SOLE: Let learning happen

Conventional schooling based on content-delivery has become obsolete in the face of the need for human connection which the pandemic has made evident. Educators need new pedagogies which are child-driven and supported by technology. We propose using SOLEs (Self-Organized Learning Environments): a space where children, families and communities can come together to discover and explore self-organised learning.The objective for SOLE is to provide educators with a tool to help seamlessly incorporate inquiry learning into the natural classroom/public space environment without any special preparation or extensive training. It aims to inspire people to become creative and curious problem-solvers with the confidence and skills needed to tap into the global network of tools available to them, as well as the knowledge of peers and educators. By doing so, groups can learn, engage in dialogue across differences and collaborate to create flourishing communities and a more equal and connected world.

Children and youth in Colombia are clearly the most affected by the pandemic and violence. Public schools and libraries, which were safe places for many of them, have been closed for more than a year without a clear timing for total re-opening. Most families lack internet connection and devices at home, which is highlighting precarious or non-existent remote learning. It is said that 42% of the country has no connection to the internet. This becomes even more drastic in rural communities where over 97% have no internet or very poor connection. Added to that, the public debate about opening schools and higher education does not include the voices of children and youth. Conventional schooling based on content-delivery has become obsolete in the face of the need for human connection which the pandemic has made evident. Educators need new pedagogies which are child-driven and supported by mixed technology. Re-thinking the new school for the pandemic and after the pandemic needs spaces for interaction and self-guided learning.

SOLE (Self-Organized Learning Environments) is a disruptive learning methodology that empowers communities to develop autonomy, collaboration, deep learning, and most important of all, to solve real-life problems! A SOLE session is simple. You need a space (in-person, virtual or hybrid) with learners, a few computers with internet access and Big Questions. In a SOLE people self-organize to find answers to questions without the need for a teacher. In this intellectual adventure, learning emerges from the participants’ interest, developing life-skills like collaboration, expression and communication, creativity and innovation, critical thinking, self-direction, technological fluency.

Together with SOLE is the Granny concept. Research has shown that having limited intervention provided by an encouraging, un-trained, remote facilitator can promote thriving learning processes. A Granny's role includes provoking curiosity, asking questions, listening carefully, and providing a warm environment. The Granny Cloud is a network of volunteers from all walks of life who connect remotely to SOLEs to co-facilitate and provide participants with the opportunity to experience worlds far removed from their own.

Our work is inspired by the work of 2013 TED Prize winner Sugata Mitra who’s work in India leverages internet technologies to enable self-managed learning.

Our main focus is the disenfranchised: children, youth, families, educators and their communities all around Colombia, Latam and the world. We prioritize outreach to  indigenous, afro-descendant and rural communities, displaced, ex-combatants, migrants and people with disabilities and low-income urban communities.

Our mindset and approach is inclusive so we build bridges with many enabling constituencies as well. For most of these communities public education is poor. We have been engaging with these communities for over 5 years co-designing how SOLEs can be used in their public spaces with scarce connectivity. For example, we have setup SOLE as a nationwide program in public libraries where communities can gather to learn how to learn in groups using the internet as well as the library materials. Most of these communities face challenges which involve learning from their context, their needs and their interests to be able to promote self-management and self-organization. We allow them to ask the questions that previously were not heard, and motivate their curiosity.

Learning to ask questions and working in groups to answer them allows not only for the development of 21st century skills, but to actually explore emergent possibilities which formal planned curricula usually evades.We have accompanied farmers and FARC ex-combatants who ask: how can we make our crops more healthy and productive? Children in schools have found passion for topics likes science, math and history connecting it to their local knowledge through SOLEs asking: How do living things affect our planet? Is it possible to rid the world of bullying? Do warring nations advance their technology quicker than peaceful ones?

We have also used SOLE to create nation-wide conversations with questions like: What kind of future do we want to create? Are we on track? What action is need to bridge the gap?

A SOLE takes a single class period in a public space (classroom, library or virtual call) and begins by having learners, organized in small groups  (3 to 5 on shared devices), consider an open-ended question provided by the educator or learners themselves. They research the question on internet-connected devices while preparing a presentation. Then, each group presents to the whole group and discussion follows. This process is iterated weekly with a different question. StartSOLE is a technology platform that facilitates the process of seamlessly incorporating inquiry learning into the natural classroom space environment without any special preparation or extensive training.

With over 20 years of research from PhD Sugata Mitra, powered by proven  interventions using public infrastructure in Colombia to over 450,000 participants in 2500+ public schools, libraries and internet kiosks in the last 7 years;  as well as tech-based deployment in the US to over 10,000 teachers, we have been able to prove how to "let learning happen" in very diverse contexts from formal public education to community-empowerment works effectively. Such is the case that different strategies raging from in-person to remote teacher training as well as training trainers, to the design and deployment of the StartSOLE app have allowed thousands of educators around Colombia and the world to implement SOLEs in their classrooms, public spaces or virtual settings.

