I do have a plan,

我的確有一個計劃，

but in order for me to tell you what that plan is,

但是爲了告訴你這個計劃是怎樣的，

I need to tell you a little story,

我需要先講一個小故事，

which kind of sets the stage.

來給大家一個背景。

I tried to look at

我曾經嘗試著尋找

where did the kind of learning we do in schools,

我們今天在學校裡的教育方式，

where did it come from?

它究竟是從哪裡來的？

And you can look far back into the past,

這個問題的答案當然可以追溯到很久以前，

but if you look at present-day schooling the way it is,

但是只要你看看今天學校教育的方式，

it's quite easy to figure out where it came from.

你能很容易弄清它來自哪裡。

It came from about 300 years ago,

它來自大約300年前，

and it came from the last

而且它來自地球上最後

and the biggest of the empires on this planet. ["The British Empire"]

且最大的帝國(大不列顛帝國)。

Imagine trying to run the show,

想像一下，

trying to run the entire planet,

在沒有電腦、沒有電話的時代

without computers, without telephones,

要管理整個世界

with data handwritten on pieces of paper,

卻僅僅依靠在紙上寫字，

and traveling by ships.

和在船上航行。

But the Victorians actually did it.

但是維多利亞女王時代的人們做到了。

What they did was amazing.

他們做了一件不可思議的事。

They created a global computer

他們建造了一台環球電腦，

made up of people.

完全由人組成的。

It's still with us today.

甚至今天還在我們身邊

It's called the bureaucratic administrative machine.

這台機器叫做官僚體系

In order to have that machine running,

爲了讓這台機器運行

you need lots and lots of people.

需要大量的人

They made another machine to produce those people:

他們建造了另一台機器來生產這些人 ：

the school.

學校。

The schools would produce the people

學校生產出的人，

who would then become parts of the

就是這台官僚機器

bureaucratic administrative machine.

的零件。

They must be identical to each other.

他們必須是完全標準的、可替換的。

They must know three things:

他們必須知道三件事：

They must have good handwriting, because the data is handwritten;

他們必須會寫字，因為數據是手寫的；

they must be able to read;

他們必須會認字；

and they must be able to do multiplication,

他們必須會

division, addition and subtraction in their head.

心算加減乘除。

They must be so identical that you could pick one up from New Zealand

他們必須是完完全全一樣的人

and ship them to Canada

如果你從他們中任挑一個從紐西蘭運到加拿大，

and he would be instantly functional.

他馬上就可以工作。

The Victorians were great engineers.

維多利亞時代是偉大工程師的時代

They engineered a system that was so robust

他們製作的系統是如此強大，

that it's still with us today,

以致我們今天仍在使用，

continuously producing identical people

持續地生產同樣的人，

for a machine that no longer exists.

即便那個控制全球的機器已經不存在了。

The empire is gone,

不列顛帝國已經滅亡了，

so what are we doing with that design

我們該拿

that produces these identical people,

這個製造一模一樣人的機器怎麼辦，

and what are we going to do next

我們下一步該做什麽，

if we ever are going to do anything else with it?

如果我們真的需要做些什麽的話？

["Schools as we know them are obsolete"]

“我們所知的學校已經過時了”

So that's a pretty strong comment there.

我知道這是一個令人難以接受的觀點。

I said schools as we know them now, they're obsolete.

但是，我只說我們現在所知的學校過時了。

I'm not saying they're broken.

我沒有說學校的教育壞掉了。

It's quite fashionable to say that the education system's broken.

現在很流行說我們的教育體系壞掉了。

It's not broken. It's wonderfully constructed.

它沒有壞掉。它簡直構建地太完美了。

It's just that we don't need it anymore. It's outdated.

只是我們不再需要它了，它過時了。

What are the kind of jobs that we have today?

我們今天的工作都是怎樣的？

Well, the clerks are the computers.

電腦就是我們的職員，

They're there in thousands in every office.

每個辦公室就有幾千部，

And you have people who guide those computers

然後我們有操縱電腦的人，

to do their clerical jobs.

讓電腦去做各種計算

Those people don't need to be able to write beautifully by hand.

他們不需要會寫漂亮的字，

They don't need to be able to multiply numbers in their heads.

他們不需要會心算乘法，

They do need to be able to read.

他們甚至不需要會認字，

In fact, they need to be able to read discerningly.

實際上，他們只要會區分不同的字符就足夠了。

Well, that's today, but we don't even know

而這只是我們現在的工作，

what the jobs of the future are going to look like.

