Dutch Officials Set to Open 11 iPad-Only 'Steve Jobs Schools' for Children

[jfx94]

Most kids thrive on structure and personal interaction. Lots of adults do too.

I can see this working well for the few kids that don't have many social skills and are perhaps more free spirited in disregarding the confines of structure. Not sure what % of the population that is, but I've only known a handful in my life. Most people become lazy. There are only s couple that truly can utilize the continued lack of structure to accomplish more. It's also been my observation that those people tend to function fine within structured environments as well.

I'm curious to see what happens.

 

[Bubba Satori]

Now THIS is a progression in education.

Bravo

What is progression in education?

 

[Skika]

What is progression in education?

What was mentioned in the article, was my post confusing?

 

[gkarris]

IT in schools has been around for almost 30 years now. When is it going to help children become better educated or become more self-sufficient learners?

I'm stunned by the semi-literacy and lackadaisical demeanour of 15-21 year olds I've had on work experience (UK).

I'd sooner give them fountain pens and books to be honest.

This.... (also in the US).

I've meet teenagers that can't read a traditional two-handed clock...

Wow, just wow...

 

[PracticalMac]

Well, why even bother? Just go all out and let the kids grade themselves. This WOULD NOT work over hear BTW. Just saying.

So 20th century.




It will be decade(s) to know if it is better, but everyone knows children learn at their own pace, a fundamental problem with today system that causes brilliant children to get bored and drop out, and slow ones to be frustrated and drop out.

 

[martygras9]

“It sounds old-fashioned when you put forth the argument that you lose connection with the past. But then there’s also that scientific aspect of it. We don’t know what’s going to happen later on if you don’t teach children how to write on paper or how to write cursive.”

—Kathleen Wright, textbook publisher

This is also one of the reasons why it would be difficult to create such a structure in the US. Book publishers are like Big Oil, but in schools.

 

[bassfingers]

From my experience "go at your own pace" schools just make people slack off and fall below average.

I went to a very relaxed 'learn what you're interested in' program for pre-k and kindergarten. It didn't work for some (not sure anything would have worked for some of this kids though), but one of the instructors got my attention, and it turned out well for me. I entered the first grade proficient in fairly advanced mathematical concepts for that age group. Multiplication and addition with negative values, powers, square roots, and standard order of operations. Stuff other kids didn't even see till 4th 5th, or maybe even 6th grade.

Because of that though, I spent the rest of my time in a more standard school bored out of my mind.

 

[macs4nw]

For those who are lazy, sure. When I was in 4th grade, my school did an experimental classroom with 2nd-5th graders all together. We helped each other, and in Math and Science (probably other areas too, can't remember as that was a long time ago), we had to keep up, but we could also go further if we wanted to. I was doing 7th grade math in 4th grade because of this model. And I was still able to help kids younger, and older then myself to understand different concepts. There was a teacher for every 20 kids, but that teacher didn't do "math lessons" like in a typical classroom. They were there to help you self teach, which is more valuable I think if you can learn to teach yourself. Children at that age want to learn. It's amazing the passion these kids at that age have to soak up everything they can. Also, the Dutch take a different approach to education that I think is being lost here in the states. Parents are actually involved in their children's education. They help their kids, and make sure they are doing well. Here in the states, our parents have become lazy and are expecting our school systems to raise the children.

