The human component of teaching

I have mixed feelings about Sugatamitra’s video from TED.  While I agree with some of what was presented, that many times “good” teachers don’t necessarily go where they are needed the most and that children are completely capable of learning on their own, which they do every single day, the idea that Self Organizing Learning Environments and “granny clouds” could potentially take the place of the human component of teaching is quite troublesome to me. Isn’t there something to be said for the human relationship that develops between students and their teacher over the course of the year that they spend together? What about the consistent guidance, kindness and support present in traditional classrooms as the teacher carefully and thoughtfully supports individual growth in her classroom? It seems to me that everything we have learned through our program thus far goes against this idea of sitting kids in a small room as they watch someone impart their knowledge to them from a screen. Where does differentiated instruction and designing lessons for students’ individual needs and interests fit into all of this? Are there different avenues for students to access learning and show what they know? Is this supporting educational equity? What does this form of education prepare a child for? While I do believe that technology has great potential in positively influencing education, a simple yet important question we must continue to ask ourselves is, what is technology good for and what is it not good for?