Hole in the wall

In 1999, Sugata Mitra and his colleagues dug a hole in a wall bordering an urban slum in New Delhi, installed an Internet-connected PC, and left it there (with a hidden camera filming the area). What they saw was kids from the slum playing around with the computer and in the process learning how to use it and how to go online, and then teaching each other.

In the following years they replicated the experiment in other parts of India, urban and rural, with similar results, challenging some of the key assumptions of formal education. The "Hole in the Wall" project demonstrates that, even in the absence of any direct input from a teacher, an environment that stimulates curiosity can cause learning through self-instruction and peer-shared knowledge. Mitra, who's now a professor of educational technology at Newcastle University (UK), calls it "minimally invasive education."

SELCO India .. lighting rural india

http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/06/15/solar-energy-india-tech-science-cz_kad_0616solar.html

Social Entrepreneurship : Solar Power

Vaccine shot killed 4 children in tamilnadu

Vaccine shot killed 4 children in tamilnadu.
It is sad thing to happen, since this incident could cause people all over the country to skeptical about free vaccinations clinics, denting the role that free vaccination clinics have played in reducing diseases in the country.

Washup, by Sevin Coskun : Thats innovative !!

Source : http://www.core77.com/blog/featured_items/washup_by_sevin_coskun_9339.asp

It makes use of the washing machine's waste water to flush the integrated toilet at the bottom, and also puts the washing machine up above the toilet itself, saving space in small apartments.

Nice Idea

Storing sun's energy into windows during day and using them as bulbs at night :)

http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/window_of_energysaving_opportunity_9364.asp

Core77 Design Blog : This is not a plastic bag, but hundreds

http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/this_is_not_a_plastic_bag_but_hundreds_9296.asp

Looking around the city, a businessman Kwabena Osei Bonsu decided something needed to be done. "I wanted to come up with an idea that would solve problems in my lifetime," he said. His solution? Collect the discarded plastic bags and stitch them together to make new, reusable bags.

The computer program at Dream a Dream

The computer program gives an amazing opportunity to both the volunteers and the children to spread the limits of their knowledge and imagination.

From personal experience i can say that never in my life would I have otherwise thought about how to teach concepts as simple as that of what is the internet. Explaining the concept of what is a web browser and how does the internet works through the real life example of a postman was a real great experience for me. The program surely is a way to empower the children with skill that will come in handy to them through out life. There are children in the program who are amazingly fast in grasping things and have shown an insatiable desire to learn. These children surely have a very bright future ahead of them if we are able to give them the right directions.

Even for the volunteer its an eyeopener in understanding how to explain concepts to the layman, how to be able to present your thought in a simple and lucid manner, yet keeping it attractive and engrossing.


These are amazingly malleable minds that we get in our hands and it is a pleasure to be able to be a part of shaping the future of these children.and would love to thank DAD for this wonderful opportunity :)