Hole in the Wall experiment

E490394

educational research project learning experiment self-organized learning experiment

The Hole in the Wall experiment was an educational research project in which computers were placed in public walls for children to use freely, demonstrating that groups of children can teach themselves to use technology and learn collaboratively with minimal adult intervention.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (7)

Label	Occurrences
Hole in the Wall experiment canonical	3
Hole in the Wall Education Project	2
Hole in the Wall learning stations	1
Hole in the Wall project	1
Hole-in-the-Wall project	1
Minimally Invasive Education experiment	1
Sugata Mitra’s Hole in the Wall experiments	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T5070944 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Hole in the Wall experiment
Context triple: [Sugata Mitra, knownFor, Hole in the Wall experiment]

A. Hole-in-the-Wall
Hole-in-the-Wall is a natural sea-carved rock arch and tidepool area on Washington’s Pacific coast, popular for coastal hikes and marine life viewing.
B. Hole in the Wall
Hole in the Wall is a famous natural sea-arch rock formation along South Africa’s Wild Coast, known for its striking coastal scenery and cultural significance.
C. People’s Living Lab
People’s Living Lab is the core theme of Expo 2025, envisioning the world’s fair as a large-scale experimental space where people, technologies, and ideas interact to co-create solutions for future society.
D. Internet Experiment Note 41
Internet Experiment Note 41 was an early ARPANET-era technical note that documented a predecessor version of the Internet Protocol later superseded and formalized by RFC 791.
E. One Laptop per Child
One Laptop per Child is an educational nonprofit initiative that aimed to provide low-cost, durable laptops to children in developing countries to support digital learning and bridge the global digital divide.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Hole in the Wall experiment
Target entity description: The Hole in the Wall experiment was an educational research project in which computers were placed in public walls for children to use freely, demonstrating that groups of children can teach themselves to use technology and learn collaboratively with minimal adult intervention.

A. Hole-in-the-Wall
Hole-in-the-Wall is a natural sea-carved rock arch and tidepool area on Washington’s Pacific coast, popular for coastal hikes and marine life viewing.
B. Hole in the Wall
Hole in the Wall is a famous natural sea-arch rock formation along South Africa’s Wild Coast, known for its striking coastal scenery and cultural significance.
C. People’s Living Lab
People’s Living Lab is the core theme of Expo 2025, envisioning the world’s fair as a large-scale experimental space where people, technologies, and ideas interact to co-create solutions for future society.
D. Internet Experiment Note 41
Internet Experiment Note 41 was an early ARPANET-era technical note that documented a predecessor version of the Internet Protocol later superseded and formalized by RFC 791.
E. One Laptop per Child
One Laptop per Child is an educational nonprofit initiative that aimed to provide low-cost, durable laptops to children in developing countries to support digital learning and bridge the global digital divide.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	educational research project ⓘ learning experiment ⓘ self-organized learning experiment ⓘ
aim	to explore collaborative learning with minimal adult intervention ⓘ to investigate how children learn to use computers without formal training ⓘ to study self-organized learning among children ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Hole in the Wall Education Project ⓘ linked to: Hole in the Wall experiment Hole-in-the-Wall project ⓘ linked to: Hole in the Wall experiment Minimally Invasive Education experiment ⓘ linked to: Hole in the Wall experiment
country	India ⓘ
demonstrated	feasibility of minimally supervised learning with technology ⓘ peer teaching among children using computers ⓘ spontaneous curriculum formation by children ⓘ
feature	publicly accessible computer terminals embedded in walls ⓘ shared computer use by groups of children ⓘ unrestricted access for children ⓘ
field	child development ⓘ cognitive science ⓘ education ⓘ educational technology ⓘ learning sciences ⓘ
hasSubject	access to technology for disadvantaged children ⓘ constructivist learning ⓘ digital divide ⓘ informal education ⓘ
hypothesis	children can learn collaboratively with minimal adult guidance ⓘ groups of children can teach themselves to use computers ⓘ
influenced	debates on child-centered learning ⓘ research on technology in education ⓘ
inspired	Self-Organized Learning Environments ⓘ linked to: SOLE (Self-Organized Learning Environments) Sugata Mitra's TED Prize wish ⓘ linked to: Sugata Mitra
location	Kalkaji slum, New Delhi ⓘ New Delhi ⓘ linked to: New Delhi, India
methodology	informal learning ⓘ minimally invasive education ⓘ naturalistic field experiment ⓘ self-directed learning ⓘ
operator	NIIT ⓘ
participant	children from low-income communities ⓘ children with little or no prior exposure to computers ⓘ
principalInvestigator	Sugata Mitra ⓘ
researcher	Sugata Mitra ⓘ
result	children learned basic computer operations on their own ⓘ children shared knowledge with peers ⓘ emergence of self-organized learning groups ⓘ improved digital literacy among participating children ⓘ
sponsor	NIIT ⓘ
startDate	1999 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited