Ted Prize winner of 2013, Prof Sugata Mitra, is coming to Kuala Lumpur, and will be the keynote speaker for a conference that will highlight how technology can play a part in education.
The conference, which will take place on Dec 5, is called "The Future of Learning", the central theme of Mitra’s US$1mil (RM3mil) TED-prize winning vision.
A professor of educational technology at Newcastle University and Chief Scientist Emeritus of the National Institute of Information Technology, Mitra, is known for his 1999 “Hole in the Wall” experiment which proved children could learn to use computers without formal training.
This experiment has been repeated at many places and acclaimed in literacy and education studies around the globe, inspiring other educators as well as the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire.
Mitra's keynote address will share his findings on how children can self-organise and achieve their learning objectives with minimal supervision.
1BestariNet virtual learning platform provider FrogAsia is organising the conference, its second installation of the Leaps Of Knowledge series, which had previously featured motivational speaker Nick Vujicic earlier this year.
FrogAsia Executive Director, Lou Yeoh said Leaps of Knowledge is another FrogAsia initiative to highlight how innovations in technology can revolutionise learning for this and the future generation of Malaysian students.
“Mitra is globally changing the future of education as we know it. His approach to learning is at once simple and ground breaking. FrogAsia is working to realise this exact vision in all 10,000 Malaysian government schools," said Yeoh.
"With Yes 4G connectivity, the Frog Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), the FrogStore, our online education marketplace, and Google Apps for Education — we are equipping our schools with the tools to make possible the future of learning,” he added.
Other speakers at the conference will include author, facilitator and leadership coach Alvin Ung and Intel APAC and Japan vice-president Gregory Bryant.
Ung will share his experiences in a Malaysian school in Pahang that became this year’s most improved school in the country. Bryant will talk about cloud technology and the learning possibilities now available with the advent of devices such as Google’s Chromebook.
The full-day conference will include workshops aimed to equip and empower educators and parents to prepare the students of today for a digitally-driven future.
For more information and to register for the conference go to http://www.leapsofknowledge.com.