Have you heard of Professor Sugata Mitra?

I first heard Professor Sugata Mitra speak on the morning show of the local oldies station.  Usually reading comprehension isn't a hot topic in mainstream media, but when the Huffington Post quoted him as saying spelling and grammar isn't important his views went viral.  To summarize, with the autocorrect features in technology, learning the rules isn't necessary.  I think his remarks were taken out of context.

After finding this TED talk about bringing computers to very poor children in other countries, I'm glad I have discovered his work.  Children teach themselves using technology.  The underprivileged excel given the opportunity. The key is having groups of students using the same computer so they have to solve the problems together.

My favorite part of the video is where Italian students who speak no English, use Google translate and search engines to find the answers to questions presented to them in English. 

Now Professor Sugata Mitra is focused on reading comprehension.  I can't wait to see his results.