The image above is the "hole in the wall" that was created by Dr. Sugata Mitra in India. Dr. Mitra simply placed a computer in the outside wall of his office, and allowed anyone to use it. This was significant because his office is located in a slum in India with some of the worst living conditions in the world. He deliberately placed the computer at the eye level of children so they could access it. What happened there, and later in several other locations in India, exceeded his expectations. Kids were able to figure out how to use the computer in just a few hours, even though they had never seen one before, and lived in a place with no modern conveniences. Soon the children were teaching each other, even helping one another learn to read. After seeing this happen again and again, Mitra created new learning centers called SOLEs, meaning self organized learning environments. Each SOLE is a desk with a computer that is large enough for 3-4 children to work together. Children are asked a big, complex question and then left on their own to find the answers. As the children worked, Mitra realized they needed just a little encouragement, so he created "Granny in the Cloud." Volunteers talk to the children via Skype, on a large monitor on the wall. These "Grannies" just tell the children they can do it and prompt them to keep working on the problem. Mitra described these experiments in 2010 in a TED Talk:

Encouraged by these results, Mitra has now created a "School in a Cloud" to bring his idea of minimally invasive education to more children. He has also created a SOLE Toolkit for parents and educators who want to create similar programs in their homes or schools. 

Dr. Mitra recognized that the Internet has changed everything. Teachers are no longer the purveyors of knowledge. Children can learn whatever they want, whenever they want, if they have access to the web. If you doubt a child's ability to learn and engage digitally, just watch a one-year-old with an iPad or smart phone. At about 15-18 months, toddlers are able to open apps and engage in games and content. If our digital natives are to benefit from schools, it is time we redesign learning environments and learning activities. Schools must require children to become responsible for their own learning and provide the tools necessary for them to do so. A minimally invasive and personalized approach is needed to move education into the information age.

There has been much written about differentiation in the classroom. When teachers think about differentiation, they generally think about providing three levels of instruction: on level, below level and above level. We are trained to gear the bulk of instruction to the middle. These are the "typical" kids who fall within the expected level of functioning for their grade. We then adapt the instruction to meet the needs of kids who may be below level, and extend the learning for more advanced students. If we do this well we will have decent results in terms of achievement. However, we will not engage all learners effectively. What is really needed in schools is a personalized approach to learning. The goal of personalization is to not waste the learner's time. We want every student to be fully engaged in learning all the time.

This idea is incredibly important when it comes to reading. Students who grow into lifelong learners with a love of reading need to be allowed the time and space to read as much as possible when they are young. It is very unusual to find a preschool or kindergarten child who doesn't love books. They love it when we read to them, engage them in choral responses to books, and talk about stories. They are just naturally drawn to it. However, if they fail to master the basic decoding skills in first or second grade, reading becomes laborious and tedious. They start hating it and usually don't catch up if they don't master the basic skills by grade 3. Advanced students have the opposite problem. If they are forced to work on basic skills for too long, they become bored and will disengage from all reading activities.

Every classroom in the early years should include explicit instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics (decoding skills). Although many people will tell you that the English language is challenging, it is still quite simple. There are a finite number of letters and sounds. There are very predictable patterns, with a few teachable exceptions. Once a child has mastered these, she should not be forced to continue instruction in decoding. Unfortunately, many classrooms either fail to explicitly teach basic decoding skills, teach them in a non-systematic way, or continue teaching them as part of a "basal" series long after they have been mastered. What is needed is a completely individualized system that will provide explicit instruction over a period of time. This instruction will have an end point. A good example of such a system is Reading Horizons. Once this instruction is completed, the child will be free to engage in a host of other literacy experiences that are critical to future learning and to develop a love of reading.  

Instructional time is truly a precious commodity. We get 180 days of school each year. There are usually about 10-15 days when instruction is interrupted by testing, assemblies, bad weather, or other unusual events. Instructional time for literacy is generally 90 minutes (1.5 hours) per day. That means that we can only count on about 247.5 hours per year. If you were to calculate that according to a standard 40 hour work week, it would only equate to a little over 6 weeks. Think about your work like. How much can be accomplished in 6 weeks? In order to ensure success, we must manage instructional time in such a way that it is never wasted for any child.