At the Conciliar Maria Imaculada College in Leiria a truly technological revolution which will transform it into the School of the Future is visible.
After five students from this school winning the competition “The Adventure of Knowledge”, the school has begun to be equipped with the most advanced technologies available. A computer for each student, with broad band internet access, with Chat and Messenger links to parents, students and teachers are only some of the valences of this project with is promoted by the Portugal Telecom Group and which promises to change the face of education within the country. The recent launch of Sapo Messenger is one of the biggest bets for this initiative.
Without a doubt the best way to start a school year for the school which will become the most advanced throughout the whole of Europe. Currently, teams of technicians and engineers of the PT Group have come to work in the training of parents, students and teachers and will continue until all are completely integrated into this new technology.
On the past 16th of September, the Evening News on RTP1 and, on the 19th of September, the television programme “Praça da Alegria” were live with the School of the Future and informed the entire country of this initiative.
Seeing as this is a project to be continued, the second edition of PT Schools is being prepared and will be launched this October.
During the following days, éPT! will show you everything regarding the evolution of the School of the Future.
The School of the Future is today’s news.
Being the best equipped school in Europe implies fame which is not very common to other schools throughout the country. Something which is also new to the Conciliar Maria Imaculada College which began its school year with various visits from the media.
The first day of school was a novelty for all, even because the car park was filled with outsiders’ cars, cables and television cameras. All of this because the Evening News on RPT1 was filmed live from one of the schools classrooms.
José Alberto Carvalho analysed the final details with the students and parents for the live broadcast during the Evening News. During the broadcast, the journalist recalled that “it would be great if every school throughout the country was like this one, but they’re not”.
The remaining students, teachers and winners of the “The Adventure of Knowledge” competition who are no longer students at this school because they moved over to the 10th grade, got together in the standing room to watch the broadcast.
On Monday, the 19th of September, it was the turn of the television programme Praça da Alegria to fill the classrooms. Those who watched the live broadcast got to take a look at how the educational system of the future worked.
Fun filled moments for both students and teachers of this school which marked the beginning of a new phase for a school which will never be the same again.
Training a School
The School of the Future began with a competition “The Adventure of Knowledge” and will grow throughout the next school year. This initiative isn’t just about the advanced technological equipment that the school will win. It also includes the orientation of parents, teachers and students in order to get the best use out of this equipment.
The entire school community of the Conciliar Maria Imaculada College will receive training and support on the functioning of the new school. Teachers have already begun their classes and the feedback has been positive.
The fascination of new technologies increases teachers’ enthusiasm. “It’s great to give classes like this” said Sister Maria Aurora, a teacher who is also one of the most attentive students in the training. The schools principle said that “We are conscious that the school of the future isn’t born from one day to the next but through group work which will be built throughout the school year”.