This article was taken from the March 2014 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Pupils at Vittra Telefonplan, a state school in south Stockholm, don't trudge into a classroom -- they log on to the web and see what instructions their teacher has put online. Vittra Telefonplan is taking a radical approach to formal education, putting digital tools at the heart of learning: there is a music studio, film-editing suite and an animation studio. "We wanted to build a platform for how students actually learn in this new media landscape," says Jannie Jeppesen, the school's principal.
The built environment of the school is just as important as the digital one. Danish architect Rosan Bosch developed a layout for the school, which opened in autumn 2011, dividing it into five areas: group process, chance meetings, experimentation and practical work, private concentration, and showing work. "Classrooms are the perfect environment for learning some things, but not others," says Bosch. Telefonplan still has to adhere to the demanding Swedish curriculum.
In summer 2013, eighty-four per cent of the school's Grade 6 pupils passed maths, and many achieved good grades in Swedish, English and the arts -- an impressive result, given that 26 languages are spoken at the school. "We are making a better result than the national average, though it
is too soon to generalise," Jeppesen says. "But I have no doubts!"
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
