Three years ago, the city of Philadelphia came to Microsoft and asked them to design a school. What they got was a “school of the future.”
“The school is being touted as unlike any in the world, with not only a high-tech building — students have digital lockers and teachers use interactive “smart boards” — but also a learning process modeled on Microsoft’s management techniques.”
The $63 million dollar facility will eventually enroll up to 750 students. A class of 170 low-income students currently fills up the freshman ranks.
Here is some interesting information about how the school functions:
- Classes start at 9:15 a.m. and end at 4:19 p.m., simulating the typical work day.
- Students use smart cards to register attendance, open their digital lockers and track calories they consume.
- Students carry laptops, not books.
- Teachers use “smart boards” that allow the user to zoom in or out, write, and link directly to the internet.
- The library has been replaced by an interactive learning center that contains only digital information.
- The cafeteria has been replaced with a food court complete with restaurant style seating.
- The school will use an “education competency wheel,” based on the desirable traits Microsoft encourages among its employees.
- Students have scheduled appointments with teachers instead of structured classes.
- Students laptops feature software that determines whether they are picking up the material or whether they need remedial help.
- Lessons focus heavily on current events to teach important subjects.
- And last but not least – students must apply to college to receive a diploma.
I have to admit, I’m jealous. My high school could barely afford paper.
