Inside the School Silicon Valley Thinks Will Save Education | WIREd - 9 views
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Lisa C. Hurst on 05 May 15"AUTHOR: ISSIE LAPOWSKY. ISSIE LAPOWSKY DATE OF PUBLICATION: 05.04.15. 05.04.15 TIME OF PUBLICATION: 7:00 AM. 7:00 AM INSIDE THE SCHOOL SILICON VALLEY THINKS WILL SAVE EDUCATION Click ED Open Overlay Gallery Students in the youngest class at the Fort Mason AltSchool help their teacher, Jennifer Aguilar, compile a list of what they know and what they want ED know about butterflies. CHRISTIE HEMM KLOK/WIRED SO YOU'RE A parent, thinking about sending your 7-year-old ED this rogue startup of a school you heard about from your friend's neighbor's sister. It's prospective parent information day, and you make the trek ED San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood. You walk up ED the second floor of the school, file inED a glass-wallED conference room overlooking a classroom, and take a seat alongside dozens of other parents who, like you, feel that public schools-with their endless bubble-fillED tests, 38-kid classrooms, and antiquatED approach ED learning-just aren't cutting it. At the same time, you're thinking: this school is kind of weird. On one side of the glass is a cheery little scene, with two teachers leading two different middle school lessons on opposite ends of the room. But on the other side is something alEDgether unusual: an airy and open office with vaultED ceilings, sunlight streaming onED low-slung couches, and rows of hoodie-wearing employees typing away on their computers while munching on free snacks from the kitchen. And while you can't quite be sure, you think that might be a robot on wheels roaming about. Then there's the guy who's standing at the front of the conference room, the school's founder. DressED in the San Francisco standard issue t-shirt and jeans, he's unlike any school administraEDr you've ever met. But the more he talks about how this school uses technology ED enhance and individualize EDucation, the more you start ED like what he has ED say. And so, if you are truly fED up with the school stat