Swedish Schools Aim to Ditch Books by 2013

[CelticViking]

The Stockholm suburb of Sollentuna plans to get rid its schools of text books entirely by next year in favour of tablet computers like the iPad, but Sweden’s education remained sceptical about the proposal.

Maria Stockhaus, chair of Sollentuna's children and education board, argued that schools in her municipality are in the ‘backwater’ compared to the rest of society, and that the time has come for three schools in particular to embrace the future.

“The schools will take a step into the now instead of staying in the old days. Computers are as natural in schools as paper and pens, yet the fact that only every other teacher in Sweden has a computer today is completely insane,” she told Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper.

Sweden’s education minister Jan Björklund slammed the idea, however, saying that reading books and writing by hand are still relevant today.

“Even in the future people will need to read and write. You can’t always have access to a computer in some places,” he told DN.

“Books have an obvious place in school, and national exams are still written by hand. I predict that they will not follow through with their proposals.”




http://www.thelocal.se/38850/20120201/

http://forums.skadi.net/showthread.php?t=147439

[The Lawspeaker]

http://www.thelocal.se/38850/20120201/

http://forums.skadi.net/showthread.php?t=147439
Damn.. it's a disgrace. My country has the infrastructure and the know-how yet mentally we still seem to be stuck in the 1980s. Outclassed again.

I think we should set our mind to it: replace all books before 2015 and come up with WIFI all over the place AND Estonian type-ID-card (plus online voting) before 2018. We've got to get this sorted for once - we are no Sweden and we are a small country so we can easily do it.

And while we are at it: overhaul the entire system by 2020. Let's see what we can learn from the Norwegian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Norway), Finnish (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_finland) or Belgian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_belgium) (the latter is usually still quite strict) education systems and make the brede school (http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brede_school) the standard of the entire education system.

[Graham]

Books haven't caused any problems, don't see the point in changing it wholly.

Some schools have been doing this here since 2010 with the Ipad. NHS Orkney introduced iPads to replace paper. It will save £28,000 a year in printing and associated costs. Would be good to see how it's going and if it's an improvement or not. But I like old fashioned books more. :)

[The Lawspeaker]

Books haven't caused any problems, don't see the point in changing it wholly.

Some schools have been doing this here since 2010 with the Ipad. NHS Orkney introduced iPads to replace paper. It will save £28,000 a year in printing and associated costs. Would be good to see how it's going and if it's an improvement or not. But I like old fashioned books more. :)
The problem with books is that they are outdated fairly quickly. Electronic information can also be updated at fewer additional costs. But some Ipads have books that you can "turn pages" with:

ggGWdcLWHOM

:wink

[Vasa]

The title gives the wrong impression. Swedish schools will not ditch books. A school will ditch books.

2009-2010 in school my and some other classes were involved in a project that gave us all a macbook to use in school. Well, it was easier communicating with teachers and so on, but it did not really cover it all. Swedish schools will never entirely ditch books. :)

[rhiannon]

This news is saddening for those of us who remember a time that wasn't monopolized by technology that outdates itself every few years....

Text books are tangible evidence of all the hard work I've ever put in to my post secondary education.

[Eldritch]

Hooray for 12-second attention spans!

[posts message, then hurriedly clicks one of the other 16 open tabs]

[Graham]

The problem with books is that they are outdated fairly quickly. Electronic information can also be updated at fewer additional costs. But some Ipads have books that you can "turn pages" with:
:wink

Used to have an Ipad, but gave it to my brother who uses at work, and he swears by it. You can get Sky Satellite TV on them too.

But can remember at school, preferred the classes with computers. Being slightly Dyspraxic, can't write for long before my hand aches. Ipads would be good for those with severe Dyspraxia.

[The Lawspeaker]

U
But can remember at school, preferred the classes with computers. Being slightly Dyspraxic, can't write for long before my hand aches. Ipads would be good for those with severe Dyspraxia.
I am not sure whether I have it but I recognise this.

[Graham]

I am not sure whether I have it but I recognise this.

http://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/services/ad_symptoms.php

Every person has different types of Dyspraxia. But it's fairly common.

[The Lawspeaker]

http://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/services/ad_symptoms.php

Every person has different types of Dyspraxia. But it's fairly common.
A lot of it sounds like me... :rolleyes2: