We’ve installed four computers at the center now. The computers don’t really have much to do on them as of now since we’ve just installed them and we haven’t had a chance to get internet yet. The children predominantly either take to playing Minesweeper or Mahjongg on the computers. We allowed the children to self organise and we saw that the younger children would take turns playing Minesweeper. The children had not yet figured out how to win the game but they had figured out a mechanism for everyone to get a chance. When someone clicks on a bomb the next person would get a chance.  During today’s Minesweeper I observed how children were able to learn very quickly how computers worked just by a few interactions. One child discovered that when he right clicked instead of left clicked on Minesweeper he could mark flags on the boxes. The flags are used to mark where mines are and don’t necessarily open the boxes up. As a result, theoretically you would never really lose the game because you’re never really left clicking. Initially, this learner was getting away with playing the game for extended periods of time by simply marking all boxes with flags. He did not have the slightest clue what the purpose was or how the game works but he had discovered that if he right clicks he can play for longer.  The other learners caught on to this gimmick very quickly though. They came up to me and kept saying that this learner doesn’t lose and is constantly putting flags. I did not intervene at all and watched as they figured out how he was doing it and enforced a rule that that wasn’t allowed.  I’ve read about the Hole in the Wall experiment and watched some videos on it but it was really fascinating to watch how very young learners are able to discover for themselves how things work on the computer. Many children have learned Mahjongg and Solitaire just by trial and error and are also quite proficient with the basic mechanisms to use a computer. It’s time we install more things on the computer for them to explore.