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Archive for September, 2010

Envisioning the Possibilities- more of Sugata Mitra’s research about the self learning capabilities of children

Posted in Education, India, Technology, tagged , , , , on September 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

In Sugata Mitra’s recent TED talk at TED Global 2010, he stated this unfortunate reality about education:

“There are places on Earth, in every country, where, for various reasons, good schools cannot be built and good teachers cannot or do not want to go…”

In my earlier post titled, Is this the Future of Learning in Large Urban Slums, I wrote about Mitra’s research and fascinating conclusions around how children, when exposed to computers without adult guidance, learned on their own.   Very important results, because as Mitra states in the quote above, all around the world there are places where children don’t have access to schools and teachers.  In this video below, Mitra delves more into his research around the world ranging from India to Italy—dramatic cases of children demonstrating quantifiable learning and improvement by simply having access to a computer.  Take a look at the 20 minute video. (more…)

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The 31 Most Innovative Startups- World Economic Forum’s 2011 Technology Pioneer winners

Posted in Internet, Silicon Valley, Startups, Technology, tagged , , , , , , , on September 11, 2010| 1 Comment »

This week the World Economic Forum, an independent, not-for-profit international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.    Per their website, the Technology Pioneers programme is the World Economic Forum’s way of identifying and integrating those companies – normally in a start-up phase or in their first rounds of financing – from around the world that are involved in the design and development of new technologies. The innovations of these companies reflect society’s attempts to harness, adapt and use technology to change and improve the way business and society operate.

Each year, approximately 30 are recognized as Technology Pioneers in three categories: (more…)

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A Monkey Economy as Irrational as Ours- a TED talk by Laurie Santos

Posted in Economics, Education, tagged , , , , , , , on September 4, 2010| Leave a Comment »

In Superfreakonomics, their follow-up to the hit book Freakonomics, authors Stephen Dubner and Steve Levitt describe an interesting study by Keith Chen, Associate Professor of Economics at Yale University.  As I wrote about in my review of Superfreakonomics, Chen’s research describes studies where monkeys are taught how to use money.   The monkey’s quickly learned to use money, understood money had value and modified their behavior based on the money’s value.

Chen’s Yale research colleague, Associate Professor of Psychology, Laurie Santos, recently gave a TED talk delving deeper into their economic and psychological study with capuchin monkeys.   The interesting 20 minute lecture by Santos is shown below, followed by my thoughts on the overall lecture. (more…)

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