Microsoft and ORT de Gunzburg: transformation of education

On January, 25th at St Petersburg school # 550 “ORT de Gunzburg” the round table “School Transformation: foreign experience of creation “new” organizations of educational work at school” devoted to questions of informatizaton of school formal education was taken place.

Microsoft and school # 550 “ORT de Gunzburg” which in 2010 has been recognized as innovative school and became a participant of the international program of Microsoft, were organizers of this. 

The round table has gathered high qualified persons: principals and employees of schools of St.-Petersburg, representatives of the Department of Education, independent experts. As one of participants of discussion, the chief specialist of the Department of Education Konstantin Shapiro has told: “Microsoft and school # 550 are two names in education which speak for themselves”.

The leader of a round table, the Senior Research Assistant of Federal institute of Development of Education Alexander Uvarov has told about foreign experience of implementing of the modern technologies in the advanced schools of the world, and also about similar developments and their application in actual educational process of the Russian schools. According to Alexander Uvarov “In the 21^st century the teacher ceases to be a unique source of true for the student, it becomes the partner in the course of training”.

The Deputy Principal of school # 550 “ORT de Gunzburg” Grigory Vodopjan has shared the accumulated experience on creation of experimental model of individual training on the basis of school. Speech performed by the 10^th grade student of school # 550 “ORT де Gunzburg” within the frames of the round table had especial popularity. Children – participants of experiment - have told about their relation to situation, stressed the positive and negative sides of innovative educational process which they had time to understand and have answered questions of participants of a round table. According to Michael: “When we work in our own rhythm, we don't have problems with studying. We study that is necessary for us and when it is convenient to us. We represent the future, we prepare for it and nobody forces us to do it”.

In the final part of discussion so-called "reflection" have been arranged - experts have expressed their opinion on the educational initiative of school # 550 “ORT де of Gunzburg” and made brain storm, stated some advices about improvement of model of individual training.