Making the grade

In Germany, a country where raw materials are scarce, education and knowledge are key resources offering unlimited potential for growth. This summer, the state government of Hesse and T-Systems launched a year-long pilot within the scope of a public-private partnership. The aim: to bring 100 schools into the digital age. Since then, up to 30,000 students have been leveraging Edunex, T-Systems’ education platform, via broadband connections to learn independently – both at school and in virtual classrooms at home. Through this initiative, the latest generation of students can explore the multimedia world of e-education with the help of an innovative interface – and discover that life-long learning is fun. But how are the teaching methods of the future being applied? Best Practice caught up with four participating schools in Hesse.

The Freiherr-vom-Stein School in Fulda is an impressive campus home to 1543 students from 40 nations and 122 teaching staff. It is one of 100 educational institutions benefiting from the public-private partnership between the state of Hesse and T-Systems. The philosophy behind this particular establishment is simple yet revolutionary: “We are unconventional teachers who deploy unconventional methods,” explains Dieter Umlauf, 48, a German and English teacher. With the help of Edunex, teachers can create digital modules and draw up lesson plans. What’s more, handouts, tests, reading lists and other materials are posted on a dedicated Website for each class every day. As a result, people can study independently and, in particular, effectively prepare for their high-school diploma exams.

High-tech equipment

The school has five wireless hotspots and six computer rooms that are always full. And it is no surprise that even the teacher substitution schedules are displayed on flat screens along the corridor like departure boards at an airport. The direction the institution is headed is clear: mobile, flexible and independent learning are the way forward in Fulda. The old-school learning-by-heart approach is becoming a thing of the past.

As part of a year-long pilot project, this summer, the Hesse Ministry for Culture and T-Systems hooked up 30,000 students at 100 schools across the state to the Edunex learning platform. The e-education project aims to enable children, young people and adults to study independently and to manage their own learning.

Read more about Edunex in the print edition of Best Practice.