MITRA, Sugata
Professor of Education, Newcastle University (UK)
Session: Plenary - Innovation
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
- 9.00-10.30
Professor Mitra works in the areas of cognitive science, information science and educational technology. He has been working on these areas, as well as on physics and energy, for more than 30 years.
His contributions include a number of inventions and first-time applications. Among other applications, he is credited with having started the database publishing industry (particularly the Yellow Page industry) in India and Bangladesh, as well as having implemented the first applications of digital multimedia and Internet-based education in India. His experiments (often referred to as “The Hole In The Wall” experiments) with children and the Internet have been reported worldwide since 1999.
One of Mitra’s best-known achievements is his discovery that the Internet, computers and children are literally “made for each other,” with cognitive processes so similar that children need little or no instruction to master computing at the basic level. Mitra and his team are building on this discovery through the design of hardware and software that enable children to reach the intermediate-to-expert level entirely on their own. His current research is leading towards an alternative primary education using self-organized learning, mediation and assessment environments.
The global consequences of Mitra’s discovery for closing the digital divide have resulted in many international awards and other honors, among them:
• The Raizada award for the best paper of 1999 from the Computer Society of India, 1999.
• The “Best ICT story” award from the IICD at the World Bank’s Global Knowledge II conference in Kuala Lumpur, March 2000.
• The “Best Social Innovation of the year 2000” award from the Institute for Social Inventions, UK, 2000.
• The “Man for Peace” award for 2002 from the Together For Peace Foundation, Italy, 2002.
• Finalist, World Technology Awards, education category, World Technology Network, San Francisco, June, 2003.
• The Dewang Mehta Award for Innovation in IT, Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India, 2005.
• Best Education Research Article in an Open Access Journal for 2005,The Communication of Research Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association, 2006.
• Alumni Award for Outstanding Contribution to National Development, from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, 2006.
• Best Book award from the Indian Society for Training and Development, 2007.
He holds a Ph.D. in theoretical solid state physics and is currently Professor of Educational Technology at Newcastle University, UK.
His contributions include a number of inventions and first-time applications. Among other applications, he is credited with having started the database publishing industry (particularly the Yellow Page industry) in India and Bangladesh, as well as having implemented the first applications of digital multimedia and Internet-based education in India. His experiments (often referred to as “The Hole In The Wall” experiments) with children and the Internet have been reported worldwide since 1999.
One of Mitra’s best-known achievements is his discovery that the Internet, computers and children are literally “made for each other,” with cognitive processes so similar that children need little or no instruction to master computing at the basic level. Mitra and his team are building on this discovery through the design of hardware and software that enable children to reach the intermediate-to-expert level entirely on their own. His current research is leading towards an alternative primary education using self-organized learning, mediation and assessment environments.
The global consequences of Mitra’s discovery for closing the digital divide have resulted in many international awards and other honors, among them:
• The Raizada award for the best paper of 1999 from the Computer Society of India, 1999.
• The “Best ICT story” award from the IICD at the World Bank’s Global Knowledge II conference in Kuala Lumpur, March 2000.
• The “Best Social Innovation of the year 2000” award from the Institute for Social Inventions, UK, 2000.
• The “Man for Peace” award for 2002 from the Together For Peace Foundation, Italy, 2002.
• Finalist, World Technology Awards, education category, World Technology Network, San Francisco, June, 2003.
• The Dewang Mehta Award for Innovation in IT, Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India, 2005.
• Best Education Research Article in an Open Access Journal for 2005,The Communication of Research Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association, 2006.
• Alumni Award for Outstanding Contribution to National Development, from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, 2006.
• Best Book award from the Indian Society for Training and Development, 2007.
He holds a Ph.D. in theoretical solid state physics and is currently Professor of Educational Technology at Newcastle University, UK.
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