusion that “groups of children with digital

resources can teach themselves anything” (para.7) after the DNA experiment which is unrealistic

and exaggerated as ‘anything’ includes everything. Instructive programming does not have the

capacity of "knowing" or deriving what is under the student’s context. What would happen to a

student who gets dependent on computers for learning? I believe creativity would be suppressed

if we are to learn in a mechanical way as computers works by the instructions put in them.

It is true that we must change the current educational process, But the answer doesn’t lie in

computers but in humans themselves. It is disappointing to see so much hope in computers as

problem of declining interest in education would continue. I request you to publish an article which

concentrates on both technological and human involvement in changing the educational system

and make it more interesting.

Yours Sincerely,

Vishal Arora.