SOLE is the future of learning: It is not about teaching but about letting learning happen. SOLE is where children, families and communities come together to discover and explore self-organised learning. Frankly we are disrupting the model of school where learners are passive recipients of content curated by others. SOLE validates that the right design and supports, such as technology, the internet  and grannies, unleash people’s inherent curiosity and creativity. People are motivated to pursue answers to their own Big Questions. New questions invite deeper learning and skills. The joy of learning turns SOLE into a lifelong habit.    

We engage the people who need it the most to help them claim their voice, their agency and community spirit to solve their own problems, leveraging new technologies. We view root cause as claiming power to make your life and community better in the context of your emerging realities. SOLE is part of a global movement to use technology to empower groups to learn, collaborate and act without being hampered by the bureaucracy and politics of institutions.  We imagine SOLE groups as ubiquitous with people of all ages and backgrounds pursuing answers to the Big Questions they deem most important.  As a global movement, we envision networks of networks learning across boundaries and differences to bridge people and ideas. The tipping point in Colombia and globally is about better solutions created from the ground up and it is also about the power of networks to accelerate progress.

Current number: 34,000 SOLE Educators Globally (278 in Colombia)

Number for 2021: 40,000 SOLE Educators (1000 in Colombia)

In 5 years: 250,000 SOLE Educators (25,000 in Colombia)

These educators will then have direct impact on the Participants of the SOLEs which will in Colombia aim to be over 2 million in the next 5 years.

We measure:

1. Number of participants in SOLE sessions and characteristics of the population

2. Rubrics on skill development and behaviour changes reported by educators

3. Big questions related to their contexts, topics, results and new questions

4. Qualitative feedback from SOLE experiences

5. Emerging actions from SOLE groups5.
You can see examples of this in our Narrative of the Great Conversation about the Future and The voice of Colombia as info graphics and visualizations of different data extracted from SOLE sessions.

6 Full-time staff

1000+ part time volunteers: Grannies and SOLE Ambassadors

We are an interdisciplinary non-profit in civil society engaged with academia and research on systems thinking, leadership and learning. Our disciplines range from economics, holistic and life sciences, and social sciences to art, design, culinary, tech and musical creators. 

Our SOLE Colombia Community includes educators, librarians, community leaders, volunteers, supporters and partners organizations from all sectors -public, private, civil society-, particularly education, culture and communication, technology, science and innovation. 

We have spent 6 years birthing this project with limited resources. Every time we see potential to grow and innovate, we are hampered by few resources. During this time, we have raised our families and faced the responsibility of earning a decent livelihood. We are deeply committed to SOLE Colombia but it is terribly frustrating to see a vision, know that we could deliver and compromise because we simply lack funds. We want to be able to slow down to learn how to break out of this cycle.  We believe funding and world-wide networks will allow us to sharpen our own leadership skills as well as take care of ourselves personally so not to burn out. We are raving an international community of energized disruptors with whom we can share, learn, scheme, invent.

Our tangible goal is that once self-organized learning is the common narrative of education world-wide we will not need to push it forward. We want to be out of a job, so to speak.

We do this by growing and nurturing the SOLE Community which is a self-organised community of SOLE enthusiasts world-wide whom are collectively hoisting these common vision of a more equitable and connected world to live well together by unleashing people’s potential for learning, dialogue and self-organized action.

In this sense, everyone's invited.

This is the perfect timing for us to engage in this type of learning experience.  The UN project validated our ability to scale with limited resources.  This is a critical moment to build on the foundation of the half-a-million lives we have touched. We have built trust, community and desire for next steps.  We have a diverse network of partners but we simply do not have bandwidth to nurture them.  We’ve benefited from excellent media. We are poised to dramatically accelerate our reach in Colombia and beyond. 

However,  we are stuck because we have failed to consolidate a constant resourced team; to have continuous collaboration with the government as government officials change and corruption (public and private) stagnates transformation; and to amplify our work prior to the 2020 UN partnership. All these challenges have taught us to adapt and reinvent in uncertainty, but we definitely want to learn from others: Solvers, networks/partners of the Solve and MIT.  

We do not know exactly what it is that we need to get to the next-level. Maybe we will know when we are there. What we can say, is that we sense we am going there now and the Solve community can help us get there.

