It's moments like these that make me proud to be a Microsoft employee. Here's an excerpt:
Students have scheduled appointments with teachers, typed into their online calendars, instead of being limited to structured times for classes. Their laptops carry software that assesses how quickly they're learning the lesson. If they get it, they'll dive deeper into the subject. If not, they get remedial help.
Lessons will have more incorporation of current events to teach subjects. For instance, a question of whether Philadelphia is safe from the avian flu will teach students about geography, science and history.
"Learning is not just going to school," said Shirley Grover, the school's energetic principal who came from the American School in Milan, Italy. "Learning is equal to life."
If this proves to be viable and we find it happening elsewhere, it just may be a way to save our public education system. Perhaps if this trend continues, I'll revisit the decision to home-school my kids (no I don't have any yet, but my wife and I are hoping to :D) and send them to public school instead.
Way to go Microsoft (and BillG) for stepping up and trying to make this country better. Everybody knows that MS has performed some "questionable acts" in the past, so it's nice to see the company start "walking the walk" when it comes to changing the world for the better.
My hope is that this news sparks a competitive attitude from Apple. With how much Apple has dominated the education system as the vendor of choice, I hope they try their own "school of the future" project. This kind of competition would be a win-win for everyone. Imagine, two of the largest OS companies in the world competing to see who can make the best school? How cool would that be?!?