Our Story
Inspiration
We were inspired by Sugata Mitra’s “Hole in the Wall” experiment in India, which showed that children have the proper tools they can teach themselves, and each other, when given access to technology and freedom to explore, challenging traditional ideas about structured learning.
Innovation Stations
We created what we would like to be thought of as the “Hole in the wall experiment 2.0” is our Innovation Stations. We use the power of AI to give students access to Discovery-Learning as an alternative to those that do.
Innovation Stations are low cost, can be set up nearly anywhere. Learners lead the conversation while our Madam Bella asks them to explain their thoughts, and ideas.
Collaboration in South Africa
Since 2022, organizers and friends of the Discovery Learning Association have been working with TRICO College of Advanced Technology in Sierra Leone, West Africa, to support young people, especially young girls, in their education.
Founder of the school, Mustapha Turay, began by recruiting volunteers to dig a 65-ft-deep well, which they capped with concrete, installed a solar pump, and a 5000-liter storage tank to provide clean water for their village, Madina.
Next, they planted seed corn sent from Utah and were blessed with a bumper crop that met their needs, with enough left over to plant an even larger crop next year for nearby villagers.
With clean water and food, Mustapha was able to acquire the unused WorldVision world headquarters building for TRIO College and begin offering classes.
Using plans and funds provided by the Discovery Learning Association, Mustapha had a local cabinet shop build the world’s first Innovation Station and use it for business meetings with local Imams, as well as begin exploring ways to use it for story-orchestrated discovery learning.
Learning from stories
People don’t learn best from lectures and tests-we learn from stories. This idea was pioneered by Dr. Roger C. Schank, who developed Story-Centered Learning, an apprenticeship-style approach that places learners inside realistic, decision-driven scenarios.
Backed by decades of research, Story-Centered Learning has proven to be a powerful alternative to traditional education.