The Obsolete Teacher

Both responses by Della and Lisa were most interesting...so I tried to go on and research this out a bit. 
I found the most interesting talk by Prof. Sugata Mitra.  His theory of MIE (Minimally Invasive Education) endorses both of your comments, but in a provocative way.  His experiments include grandmother types giving praise and encouragement behind the children learning.(Lisa)  His study also states that "if children have interest, then education happens."  They will learn what they want to learn.(Della)  His study (The Hole in the Wall) is about children learning in a unsupervised environment.  It supports a lot of what we have been reading about - with children's collaboration being an important element of it's success.  His study promotes the fact that every child has a different learning style and pace and so reinforces my IEP theory for everyone.  This is most interesting...and I realize that the video is about 17 minutes...it will be 17 minutes well spent.  I am really hooked on this concept and the use of technology as a tool.  The Hole in the Wall project would definitely substaniate that  technology tools (such as a computer) can help us build knowledge, and
http://technologyinclass.com/blog/2010/09/17/the-obsolete-teacher/
that unsupervised use of computers can lead to accelerated learning of skills in children. It also shoots down my former statement involving children of poverty, as the study involves the poorest of India.  Most interesting - I am sure that this will not be the last of my blogging on this subject.  Enjoy the video.