It's almost as if you think that they don't have a couple of hundred studies on this kind of learning environment. It's almost as if this wasn't being designed by social scientists and experienced educators.
Yet we see something different, and to us (human beings, although apparently even more than usual in Americans), different ALWAYS MEANS DANGEROUS. Evil. Bad. Stupid. And so we judge, and say it could never work, or it could never work here because Americans are just... what, bad people? Or that even trying it makes these people bad.
It's just like the prison situation here in the US. We have decades of good scientific studies that tell us how to prevent offenders from reoffending in roughly 80% of cases. We have excellent information in exactly how to integrate them back into society so they won't end up sleeping under bridges and having to steal or stave to death. Indeed, we know how to prevent a lot of crime that we see. And the funny thing is, if you factor in all the costs to society of our current regime, it's MUCH CHEAPER to do it that way.
And indeed, there are several countries that are using these methods, to great success.
But do we? No. Because we are terrified of change. Because we would rather make up excuses about how American criminals are just worse than any other criminals in the world, and shove them in piles into overcrowded prisons and let them die because of inadequate medical care (and the occasional case of being tortured to death, thank you Sheriff Joe) than imagine for a second a way to make things better. Because better isn't familiar. Because we're scared of better, maybe even more than we're scared of worse. Because if we try something new and find out it was better, we have to admit that we were wrong about what we had before being better.
See also: health care. We HAVE to believe that we have the best health care in the world, because otherwise something DIFFERENT is also BETTER, and we were WRONG, and we can't have that.
Sometimes it's really tiring watching us Americans stab ourselves in the neck over... and over... and over...

Hmm, let's see...a school where kids sit and play on their iPads all day, learning whatever interests them at their own pace. Kind of like an electronic free-for-all with "facilitators" or, perhaps, "proctors" instead of teachers.
One thing is certain: As expensive as iPads are, the school should be MUCH less expensive to operate than a traditional school. I think proctors would cost less money than actual teachers. Here in the USA, I don't think the teacher unions would be crazy about this kind of idea. They'd have to agree that a $500-$800 tablet could teach children more effectively than a $65,000/year employee (not including health care, pension, etc.). Those iPads don't seem so pricey after all.
Of course, it sure would be fun to put it to the test in a real school, perhaps in an impoverished American city like, um, let's say DETROIT (my hometown). Let half of the kids learn from iPads and the other half learn from Detroit public school teachers. Start them out at age 4 (pre-k) and by the time they're 12 (middle school), give them a standardized test, complete with an essay section. Knowing the Detroit public school system, where less than 25% of incoming 9th graders actually graduate high school, I would bet the bank on the iPad kids. After all, how much worse could the kids actually get?
It does seem like an insane idea, but the only way to improve the educational system (which I think we all agree needs a lot of improvement) is to try out new systems and put them to the test. I guess there would have to be a lot of parents who don't mind their kids being guinea pigs.

Sounds like you are fully behind a production line of worker bees. That's what the current educational structure is all about, to crush any creativity or independent thought process.
I'm 100% behind this program if the parents are involved, and it sounds like they will be.

Agreed 100% x4.

Call this initiative "too forward" if you like, and I admit it's a very bold move, but the fact of the matter is that the education system in this country is broken and out of date. It's experiments like this that will actually bring about change.
http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms.html

Watched it. An eye-opener!

This sounds like a MONTESSORI school on steroids. Wonder what Maria herself, the widely travelled, respected educator, and noted humanitarian would have to say about this. She was a great proponent of letting children advance at their own pace, whatever that was, rather than stifling them with the rigidity of structured education. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Montessori

Our world is changing rapidly, and if our children are to be able to cope with the new realities that they will face in their lifetime, they deserve a new skill set, and to not be hampered by arguably, antiquated education methods.
As many posters have noted, what we have now, is clearly lacking, so this experiment, of which we don't know the outcome, should be welcomed.

I think there is great merit in an experiment like this, and the Dutch deserve credit for such an initiative.

 

[bassfingers]

... when I got to collage I got honour role...

Uh oh

 

[576316]

As much as I love Apple and think iPads are great learning tools, I don't think kids will learn much. Children need to be taught certain things to come out of education with key knowledge. What happens if they don't fancy learning those key life facts and instead play Angry Birds? You'd be left with a generation of morons who are very good at Angry Birds. iPads should be used as teaching tools and not teachers.

 

[PracticalMac]

IT in schools has been around for almost 30 years now. When is it going to help children become better educated or become more self-sufficient learners?

I'm stunned by the semi-literacy and lackadaisical demeanour of 15-21 year olds I've had on work experience (UK).

I'd sooner give them fountain pens and books to be honest.

This.... (also in the US).

