Now that we know the national finalists of SAPO Challenge Criar/Ler +, ten districts are getting ready to receive their School of the Future. Over 600 teams participated in an initiative that boosts the creation of a knowledge network and that mobilised the education community toward the use of the internet as a learning tool

The ten PT Escolas do Futuro have already been attributed to the finalists of the contest SAPO Challenge, that integrates the project PT Escolas, an initiative within the scope of the policy of social responsibility of Portugal Telecom and developed in partnership with the Ministry of Education with the aim of combating info-exclusion and digital illiteracy by learning and promoting better use of broadband Internet amidst the school community.

Out of the 600 teams from all over the country that participated in the phase Sapo Challenge Criar/Ler + (of a total of 2.200 teams in the contest), the national jury chose the ten finalists who will take back with them a school of the future and together with Colégio Conciliar de Maria Imaculada in Leiria will now form a network of schools distributed throughout different regions of the country.

Network of Schools of the Future
In the second edition of PT Escolas the concept of school of the future was extended and reformulated with the introduction of Portal Escola, Internet Sapo services, training for the school community, technological supply and a geographical distribution to various areas of the country. A true network of knowledge that aims at placing Portugal in the front line of human development.
Portugal Telecom is going to, as of now, assess the needs of each school so as to adapt each one to the necessary equipment that will satisfy the school needs.
Portal Escola: The main communication platform between schools rendering available educational contents on the school community as well as specific information on each one. It will also be the communication means on the development of the project.
Network connection: Configuration of the 10 schools so as to function in network featuring specific initiatives to maximise the sharing of experiences and best practices allowing for learning and understanding.
Supply: To equip schools with the necessary equipment and services so as to boost the use of new Technologies in their educational and administrative activities.
Training: To afford the educational community all the necessary competencies to allow continuous learning that will trigger both individual and network initiatives that aim at promoting technology within education.
The ten finalist teams are going to participate in a television contest on RTP that will be broadcast from 30th June to 1st July, where all knowledge on the different Internet areas, Portuguese language and still physical skills will be tested. The winning team will win a trip to California, to the world of digital creation.

About the PT Escolas Project
PT Escolas is an ambitious and unique project that aims at developing technological literacy amongst youngsters from 12 to 18 years of age, stimulating on-line research of information and knowledge and helping them to apply it by creating their own contents on the Internet in Portuguese.

''From Knowing to Doing'' has become the motto of PT Escolas 2, where a set of integrated actions were developed to stimulate the use of the Internet as a tool for work, research and production of contents.

PT Escolas in numbers
Knowledge Workshops
The Workshops take place between 23rd October and 21st March 2007 on a train carriage adapted that has travelled to the main train stations of the district capitals. Students and teachers learnt how to create and publish multimedia contents on the Internet.
• 15000 students went to the Workshops in 18 weeks
• 1300 teachers
• 640 sessions
• 18 districts visited and the Regions of the Azores and Madeira
• 100 work days of action
• 3800 blogs created (637 available at: http://turma.sapo,pt)
• 8000 Km travelled

SAPO Challenge
SAPO Challenge Criar/Ler +, was the on-line contest that in partnership with the Ministry of Education /National Reading Plan, promoted the production of original contents, multimedia and in Portuguese on the Internet and the creation of blogs based on writers of Portuguese literature.
• 11000 students enrolled
• 1630 teams in the Research Phase
• 600 teams enrolled in the Create Phase
• 600 teachers

Finalist Blogs:
http://dizquesim.blogs.sapo.pt
Escola Secundária de Santa Maria da Feira, Santa Maria da Feira
Auto da Barca do Inferno, Gil Vicente

http://lermaispessoa.blogs.sapo.pt/
Escola Secundária Diogo de Gouveia, Beja
Poems by Fernando Pessoa

http://qwert_7.blogs.sapo.pt/
Escola Secundária de Miranda do Douro, Miranda do Douro
Auto da Barca do Inferno, Gil Vicente

http://qna.blogs.sapo.pt/
Escola Secundária com 3º Ciclo Quinta das Palmeiras, Covilhã
A Lua de Joana, Maria Teresa Gonzalez

http://blogteam.blogs.sapo.pt
Escola Secundária de Seia, Seia
Viagens na Minha Terra, Almeida Garrett

http://twice.blogs.sapo.pt
Escola Secundária Domingos Sequeira, Leiria
O Crime do Padre Amaro, Eça de Queirós

http://drives.blogs.sapo.pt/
Escola Básica Padre Vítor Melícias, Torres Vedras
Auto da Barca do Inferno, Gil Vicente

http://oegodequeiros.blogs.sapo.pt/
Escola Secundária Aurélia de Sousa, Porto
Os Maias, Eça de Queirós

http://weteam.blogs.sapo.pt/
Colégio de São Miguel, Ourém
Mensagem, Fernando Pessoa

http://minimilk.blogs.sapo.pt
Escola Básica Infante D. Henrique, Viseu
Falar Verdade a Mentir, Almeida Garrett

Favourite authors of students in their blogs at national level
• Gil Vicente
• Sophia de Mello Breyner
• Maria Teresa Gonzalez
• Almeida Garrett
• Eça de Queirós

Favourite works of students in their blogs at national level
• Auto da Barca do Inferno – Gil Vicente
• O Cavaleiro da Dinamarca – Sophia de Mello Breyner
• A Lua de Joana – Maria Teresa Gonzalez
• Os Lusíadas – Luís Vaz de Camões
• Falar Verdade a Mentir – Almeida Garrett