Can kids teach themselves?

I watched an inspiring 20 minute lecture on TedTalks by Sugata Mitra. His project, named Hole in the Wall, was driven by a main topic/question: Can kids teach themselves? The results were astounding and the video footage was excellent in driving the point home.  Watching this made me wonder, are we teaching kids to learn on their own or are we doing it for them?

Now consider this scenario:

Every day students come into the computer lab and sit on the carpet for an introduction or a lesson. I almost always write step by step directions on the board next to my smartboard, so that the kids have something to refer to later on in class. We go through the lesson and I model what the kids will be doing, we do a practice activity together, and I ask if anyone has questions. I even have students tell me what the step-by-step directions are. Just when I think they can’t take my repetition any more, I send them off to do the task. Almost every time, I have a student come up to me and ask what they are supposed to be doing, as if they just showed up to class. Many students will even readily admit that they were NOT LISTENING during class! At least they’re honest!!

Once they get to work, more questions pop up, and I have found that many students do not try to problem solve on their own. This makes me wonder, how did this happen and what I am I doing to improve this situation? When did our students become reluctant to try new things? And most worrisome of all, does this reluctance spill over into other areas of their lives?

How do I effectively nurture and guide them without simply doing the task for them?