I've meet teenagers that can't read a traditional two-handed clock...

Wow, just wow...

Is this a failure of IT? No.
It is a failure of schools not willing to change decades of education practices, and unwilling to to a full blown studies.

And 30 years ago "IT", computer training was a JOKE!
I was a high school student actually teaching others computers after computer class.

We owe the future to at least try this, see what works and does not, becuase in the future knowing how to use technology might become matter of life and death.

 

[Bubba Satori]

What is progression in education?

What was mentioned in the article, was my post confusing?

Not confusing, but I don't understand what it means.
How is what is mentioned in the article progression?
What does that mean?
Progression towards what?

Smarter kids?
More iPad sales?
11 month vacations for Dutch teachers?
A generation of lobotomized tablet zombies?

 

[toke lahti]

Handwriting is essential to young children, so the fact that they don't have notebooks makes this "school" sound like a joke.

We just need to wait for Apple to make biggest invention since sliced bread and finger paints: stylus!

If I were a dutch tax payer, I'd be really interested what kind of cases they are going to use and if not, how many ipads they have to buy per child per year.

 

[Thunderhawks]

By the time these iPad kids are 12, they all need glasses the thickness of Coke bottle bottoms.

Eye strain here we come!

BTW: The concept isn't that new. Guided discovery was always the best method for kids to learn.
Now it's just guided via iPad.

 

[Earendil]

And another thing, do those that are against this idea not see that it parallels the college environment pretty well? Up through HS kids are forced to learn, with rigid structure and spoon fed assignments. Those same kids get to college and find out that 1.5 hours of their day is class, and the other 8 is self education using technology and the Internet.
Being home schooled prepared me for college better than my average peer, in part because I was content to grab books and camp out on my bed for 4 hours and teach myself everything the professor eluded to but expected us to go research. Then I was able to use technology like the Internet to resolve any questions the text didn't provide, or provide in a way I understood.

Information is easily acquired these days. What kids today need to learn is critical thinking, information priority, and research. Memorization while key in some areas is overrated in today's world. What you NEED to know in many careers is beyond your ability to memorize anyway. The skill is in being able to reference that information quickly, and having the knowledge and skill to recognize the correct information when you find it.

Teaching kids how to teach themselves is what our future needs. Not kids that think education only comes by having it crammed down their throat.

 

[tongxinshe]

So am I as well. My guess is a few students will literally thrive in this environment but the majority will be greatly hindered as most children do need structure and direction. For those few with drive toward self starting or those with an inquisitive nature, I would expect the children to excel.

I hope they screen the children well to get the right ones in the program.

You are eager to comment but don't even have the patience to finishing reading the article you are commenting about? What a failure of the education you've got. I bet yours were not via iPads.

 

[jjvdhoef]

Love how everyone is jumping to the conclusion that "the Dutch" are starting these kinds of schools.

There is one loudmouth pollster who apparently send out a PR statement. This has no backing from the government, and no-one in Dutch media is reporting this.

 

[baryon]

I really find this interesting!

Looking back at my 12 years of school, I can say for sure that most of the things I spent ridiculous amounts of effort trying to learn, I have long forgotten and would never have been of any use whatsoever to me. Stressing over long exams and difficult homework seemed to be the biggest obstacles of my life, even now. Never have I ever taken anything as seriously as school. Yet I know now that all that stress was artificial and pointless.

I wish I could have focused on the handful of things that really interested me so that I could dive deeper into that, instead of having to learn a dozen subjects to the same level.

I loved many science subjects and I was good at them, but the level of stress made me refuse to choose a scientific career, even though it would probably have worked well.

Right now I feel that school was a big lie, as it doesn't prepare you for the real world, and most of the things it prepares you for are useless, just a waste of your most important years in your life.

The years when you don't have to pay rent, you don't have to work, you are fed and cared for by your parents, you have lots of friends, and ambition. These years could be put to extremely good use, and what do we do with them? We waste them on long, useless, stupid and stressful years that teach you that if you learn long and boring chunks of text by heart, you'll succeed in life.