但我們根本不知道未來的工作會變得怎樣。

We know that people will work from wherever they want,

我們知道人們可以在任何地方上班，

whenever they want, in whatever way they want.

任何時間上班，用任何方式上班。

How is present-day schooling going to prepare them

可是，我們現在的學校要怎樣讓學生

for that world?

對未來的工作做好準備?

Well, I bumped into this whole thing completely by accident.

其實我初次思考這個問題完全是湊巧，

I used to teach people how to write computer programs

14年前，我曾經在新德里

in New Delhi, 14 years ago.

教學生寫電腦程式。

And right next to where I used to work, there was a slum.

而緊靠著我工作的地方就有一個貧民窟，

And I used to think, how on Earth are those kids

我曾經想，要究竟怎樣

ever going to learn to write computer programs?

那些貧民窟的孩子才能學會寫電腦程式？

Or should they not?

或者他們就不該學？

At the same time, we also had lots of parents,

同時，我們有很多有錢的家長，

rich people, who had computers,

有錢能買幾台電腦放在家的，

and who used to tell me, "You know, my son,

時不時告訴我：“我那個兒子啊，

I think he's gifted,

真是天才啊，

because he does wonderful things with computers.

他用電腦做了很多很多了不起的事

And my daughter -- oh, surely she is extra-intelligent."

還有我女兒--哦，我肯定她智商超群。”

And so on. So I suddenly figured that,

就像這樣一直講下去。所以我突然就想，

how come all the rich people are having

爲什麽這些天賦過人的孩子

these extraordinarily gifted children?

都生在有錢人的家裡？

(Laughter)

（笑）

What did the poor do wrong?

窮人們做錯了什麽？

I made a hole in the boundary wall

我在我的辦公室

of the slum next to my office,

靠貧民窟的牆上挖了一個洞，

and stuck a computer inside it just to see what would happen

然後把一台電腦放進洞裡。我想知道的是，

if I gave a computer to children who never would have one,

如果我把一台電腦給一個不懂英語

didn't know any English, didn't know what the Internet was.

不知道網際網路，且從沒有碰過電腦的孩子，會發生甚麼事。

The children came running in.

孩子們跑了過來，

It was three feet off the ground, and they said, "What is this?"

指著離地三英寸的那台電腦問我：“這是什麽？”

And I said, "Yeah, it's, I don't know."

然後我說：“這個嘛，它是......我也不知道。”

(Laughter)

（笑）

They said, "Why have you put it there?"

他們說：“爲什麽你把它放在那裡？”

I said, "Just like that."

我說：“就是放在這裡。”

And they said, "Can we touch it?" I said, "If you wish to."

他們說：“我們可以碰它嗎？”我說：“如果你們想的碰的話。”

And I went away.

然後我就走開了。

About eight hours later,

大概八小時以後，

we found them browsing and teaching each other how to browse.

我們回到那裡，發現那些孩子在互相教對方怎麼上網。

So I said, "Well that's impossible, because --

我說：“這是不可能的，因為，

How is it possible? They don't know anything."

這怎麼可能？他們什麽都不知道。”

My colleagues said, "No, it's a simple solution.

我的同事說：“不是這樣的，事情很簡單

One of your students must have been passing by,

你的一個學生肯定有從這裡路過，

showed them how to use the mouse."

告訴了他們怎麼用滑鼠。”

So I said, "Yeah, that's possible."

我說：“沒錯，這很有可能。”

So I repeated the experiment. I went 300 miles out of Delhi

所以我重複了這個實驗。 我來到離德里300英里遠的地方，

into a really remote village

在一個真正的窮鄉僻壤，

where the chances of a passing software development engineer

在那裡有一個軟體開發工程師路過的機率，

was very little. (Laughter)

很小很小（笑）

I repeated the experiment there.

我在那裡做了同樣的實驗

There was no place to stay, so I stuck my computer in,

那裡沒有地方可以長住，所以我把電腦嵌到牆裡，

I went away, came back after a couple of months,

就離開了，並在幾個月以後才回來，

found kids playing games on it.

並發現孩子們在用電腦玩遊戲，

When they saw me, they said,

當他們看見我，他們說，

"We want a faster processor and a better mouse."

“我們想要一個更快的處理器和更好的滑鼠。”

(Laughter)

（笑）

So I said, "How on Earth do you know all this?"

所以我說：“你們到底是怎麼知道這些的？”

And they said something very interesting to me.

他們的回答很有趣，

In an irritated voice, they said,

他們用一種惱怒的口吻說

"You've given us a machine that works only in English,

“你給了我們一台只能顯示英文的機器，

so we had to teach ourselves English in order to use it." (Laughter)

所以我們不得不先自學英語再來用它。”

That's the first time, as a teacher,

這是我作為一個老師

that I had heard the word "teach ourselves" said so casually.

