The SOLE concept is the brainchild of Sugata Mitra, professor of educational technology at the University of Newcastle in the UK. As well as being described as a polymath (a person who is an expert in a number of different subject areas) Mitra is perhaps most famous for the ‘Hole in the Wall’ project. This was an interesting experiment in the early 2000s, relating to what’s become known as the digital divide (social inequality in terms of access to new technologies). Computers were placed in public spaces in underprivileged areas to allow children access to technology which they would otherwise never have had the opportunity to use. Exploiting the natural curiosity of children about the world they live in, the experiment aimed to prove that children would still learn if left to use the computers without any formal guidance.

The SOLE concept is the brainchild of Sugata Mitra, professor of educational technology at the University of Newcastle in the UK. As well as being described as a polymath (a person who is an expert in a number of different subject areas) Mitra is perhaps most famous for the ‘Hole in the Wall’ project. This was an interesting experiment in the early 2000s, relating to what’s become known as the digital divide (social inequality in terms of access to new technologies). Computers were placed in public spaces in underprivileged areas to allow children access to technology which they would otherwise never have had the opportunity to use. Exploiting the natural curiosity of children about the world they live in, the experiment aimed to prove that children would still learn if left to use the computers without any formal guidance.