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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Traditional education is obsolete and fails to teach students the skills of problem-solving, critical thinking and effective communication, which they need to succeed in the 21st century,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正式開學。在這里，學生們使用無線筆記本電腦學習，老師們的授課內容不再是傳統課程，而是現實世界中的話題，家長可以通過互聯網隨時了解孩子的學習情況。
這所名叫“未來中學”的學校由軟件巨頭“微軟公司”協助建成，是全球第一所將新興教學方法與先進科技相結合的學校。
費城學區為該校的建設共投入6300萬美元，學校免收學費，而且沒有入學考試。目前該學校九年級（最低年級）招收的170名學生都是從1500名候選人中隨機挑選出來的。
據費城學區介紹，有四分之三的學生家住費城西區附近；95％的學生是黑人，85％的學生來自低收入家庭。
費城學區區長保爾·瓦拉斯告訴未來中學的學生，他們的表現將受到世界上其他學校的關注。
瓦拉斯說：“現在你們都是榜樣，人們將會很關注你們的學習情況。”
在未來中學，雖然學生們還是坐在教室里學習，但是上課的內容主要來源于網上信息。學生們可以自行掌握學習進度。他們在電腦上完成家庭作業，然后發給老師批改評分，家長們可以進入學校網絡查看老師的評語。
校長舍莉·格羅弗在一次采訪中說，如今傳統教育已經過時了，無法提高學生解決問題、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·特里說，他希望自己能在這所學校“翻開新的一頁”，他在過去那所學校因為學科問題，學習成績被評定為“很差”。
他說：“這所學校對于我來說是個很好的機會。在其它學校，我無法受到這種類型的教育。”
(英語點津姍姍編輯)
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