First 7 'Steve JobsSchools' open in Netherlands, tout education through iPad
The first seven "Steve JobsSchools" officially opened their doors in the Netherlands on Wednesday, kicking off an ambitious experiment in child education where Apple's iPad is the main cog of the learning apparatus, acting as a hub for all daily activities.
First day of school at Master Steve JobsSchool in Sneek, Netherlands. | Source: O4NT
As AppleInsider reported in July, the so-called "Steve JobsSchools" operate under a completely new philosophy that puts technology ? namely Apple technology ? at the heart of the classroom. Instead of textbooks, rigid schedules and a highly structured course of study, students are given a portable "virtual school" consisting of a single iPad loaded with specialized apps.
The Education for a New Era Foundation (O4NT), which developed the principles behind the teaching method, opened its first set of schools in the towns of Sneek, Breda, Almere, Emmen, Heenvliet and Amsterdam. The "Master Steve JobsSchool" in Sneek and the "Steve JobsSchool Breda" will incorporate the iPad-driven curriculum at all grade levels, while the other five plan to start first with lower grades and expand upward.
According to O4NT, the unique teaching method is a more efficient approach to reaching the 58 core objectives set forth by the Dutch Ministry of Education. By using a "one-on-one student-iPad ratio," the schools are able to adapt to the needs of individual students rather than tailor lessons for the group.
Branching from the O4NT's core system is a suite of apps that range from a virtual schoolyard to a student tracker parents and teachers use to dynamically monitor a child's progress. Actually, O4NT refers to a teachers as "coaches," as their main role in the classroom has been modified to offer support for a child's individual and group projects, rather than just broadcasting lesson material.
Student interaction in school is crucial, but at least a part of that experience at Steve JobsSchools is virtual. A good example is "sCoolSpace," a virtual schoolyard app designated to each physical school where students can meet and interact in the digital realm. Coaches and students have their own personalized avatars and communicate via baked in support for FaceTime, Skype and instant messaging, while augmented reality technology offers "life-like" experiences.
Not all of a student's life is spent glued to a tablet, however, as the daily Steve JobsSchool routine takes them around "subject rooms" located on the physical school grounds. Depending on their personal schedule, students can be found in the language room, math room, gym, technology lab, or at a planned activity for which they previously registered through one of O4NT's apps.
Parents and teachers can monitor a child's daily movements with the "iDesk Learning Tracker," which provides data on how long a student spent in a certain app, what level they reached and where they need help. The tool can also be used to compare a student's progress against other individuals, or an average for children of the same age.
Because the iPad-based curriculum is available at all times, parents can schedule vacations and even set school hours at their discretion. The "TikTik sCoolTool" calendar app helps with scheduling by automating events like logging school arrival times. Students are able to see what's planned for the day ahead as soon as they get to school and can create events on the fly. Parents and teachers also have access to the calendar for purposes of monitoring and management.
With nearly all aspects of student life being digitally recorded and shared, O4NT can compile data to further refine the program's methodology going forward. It is this level of connectivity and per-student attention that makes the system so unique and customizable.
O4NT says at least 12 Steve JobsSchools will be in operation by the end of the school year, while Dutch speaking children around the world will have a chance to use the iPad-based curriculum when O4NT International rolls out in early 2014.
More information about O4NT and its project can be found on the foundation's website or at www.educationforanewera.com.
First day of school at Master Steve JobsSchool in Sneek, Netherlands. | Source: O4NT
As AppleInsider reported in July, the so-called "Steve JobsSchools" operate under a completely new philosophy that puts technology ? namely Apple technology ? at the heart of the classroom. Instead of textbooks, rigid schedules and a highly structured course of study, students are given a portable "virtual school" consisting of a single iPad loaded with specialized apps.
The Education for a New Era Foundation (O4NT), which developed the principles behind the teaching method, opened its first set of schools in the towns of Sneek, Breda, Almere, Emmen, Heenvliet and Amsterdam. The "Master Steve JobsSchool" in Sneek and the "Steve JobsSchool Breda" will incorporate the iPad-driven curriculum at all grade levels, while the other five plan to start first with lower grades and expand upward.
According to O4NT, the unique teaching method is a more efficient approach to reaching the 58 core objectives set forth by the Dutch Ministry of Education. By using a "one-on-one student-iPad ratio," the schools are able to adapt to the needs of individual students rather than tailor lessons for the group.
Branching from the O4NT's core system is a suite of apps that range from a virtual schoolyard to a student tracker parents and teachers use to dynamically monitor a child's progress. Actually, O4NT refers to a teachers as "coaches," as their main role in the classroom has been modified to offer support for a child's individual and group projects, rather than just broadcasting lesson material.
Student interaction in school is crucial, but at least a part of that experience at Steve JobsSchools is virtual. A good example is "sCoolSpace," a virtual schoolyard app designated to each physical school where students can meet and interact in the digital realm. Coaches and students have their own personalized avatars and communicate via baked in support for FaceTime, Skype and instant messaging, while augmented reality technology offers "life-like" experiences.
Because the curriculum is available on the iPad 24/7, parents can schedule their child's vacation period and school hours.
Not all of a student's life is spent glued to a tablet, however, as the daily Steve JobsSchool routine takes them around "subject rooms" located on the physical school grounds. Depending on their personal schedule, students can be found in the language room, math room, gym, technology lab, or at a planned activity for which they previously registered through one of O4NT's apps.
Parents and teachers can monitor a child's daily movements with the "iDesk Learning Tracker," which provides data on how long a student spent in a certain app, what level they reached and where they need help. The tool can also be used to compare a student's progress against other individuals, or an average for children of the same age.