第一次聽到“自學”這個詞被說得這樣輕鬆。

Here's a short glimpse from those years.

這有一段來自那些時候的影片剪輯，

That's the first day at the Hole in the Wall.

這是牆裡有洞的第一天，

On your right is an eight-year-old.

右邊是一個八歲的孩子，

To his left is his student. She's six.

他的左邊是他的學生。她只有六歲。

And he's teaching her how to browse.

而小男孩在教小女孩怎麼上網。

Then onto other parts of the country,

接著我在印度的其它地方，

I repeated this over and over again,

不斷地重複這個實驗，

getting exactly the same results that we were.

得到完全一樣的結果。

["Hole in the wall film - 1999"]

“電影：牆裡有洞-1999”

An eight-year-old telling his elder sister what to do.

一個八歲的小男孩在教他的姐姐要怎麼做，

And finally a girl explaining in Marathi what it is,

最後一個女孩用馬拉地語解釋了它是什麽，

and said, "There's a processor inside."

她說：“裡面有一個處理器。”

So I started publishing.

然後我開始發表我的發現。

I published everywhere. I wrote down and measured everything,

我在各處發表論文。我衡量並寫下所有事情。

and I said, in nine months, a group of children

然後我說，在九個月內

left alone with a computer in any language

給任何一群孩子一台任意語言的電腦

will reach the same standard as an office secretary in the West.

他們可以做到如同西方辦公室職員的水準。

I'd seen it happen over and over and over again.

我已經看到這樣的事一而再再而三地發生。

But I was curious to know, what else would they do

但是我還是好奇，他們還能達到什麽樣的程度，

if they could do this much?

既然他們已經可以做這麼多的話？

I started experimenting with other subjects,

我開始嘗試其它主題，

among them, for example, pronunciation.

其中包括，舉個例子，發音

There's one community of children in southern India

印度南邊有一個社區，

whose English pronunciation is really bad,

孩子們的英語發音真的很差，

and they needed good pronunciation because that would improve their jobs.

而且他們需要好的發音 因為那可以帶來更好的工作。

I gave them a speech-to-text engine in a computer,

我給他們的電腦上安裝了 一個自動語音識別的軟體，

and I said, "Keep talking into it until it types what you say."

然後我說：“跟它說話直到它能把你說的打在螢幕上。”

(Laughter)

（笑）

They did that, and watch a little bit of this.

他們成功了，來看一段短片，

Computer: Nice to meet you. Child: Nice to meet you.

電腦：很高興認識你。孩子：很高興認識你。

Sugata Mitra: The reason I ended with the face

我讓這個短片結束在這位年輕女士的臉上，

of this young lady over there is because I suspect many of you know her.

是因為我懷疑你們之中的許多人認識她。

She has now joined a call center in Hyderabad

她現在在海德巴拉一個呼叫中心工作

and may have tortured you about your credit card bills

她可能因為你的信用卡帳單折磨過你。

in a very clear English accent.

用很標準的英語。

So then people said, well, how far will it go?

然後人們會說，那麼，他們的程度可以到哪?

Where does it stop?

終點在哪裡？

I decided I would destroy my own argument

我決定我要否定我自己的觀點，

by creating an absurd proposition.

透過建立一個荒唐的理論。

I made a hypothesis, a ridiculous hypothesis.

我做了一個假設，一個荒謬的假設。

Tamil is a south Indian language, and I said,

泰米爾是印度南部的一種語言，而我說，

can Tamil-speaking children in a south Indian village

南印度村莊說泰米爾語的孩子可以

learn the biotechnology of DNA replication in English

通過一台街頭電腦學會

from a streetside computer?

用英語寫的生物DNA複製理論嗎？

And I said, I'll measure them. They'll get a zero.

然後我說，我會考他們，他們會得零分

I'll spend a couple of months, I'll leave it for a couple of months,

我會再花幾個月的時間，把電腦留在那裡幾個月，

I'll go back, they'll get another zero.

然後再回去，他們還是會得零分

I'll go back to the lab and say, we need teachers.

我會回到我的實驗室然後說，我們需要老師。

I found a village. It was called Kallikuppam in southern India.

我找到了一個村莊。它叫做卡裡庫潘，位於印度南部。

I put in Hole in the Wall computers there,

我在牆裡裝了一台電腦

downloaded all kinds of stuff from the Internet about DNA replication,

用網路下載了所有有關DNA複製的資料，

most of which I didn't understand.