We will use funds to enable all possible educators in 50 communities around Colombia to become SOLE-Qualified Educators (SQEs) within two years. The strategy is to employ a train-the-trainer model that has been effectively implemented in other SOLE regional efforts. Colombia would be divided into three to five Zones for managing the SOLE rollout. From within these Zones, together with partners which SOLE Colombia has, we would strategically select 50 communities as lead implementation spaces: a mix between public schools, libraries or internet kiosks. This process establishes points of contact within each community and Zone. The individuals will serve as lead trainers to begin the process. Collectively, this group of educator-trainers, called Explorers, will also represent the Startup SOLE Community. This group is not only the earliest adopters of StartSOLE technology and experience creating self-organized learning environments, but also for gaining feedback and pilot testing of modifications and enhancements as the project continues. We will also include several of our current experienced SOLE Educators as Explorers. Each SOLE Explorer has the responsibility to train all educators in their community and train and qualify 3 new Explorers in other schools or public spaces, who in turn will train all educators in their respective spaces. The process is iterated in year 2 creating approximately 150 Explorers and Contact Points in the SOLE Colombia Community. This experience will include virtual training and in-person support and connection for some of the sites (depending on pandemia and public order).

We have experimented with SOLE in post-conflict areas and with Venezuelan migrants in Colombia and believe this solution is adaptable to a variety of settings, including working with for Refugee Inclusion. 

We will use funds to enable all possible educators in 50 communities
around Colombia to become SOLE-Qualified Educators (SQEs) within two
years. The strategy is to employ a train-the-trainer model that has been
effectively implemented in other SOLE regional efforts. Colombia would
be divided into three to five Zones for managing the SOLE rollout. From
within these Zones, together with partners which SOLE Colombia has, we
would strategically select 50 communities as lead implementation spaces:
a mix between public schools, libraries or internet kiosks. This
process establishes points of contact within each community and Zone.
The individuals will serve as lead trainers to begin the process.
Collectively, this group of educator-trainers, called Explorers, will
also represent the Startup SOLE Community. This group is not only the
earliest adopters of StartSOLE technology and experience creating
self-organized learning environments, but also for gaining feedback and
pilot testing of modifications and enhancements as the project
continues.

SOLE aside from the 21st century skills we have mentioned about is powerful in developing key STEAM-related skills by creating an environment in which learners practice some of these skills each week, establishing an entry point to teaching STEAM-related skills that prepares learners and teachers for complex practices related to STEAM.

We will use funds to enable all possible educators in 50 communities
around Colombia to become SOLE-Qualified Educators (SQEs) within two
years. The strategy is to employ a train-the-trainer model that has been
effectively implemented in other SOLE regional efforts. Colombia would
be divided into three to five Zones for managing the SOLE rollout. From
within these Zones, together with partners which SOLE Colombia has, we
would strategically select 50 communities as lead implementation spaces:
a mix between public schools, libraries or internet kiosks. This
process establishes points of contact within each community and Zone.
The individuals will serve as lead trainers to begin the process.
Collectively, this group of educator-trainers, called Explorers, will
also represent the Startup SOLE Community. This group is not only the
earliest adopters of StartSOLE technology and experience creating
self-organized learning environments, but also for gaining feedback and
pilot testing of modifications and enhancements as the project
continues.

We will use funds to enable all possible educators in 50 communities

around Colombia to become SOLE-Qualified Educators (SQEs) within two
years with special focus on women and girls. The strategy is to employ a train-the-trainer model that has been effectively implemented in other SOLE regional efforts. Colombia would be divided into three to five Zones for managing the SOLE rollout. From within these Zones, together with partners which SOLE Colombia has, we would strategically select 50 communities as lead implementation spaces:
a mix between public schools, libraries or internet kiosks. This
process establishes points of contact within each community and Zone.
The individuals will serve as lead trainers to begin the process.
Collectively, this group of educator-trainers, called Explorers, will
also represent the Startup SOLE Community. This group is not only the
earliest adopters of StartSOLE technology and experience creating
self-organized learning environments, but also for gaining feedback and
pilot testing of modifications and enhancements as the project
continues.

SOLE aside from the 21st century skills we have mentioned about is powerful in developing key STEAM-related skills by creating an environment in which
learners practice some of these skills each week, establishing an entry
point to teaching STEAM-related skills that prepares learners and
teachers for complex practices related to STEAM.

We will use funds to enable all possible educators in 50 communities
around Colombia to become SOLE-Qualified Educators (SQEs) within two
years. The strategy is to employ a train-the-trainer model that has been
effectively implemented in other SOLE regional efforts. Colombia would
be divided into three to five Zones for managing the SOLE rollout. From
within these Zones, together with partners which SOLE Colombia has, we
would strategically select 50 communities as lead implementation spaces:
a mix between public schools, libraries or internet kiosks. This
process establishes points of contact within each community and Zone.
The individuals will serve as lead trainers to begin the process.
Collectively, this group of educator-trainers, called Explorers, will
also represent the Startup SOLE Community. This group is not only the
earliest adopters of StartSOLE technology and experience creating
self-organized learning environments, but also for gaining feedback and
pilot testing of modifications and enhancements as the project
continues.