Because the iPad-based curriculum is available at all times, parents can schedule vacations and even set school hours at their discretion. The "TikTik sCoolTool" calendar app helps with scheduling by automating events like logging school arrival times. Students are able to see what's planned for the day ahead as soon as they get to school and can create events on the fly. Parents and teachers also have access to the calendar for purposes of monitoring and management.
With nearly all aspects of student life being digitally recorded and shared, O4NT can compile data to further refine the program's methodology going forward. It is this level of connectivity and per-student attention that makes the system so unique and customizable.
O4NT says at least 12 Steve JobsSchools will be in operation by the end of the school year, while Dutch speaking children around the world will have a chance to use the iPad-based curriculum when O4NT International rolls out in early 2014.
More information about O4NT and its project can be found on the foundation's website or at www.educationforanewera.com.
Comments
First of all, how're the kids gonna understand that guy pointing at a Sharp TV?
He's speaking Dutch, right?
And secondly, all the kids're gonna do is play "Angry Birds" & look at Twitter, Skype, Instagram,
YouTube, Vine & FaceTime all day.
Plus, it's August.
I thought school starts in September after Labor Day?
They're gonna spend the entire time just futzing around & not getting any work done.
I'm not saying this is wrong or that they're bad kids for doiing it.
What I'm saying is that this is the natural order of things -- that's what me & my friends would be doing.
This is a complete & utter waste of valuable time & resources and is a liberal "progressive education"
disaster just wating to happen.
Reading, 'Riting & 'Rithmatic -- that's what'll help these kids & do 'em the most good!
And no fancy lunches, either -- just a container of regular kawfee & a buttered roll.
Now it's time for me to go to school.
The school of the jobsite.
And the boss doesn't want an apple on his desk!
Amazing.
You are aware that apps can be disabled right ?
Yeah ....
Like, as soon as they're locked out, they're not gonna unlock 'em.
All they gotta do is surf to a site that'll tell 'em how to do it, or just go to a jailbreak site et voilá -- instant Fun Device®!
What they really should do is get these kids on the jobsite and let 'em learn the value of a dollar & an honest, hard day's woik!
That's what they oughta do!
Quote:
Originally Posted by iPadCary
What they really should do is get these kids on the jobsite and let 'em learn the value of a dollar & an honest, hard day's woik!
That's what they oughta do!
Learning the value of a dollar isn't going to help Dutch kids much.
Every age has its own learning tools. Our ancient ancestors dint have bound books. They prolly used the trees bark to write and read. Paper Books came in later . And now digital learning in this digital age we live in can serve education a lot more. Like interactive learning with use of 3D models and sound or videos. As of games being a source of distraction that can be solved by technology solutions. How hard is it to have an app that tells the teacher how many of his students are still connected to it.
Study apps could also be designed to not run on jail broken devices. Software technology can be developed to discourage and even stop use of games and other distractive apps if that's the intention.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iPadCary
Ahhh, I don't like it.
First of all, how're the kids gonna understand that guy pointing at a Sharp TV?
He's speaking Dutch, right?
And secondly, all the kids're gonna do is play "Angry Birds" & look at Twitter, Skype, Instagram,
YouTube, Vine & FaceTime all day.
Plus, it's August.
I thought school starts in September after Labor Day?
They're gonna spend the entire time just futzing around & not getting any work done.
I'm not saying this is wrong or that they're bad kids for doiing it.
What I'm saying is that this is the natural order of things -- that's what me & my friends would be doing.
This is a complete & utter waste of valuable time & resources and is a liberal "progressive education"
disaster just wating to happen.
Reading, 'Riting & 'Rithmatic -- that's what'll help these kids & do 'em the most good!
And no fancy lunches, either -- just a container of regular kawfee & a buttered roll.
Now it's time for me to go to school.
The school of the jobsite.
And the boss doesn't want an apple on his desk!
Are you for real??
Quote:
Originally Posted by iPadCary
This is a complete & utter waste of valuable time & resources and is a liberal "progressive education"
disaster just wating to happen.
Reading, 'Riting & 'Rithmatic -- that's what'll help these kids & do 'em the most good!
And no fancy lunches, either -- just a container of regular kawfee & a buttered roll.
This has worked so well in the past, why change? 18th in the world.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jungmark
Can't wait for the Samsung Schools to open, where it's encouraged to copy off the smart students and explain that's just the convergence of education and smart students shouldn't monopolize learning.
That's gold, Jerry! Gold.
I wish Nanny Bloomberg with his billions would donate these to NYC schools to up their grade testing scores- they're abysmal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichL
Learning the value of a dollar isn't going to help Dutch kids much.
Are you saying there are other countries besides the United States?! No way!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rabbit_Coach
Are you for real??
Very unlikely!
But Android!
Quote:
Originally Posted by iPadCary
Ahhh, I don't like it.
First of all, how're the kids gonna understand that guy pointing at a Sharp TV?
He's speaking Dutch, right?
This article is not about the US. It's about Denmark. They speak Dutch.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iPadCary
And secondly, all the kids're gonna do is play "Angry Birds" & look at Twitter, Skype, Instagram,
YouTube, Vine & FaceTime all day.
This article is about iPads with specialized apps ands settings (incl. disabled apps).
Quote:
Originally Posted by iPadCary
Plus, it's August.
I thought school starts in September after Labor Day?
This article is not about the US.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iPadCary
This is a complete & utter waste of valuable time & resources and is a liberal "progressive education"
disaster just wating to happen.
Where did you get your education from? The US? Seems like a disaster to me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichL
Learning the value of a dollar isn't going to help Dutch kids much.
Now wait, that's probably not true. They can learn how one should not dig yourself into such a large hole that you're unlikely to ever get out of it and how that devalues your currency. Good lesson in there.
A hospital in my neighborhood decided to use Android tablets. It was on the radio too. Sheesh they find local media to advertise the platform.