Microsoft- designed school seems to be a failure

June 24, 7:06 PMNY Education ExaminerLorri Giovinco-Harte

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If the experiences that the folks at the Microsoft-designed school are having are anything like those I've been having with Windows Vista, then I can truly sympathize with them.

Over at Susan Ohanian, there is a post by Meris Stansbury about Philadelphia's School of the Future-a Microsoft-inspired project that was created and touted to create a "revolution" in education.

The $63 million dollar, taxpayer funded project was hailed by Bill Gates and Company as a way to bring education into the next century.  It was decided that textbooks would not be used in favor of computer-based materials provided by Microsoft.

With state of the art computers and software, panel designed curriculum, and campus wide wireless Internet access, the hopes were that the school would provide at-risk children with critical, technological skills necessary for job readiness.

Three years later, Stansbury writes that a panel hosted by the American Enterprise Institute concluded that the school has been a failure.  Plagued by poor leadership, lack of teacher training, and student difficulty in using the technology, the project has been struggling to meet expectations.

Leadership turnover has been critically high in the school - they've already gone through four principals and three superintendents.  In addition, it seems that Microsoft failed to anticipate the importance of community outreach.  To make matters even worse, there have been difficulties with the network that Microsoft created for the school.  Stansbury writes:

The district's IT staff had responsibility for the network, but {}there was not an IT employee on site, and when problems occurred they were not fixed promptly. There also was no dedicated technical support.

It does sound like the problems I've been having with Vista!

Sansbury provides details about the school's experiences including reflections from the school's creators about why they have been encountering difficulties.  To read more, visit Susan Ohanian.org.