Sugata Mitra

Sugata Mitra, an Indian computer scientist and educational theorist, is widely recognized for his innovative "Hole in the Wall" experiment. This project demonstrated that children could independently learn to use computers and the Internet, a concept that later inspired Vikas Swarup's novel "Q & A" and, subsequently, the movie "Slumdog Millionaire." Mitra's groundbreaking approaches to education have also led to his development of the "School in the Cloud," a digital learning environment designed to empower self-organized learning.

Mitra's accomplishments extend beyond his experiments, with an extensive career in academia as Professor Emeritus at NIIT University in Rajasthan, India, and previously as Professor of Educational Technology at Newcastle University in England until his retirement in 2019. His scholarly contributions include numerous published papers on organic semiconductors, battery technology, and cognitive science. Additionally, his work at NIIT led to the creation of the first curricula and pedagogy for the organization, and he has trained and developed millions of young Indians, including some of the poorest children in the world.

Despite facing criticism and questions about the long-term sustainability of his kiosk system and the effectiveness of leaving computers in villages for educational purposes, Mitra's contributions have been highly recognized in his field. He was conferred the Dewang Mehta Award for Innovation in Information Technology in 2005 and won the Leonardo European Corporate Learning Award in 2012. Moreover, he was awarded the TED Prize in 2013, further cementing his influence in the field of educational technology.