The first Steve Jobs School was opened in the Netherlands today, making good on a promise by the O4NT (Education for a New Era) organization that this will happen in August. The first school was today opened the first locations in Sneek, Breda, Almere (two of them), Emmen, Heenvliet and Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
Back in June, we reported (via – Spiegel) that O4NT will be using the iPad to revolutionizing the educational experience in the Netherlands.
The Steve Jobs schools will reportedly accommodate nearly 1,000 children aged four to 12. These students are expected to learn without notebooks, books or backpacks, only his or her own iPad.
The Spiegel report further explains that the Steve Jobs school will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 on every workday. The children will come and go as they please, as long as they are present during the core period between 10:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. The building will only be closed for Christmas and New Year’s. The children’s families will be able to go on vacation when they please, and no child will have to be worried about missing class as a result, since classes in the traditional sense will be nonexistent.
An O4NT spokesperson said: “In the O4NT approach, teachers will no longer simply convey knowledge to a group of children; they will be transformed into coaches that support children with their individual and group projects. Because educational apps are used for basic skills, the learning process can be completely adapted to the individual child’s learning speed and style.”
According to a report from TNW, parents can be updated on their child’s progress have via the iDesk Learning Tracker app. On the other hand, students will have access to their profiles using the ‘TikTik’s sCoolTool‘ app.
O4NT is aiming to have 12 ‘Steve JobsSchools’ up and running in the Netherlands before the end of the current academic year.
