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iPad-only ‘Steve Jobs Schools’ open in the Netherlands

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The first seven “Steve JobsSchools” officially opened their doors across a number of cities in the Netherlands yesterday. Schools in the Dutch cities of Sneek, Breda, Almere, Emmen, Heenvliet and Amsterdam, which are for students aged 4 to 12, were first announced in July and  expected to focus on using the iPad for all learning and activities. Now instead of textbooks students are provided with a portable “virtual school” consisting of a single iPad loaded with specialized apps.

The program was first proposed by Dutch officials in March 2012 and is targeted to give every pupil an access to a ”virtual school” through an iPad and help them develop information and creative mind, communication technology, collaboration techniques.  The schools are a part of the Education for a New Era Foundation program, which developed the principles behind the teaching method. O4NT now calls teachers “coaches” to emphasize that their role is to “support children with their individual and group projects”. O4NT noted that the new method is more efficient to get the 58 core objectives set forth by the Dutch Ministry of Education. With help of a “one-on-one student-iPad ratio,” it will be easier to focus on the needs of individual children, as all educational apps are used for basic skills and help adapt to any learning speed and style. One good example is the sCoolSpace, a virtual schoolyard for each physical school where students can meet and interact at any time.

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Parents and teachers can monitor a child’s daily movements with the “iDesk Learning Tracker,” which gives access to information about the time a student spent in an app. With this option, it is also possible to compare a child’s progress against other students. Students have access to their schedules for the day ahead. Parents and teachers also can monitor and manage the calendar.13.08.21-SJ_School-4

Two of the schools currently provide the iPad-driven curriculum at all grade levels, while the other five schools will deal with younger students and focus on higher grades. Each classroom is devoid of “blackboards, chalk or classrooms, homeroom teachers, formal classes, lesson plans, seating charts, pens, teachers teaching from the front of the room, schedules, parent-teacher meetings, grades, recess bells, fixed school days and school vacations.” The Steve Jobs curriculum is planned to expand in 2014 to include Dutch-speaking children worldwide.


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The post iPad-only ‘Steve Jobs Schools’ open in the Netherlands appeared first on AppsRumors.


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