I think education needs a huge revolution, and it's probably the most important thing that has to happen in the world right now. It will change people, and the world.

I don't know if the iPad school will be that revolution, but by the sounds of it, it certainly seems to go in that direction.

 

[cgk.emu]

From my experience "go at your own pace" schools just make people slack off and fall below average.

And American schools are institutions of learning and creativity?? The current education system in our country is amazingly terrible, I say this experiment may yield interesting results that other schools around the world could learn from.

 

[swingerofbirch]

I'm not sure what the huge advantage of an iPad is over an inexpensive notebook, or even a ChromeBook. With that you can at least easily type. I've seen iPads used in education, and it seems there is usually a motley variety of free education apps loaded on each one, each with very limited value and a lot of advertisements. In all honesty, in the US, iPads seem to be a perk given to teachers for personal use. Maybe there are some good apps, but I think it's difficult when you limit your curriculum based on what you can find in the App Store. At the least, it seems there is a very limited range of textbooks for the iPad. I know Apple likes showing off interactive textbooks, but in reality it seems that there are very few textbooks like that actually available for the iPad. I just don't see a huge value of iPads over more extensible notebook computers for the majority of students. Just because it's a newer technology (interfacing via touch screen) does not automatically make it advantageous academically.

I'm also not sure how this relates to any vision Steve Jobs had of schools (except that he probably would have been happy to sell more iPads). If you want kids to be passive consumers, then teaching them how to use consumer electronics is good, but they already know how do that. What about asking them if they want to program themselves? Or ask them what they would build that is different than the iPad? Being proficient at using the current generation technology is basically being a good consumer. If it were really "Steve Jobs" like, the school would be helping the students think beyond the iPad (not that that's really the goal of elementary education anyway--but good to dream even while learning).

 

[cwwilson]

Kids these days are growing up to be spoiled, self-centered, egotistical, and entitled. I had to work to hard to free up enough money to buy an iPad now little kindergarten children are going to be using them to learn on? This doesn't seem like a good idea to me, and at a minimum of $500 a pop, how are schools going to afford them and replace them many times after they're inevitably damaged or destroyed?

 

[diddl14]

Love how everyone is jumping to the conclusion that "the Dutch" are starting these kinds of schools.

There is one loudmouth pollster who apparently send out a PR statement. This has no backing from the government, and no-one in Dutch media is reporting this.

It was in various Dutch newspapers over the last months and also has government backup. Here's the website with more background: http://o4nt.nl

 

[curmudgeon32]

I wouldn't send my kids there. They get enough electronics time at home. I want a strong teacher presence to guide and help them learn not apps and games.

Children need human contact, not another dose of screen time. School is about learning to live in a society as much as it is about acquiring knowledge.

 

[Earendil]

Here is a thought experiment for everyone:

1. Raise you hand if you've learned something in the last 5 years. Hands up? Good.
2. Okay, now keep them raised if, of all the things you learned and education you acquired, you learned more from a computer screen or a text book.

Now ask yourself why you think the next generation of adults is going to be any different or less tied to technology than you are?

You'll note that I disregarded information acquired directly from another person, as it sounds like teachers will be more available to students with this program, not less.

In my humble opinion, I do not find getting information from text books tricky, only tedious and time consuming. Getting information from a computer takes time, and due to the amount of information it requires a lot more critical thinking. As an anecdote, you can give both me and my technology savvy parents a list of information to acquire and $20 says I'll not only acquire the information faster, but I'll do it with more reputable sources. It's not because I type faster, it's because I have a lot of experience sifting through false positives.

20 years from now we won't have less information at people's finger tips, we'll have even more. I believe it to be important to train the mind how to use technology fluently and apply a human brain with strong critical thinking and evaluation skills to get the information they require the fastest.

The bonus to this is that people might actually enjoy reading for pleasure again, since they won't be forced to do it for half their waking hours for education.

 

[bungiefan89]

I would think a Steve Jobs school would involve a lot more acid.

Thank you, I lol'd!