其中大部份我自己也不瞭解。

The children came rushing, said, "What's all this?"

孩子們跑過來，說 “這是什麽？”

So I said, "It's very topical, very important. But it's all in English."

然後我說：“它很專業，非常重要。但是它的內容都是英語的”

So they said, "How can we understand such big English words

然後他們說：“我們怎麼能理解這麼多的英文單字

and diagrams and chemistry?"

圖表和化學？”

So by now, I had developed a new pedagogical method,

到那個時候，我已經創建了我的新教育學理論

so I applied that. I said, "I haven't the foggiest idea."

所以我回答他們：“我也不知道。”

(Laughter)

（笑）

"And anyway, I am going away."

“而且反正我也要走了。”

(Laughter)

（笑）

So I left them for a couple of months.

然後我離開了他們幾個月。

They'd got a zero. I gave them a test.

我測試了他們。他們確實得了零分

I came back after two months

兩個月後我又回去了，

and the children trooped in and said, "We've understood nothing."

孩子們聚在一起說：“我們什麽也不懂。”

So I said, "Well, what did I expect?"

然後我說：“好吧，我能期望什麽？”

So I said, "Okay, but how long did it take you

所以我說：“好的，但是你們用了多少時間

before you decided that you can't understand anything?"

才決定不再看了？”

So they said, "We haven't given up.

他們說：“我們還沒有放棄。

We look at it every single day."

我們每天都有看。”

So I said, "What? You don't understand these screens

然後我說：“什麽？你們不知道這個螢幕上說了什麽，

and you keep staring at it for two months? What for?"

但是你們盯著它看了兩個月？爲了什麽？”

So a little girl who you see just now,

一個小女孩，你剛才看見的那個，

she raised her hand, and she says to me in broken Tamil and English,

舉起手來，然後用半泰米爾半英語說道 :

she said, "Well, apart from the fact that

“除了不正常的DNA分子

improper replication of the DNA molecule causes disease,

會導致疾病的事實外，

we haven't understood anything else."

我們還沒有理解任何別的東西。”

(Laughter) (Applause)

（笑）（鼓掌）

So I tested them.

然後我測試了他們，

I got an educational impossibility, zero to 30 percent

我得到了一個教育學的奇蹟，從零分到三十分

in two months in the tropical heat

在兩個月時間內，在一個炎熱的熱帶村莊，

with a computer under the tree in a language they didn't know

透過一台樹下的電腦和一種他們不認識的語言

doing something that's a decade ahead of their time.

做了一件超越他們時代整整十年的事情。

Absurd. But I had to follow the Victorian norm.

不可思議。但是我還是要遵循維多利亞時代的標準

Thirty percent is a fail.

30分是不及格。

How do I get them to pass? I have to get them 20 more marks.

怎樣才能讓他們通過？我還要讓他們再得二十分

I couldn't find a teacher. What I did find was a friend that they had,

我找不到一個能教他們的老師。 我找到的是一個他們的朋友，

a 22-year-old girl who was an accountant

一個22歲的女孩，是一個會計，

and she played with them all the time.

她總跟那些孩子玩在一起。

So I asked this girl, "Can you help them?"

所以我問這個女孩：“你能幫幫他們嗎？”

So she says, "Absolutely not.

她說：“絕對不可能。

I didn't have science in school. I have no idea

我沒學過生物。

what they're doing under that tree all day long. I can't help you."

我不知道他們整天在那棵樹下幹什麼。我幫不了你。”

I said, "I'll tell you what. Use the method of the grandmother."

我說：“這麼說吧。用你奶奶的辦法。”

So she says, "What's that?"

她說：“那是什麽？”

I said, "Stand behind them.

我說：“站在他們後面，

Whenever they do anything, you just say,

不管他們做了什麽，妳只要說

'Well, wow, I mean, how did you do that?

'哇，太棒了，你們怎麼做到的？

What's the next page? Gosh, when I was your age, I could have never done that.'

下一頁說了什麽？天哪， 我跟你們一樣大的時候，我絕不可能會做這個。’

You know what grannies do."

你知道奶奶們怎麼說的。”

So she did that for two more months.

所以她這樣做了兩個月

The scores jumped to 50 percent.

孩子們的分數提高到50，

Kallikuppam had caught up

卡裡庫潘趕上了

with my control school in New Delhi,

我在新德裡的對比學校，

a rich private school with a trained biotechnology teacher.

一個有專業生物老師的有錢私立學校。

When I saw that graph I knew there is a way to level the playing field.