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| Students work on their laptops on the first day of school at the 'School of the Future' in Philadelphia, September 7, 2006. |
Philadelphia on Thursday opened a public high school where students work on wireless laptops, teachers eschew traditional subjects for real-world topics and parents can track their child's work on the Internet.
Called "The School of the Future" and created with help from software giant Microsoft, it is believed to be the first in the world to combine innovative teaching methods with the latest technology.
The school, which cost theschool district$63 million to build, is free and has no entrance exams. The 170 students in the inaugural ninth-grade class were selected by lottery from 1,500 applicants.
Three-quarters of the students come from the surrounding West Philadelphia neighborhood; 95 percent of the students are black, and about 85 percent come fromlow-income households, the school district said.
Philadelphia School District Chief Executive Paul Vallas told students they would be scrutinized by other schools around the world.
"You have become instant role models," Vallas said. "People are going to be ... watching you."
Student still sit in classrooms, but lessons rely heavily on information found on the Internet. Students will be allowed to learn at their own pace. Homework is done on computer and sent to the teacher for grading and parents can access the school's network to read teacher feedback on their child's progress.
Traditional education is obsolete and fails to teach students the skills of problem-solving, critical thinking and effective communication, which they need to succeed in the 21st century, principal Shirley Grover said in an interview.
David Terry, 14, said he was hoping to "turn over a new leaf" after discipline problems in his previous school left him with an "average to really bad" academic record.
"This is a great opportunity for me," he said. "In other schools, I would not get this kind of education."
(Agencies)
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上周四，美國費城一所新型公立中學(xué)正式開學(xué)。在這里，學(xué)生們使用無線筆記本電腦學(xué)習(xí)，老師們的授課內(nèi)容不再是傳統(tǒng)課程，而是現(xiàn)實世界中的話題，家長可以通過互聯(lián)網(wǎng)隨時了解孩子的學(xué)習(xí)情況。
這所名叫“未來中學(xué)”的學(xué)校由軟件巨頭“微軟公司”協(xié)助建成，是全球第一所將新興教學(xué)方法與先進科技相結(jié)合的學(xué)校。
費城學(xué)區(qū)為該校的建設(shè)共投入6300萬美元，學(xué)校免收學(xué)費，而且沒有入學(xué)考試。目前該學(xué)校九年級（最低年級）招收的170名學(xué)生都是從1500名候選人中隨機挑選出來的。
據(jù)費城學(xué)區(qū)介紹，有四分之三的學(xué)生家住費城西區(qū)附近；95％的學(xué)生是黑人，85％的學(xué)生來自低收入家庭。
費城學(xué)區(qū)區(qū)長保爾·瓦拉斯告訴未來中學(xué)的學(xué)生，他們的表現(xiàn)將受到世界上其他學(xué)校的關(guān)注。
瓦拉斯說：“現(xiàn)在你們都是榜樣，人們將會很關(guān)注你們的學(xué)習(xí)情況。”
在未來中學(xué)，雖然學(xué)生們還是坐在教室里學(xué)習(xí)，但是上課的內(nèi)容主要來源于網(wǎng)上信息。學(xué)生們可以自行掌握學(xué)習(xí)進度。他們在電腦上完成家庭作業(yè)，然后發(fā)給老師批改評分，家長們可以進入學(xué)校網(wǎng)絡(luò)查看老師的評語。
校長舍莉·格羅弗在一次采訪中說，如今傳統(tǒng)教育已經(jīng)過時了，無法提高學(xué)生解決問題、辨證思考和有效溝通的能力，而這些能力正是21世紀所需要的。
14歲的大衛(wèi)·特里說，他希望自己能在這所學(xué)校“翻開新的一頁”，他在過去那所學(xué)校因為學(xué)科問題，學(xué)習(xí)成績被評定為“很差”。
他說：“這所學(xué)校對于我來說是個很好的機會。在其它學(xué)校，我無法受到這種類型的教育。”
(英語點津姍姍編輯)
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