TED Prize winner at the Leaps of Knowledge Conference

Sugata Mitra, alongside prominent thinkers and leaders to share ground-breaking ideas on Internet-enabled education

 KUALA LUMPUR, 8 NOV 2013 — 1BestariNet virtual learning platform provider FrogAsia will present the second installation of the Leaps Of Knowledge series.“The Future of Learning” Conference on 5 December, will feature 2013 TED Prize winner Professor Sugata Mitra. Mitra is professor of educational technology at Newcastle University and Chief Scientist, Emeritus, of the National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT).

Mitra’s 1999 “Hole in the Wall” experiment proved that children could learn how to use computers without formal training. That experiment has since been repeated at many places and acclaimed in literacy and education studies around the globe, inspiring other educators as well as the Oscar-winning movie “Slumdog Millionaire”.

Mitra will appear in Kuala Lumpur as a keynote speaker in the Leaps of Knowledge series, following on from motivational speaker Nick Vujicic earlier this year. Leaps of Knowledge seeks to engage parents, educators and prominent thinkers in discussions about how education can be transformed through the use of technology and the Internet; and to inspire them with what is possible today.

Other speakers include author, facilitator and leadership coach Alvin Ung and Intel APAC and Japan Vice President Gregory Bryant. Conference speakers will also join three luminary figures in education and government in a panel dialogue.
Guests on the panel are:

● Lord Stewart Sutherland, who previously held the positions of Vice-Chancellor of Edinburgh University, Vice-Chancellor of the University of London, Principal of King’s College London and Chief Inspector of Schools in the UK
● Dato Seri Idris Jala, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and CEO of PEMANDU.
● Dr. Ganakumaran Subramaniam, Head of Faculty of Arts and Education at University of Nottingham (Malaysia Campus), and President of the Malaysian English Language Teaching Association (MELTA)

The theme of this year’s conference is centered around Mitra’s US$1 million TED-prize winning vision, “The Future Of Learning”. Mitra’s keynote will share his findings on how children can self-organise and achieve their learning objectives with minimal supervision. Ung will share his inspiring experiences in a Malaysian school in the jungles of Pahang that became this year’s most improved school in the country. Bryant will talk about cloud technology and the learning possibilities now available with the advent of devices such as Google’s Chromebook.

The full-day conference will include workshops aimed to equip and empower educators and parents to prepare the students of today for a digitally-driven future.
FrogAsia Executive Director, Lou Yeoh, said Leaps of Knowledge is another FrogAsia initiative to highlight how innovations in technology can revolutionise learning for this and the future generation of Malaysian students.

“Mitra is globally changing the future of education as we know it. His approach to learning is at once simple and ground breaking. FrogAsia is working to realise this exact vision in all 10,000 Malaysian government schools. With Yes 4G connectivity, the Frog Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), the FrogStore, our online education marketplace, and Google Apps for Education — we are equipping our schools with the tools to make possible the future of learning,” Yeoh said.

Seats to Leaps of Knowledge “The Future of Learning” Conference are limited. The event is presented in partnership with Yes 4G. It is sponsored by YTL Foundation and supported by Intel, Google and TedX.

Conference details are:  
DATE: Thursday, 5 Dec 2013
TIME: 9.00 am to 5.30pm
VENUE: JW Marriott Hotel, 183 Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur
FEES:   RM100 per person (1BestariNet ID holders)
RM300 per person (public)
  Group of 5 (1BestariNet holders): RM75 per person
Group of 5 (public): RM225 per person

EARLY BIRD: There is an early bird discount of 50% for participants who register before 16 Nov.

For more information and to register for the conference please log on to http://www.leapsofknowledge.com.