Thursday, March 05, 2009

牆洞後的一百萬零一夜

「…每一代的人都認為新的一代比自己遜,更易學壞、更要受保護;但客觀事實是,人類的文明、科技、財富都一代比一代進步,沒有理由今天的下一代會例外,請對年青人多有些信心。」

奧斯卡最佳電影《一百萬零一夜》(
Slumdog Millionaire與電腦有甚麼關係?十年前一位教育技術教授的實驗,成為了電影原著小說《問與答》(Q&A)作者 Vikas Swarup 的靈感,這是個甚麼的實驗?

現時在英國紐卡素大學任教
Sugata Mitra 教授,當年在印度新德里的實驗室正位於一個貧民窟旁邊,他就決定在實驗室的牆上鑿穿了一個洞,讓貧民窟的小孩子可以進來沒有人看守的實驗室,玩他的電腦。實驗的目的是要看看,沒受過電腦教育的孩子們,能否自己學會用電腦、上互聯網。

教授發現,即使孩子們不懂英語,也能自己學會操作這台電腦,而且「愈少監督愈好」。後來,教授在印度
23 個貧民窟或窮鄉僻壤重覆這實驗,對象都是未用過電腦的兒童,得出來的結果都一樣!實驗之後幾年,學校發現這些孩子的英文、數學和科學的分數都提升了。至今,教授已經在全球安裝了 600 台這種“hole-in-the-wall” Computer

這位教授在英國看了《一百萬零一夜》電影後非常喜歡,也令他想起在新德里的往事。後來他上網讀到原著小說作者的訪問,才發現小說家是因為聽過「牆洞後的電腦」這事,才得到這故事的創作靈感。於是教授聯絡上了小說家,兩人惺惺相惜。教授還說,雖然電影是個幻想故事,但他真的希望孩子們能走出貧民窟,在文學或科學上發光發熱,而他更堅信這是可以做到的。

筆者聽到這故事後不禁想到,我們在相對富有地區的人,為何反而對孩子如此缺乏信心,常常要花心思去監管互聯網,何不多花心血、資源去給每一名小孩有電腦,有互聯網的接駁。在香港,財政司司長剛宣布的財政預算案中,「預留
6,300 萬元以教育互聯網用戶,尤其是年青學生,如何正確安全使用互聯網」。

真的,其實應該是反過來,由年青學生教成年人「正確安全使用互聯網」才是,無謂為了「創造職位」而創造無謂職位。與其如此,何不回應筆者與業界,尤其學校的電腦教師們所要求,為每所中、小學設立資訊科技助理員職位?即使只先選擇在中學或小學推行,花費和職位數目也和現計劃的
6,300 萬元和 500 個職位相近,但對老師、學生就實惠多了。

始終,自以為是的我們成年人,不要忘記:每一代的人都認為新的一代比自己遜,更易學壞,更要受保護;但客觀事實是,人類的文明、科技、財富都一代比一代進步,沒有理由今天的下一代會例外,請對年青人多有些信心。明天會更好,因為我們的孩子比我們強。各位看畢《一百萬零一夜》,希望能還給年青人多些信心、自由。


刊載於《Hitech》 2009年2月5日

3 Comments:

At 10:39 AM, Blogger Charles Mok said...

I finally saw the movie, but I think "Benjamin Button" is better, and the one I really want to see is "Milk."

 
At 9:19 AM, Blogger Henry Chan said...

Hi, all,

Schools should have IT support staffs. In 2006, there is an article talking about the "Managing Teachers' Barriers to ICT Integration in Singapore Schools". From the report, it mentioned that the most common problem of a teacher was to face when conducting an ICT-lesson about technical problems, both hardware and software-related ones. It was thus critical to provide teachers with technical support, especially assistance in trouble-shooting ICT-related problems, so that teachers could focus on conducting the actual lessons. Technical support could come from a variety of sources, such as from a technical assistant employed by the school, or from the students themselves. Students could be trained as ICT helpers to assist other students in trouble-shooting simple technical problems. The report also mentioned that in 1996 there was some schools having IT support staffs. So, I am sure that in 2016 we will have similar report and in 2026 we have some schools to have IT support staffs. Therefore, no worry, Charles!

 
At 9:21 AM, Blogger Henry Chan said...

Hi, all,

Part of the "Managing Teachers' Barriers to ICT Integration in Singapore Schools" report can be found here.
(http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-5392563/Managing-teachers-barriers-to-ICT.html}

 

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