The first seven exclusive "Steve Jobs schools" have opened their doors across a number of cities in the Netherlands. Starting from today, schools in the Dutch cities of Sneek, Breda, Almere, Emmen, Heenvliet and Amsterdam will start teaching students according to the principles of the O4NT, or Onderwijs voor een nieuwe tijd (Education for a new era), which emphasizes the role of the iPad in an elementary school environment. The program, which was first proposed by Dutch officials back in March 2012, gives every child access to a "virtual school" through an iPad and helps them develop information and communication technology (ICT) and information processing skills, collaboration techniques and a critical, problem-solving and creative mind.
The O4NT foundation is currently in talks with a number of school boards across the Netherlands and they hope that more schools will sign up the model next year. The program has a number of benefits: apart from teaching children useful skills, school hours and vacations are a lot more flexible under the new model — as the "virtual school" is accessible round the clock, 365 days a year (although the Dutch Ministry of Education is currently preventing this scenario due to legislative restrictions) — and the ICT-based approach also has a major impact on the role of the teacher. According to O4NT's press release:
In the O4NT approach, teachers will no longer simply convey knowledge to a group of children; they will be transformed into coaches that support children with their individual and group projects. Because educational apps are used for basic skills, the learning process can be completely adapted to the individual child’s learning speed and style.
O4NT is also planning an international version of the program, allowing Dutch expatriate children around the world to attend full-time education via their iPad. O4NT International, as it has been dubbed, is expected to launch in early 2014.
Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below.
Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
Friday October 31, 2025 1:40 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a small but helpful change for iPhones, and it could prevent you from running late to something important.
Specifically, when an alarm goes off in the Clock app, there is a new "slide to stop" control on the screen for turning off the alarm. On previous iOS 26 versions, there is simply a large "stop" button, which could be accidentally tapped.
The new ...
Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more.
Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1.
Release Date
Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
Friday October 31, 2025 7:32 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple has just given a strong indication that it will not be releasing any additional new Macs for the remainder of the year.
Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh dropped the hint during the company's earnings call on Thursday:On Mac, keep in mind, we expect to face a very difficult compare against the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac launches in the year-ago quarter.Parekh essentially gave a heads up ...
Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth...
Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors.
...
Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out.
Processor and Performance
Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models could be available in new rich and warm color option, according to a known leaker.
The Weibo user known as "Instant Digital" today suggested that next-year's iPhone 18 Pro models will be available in at least one of the following color options: Coffee, purple, and burgundy.
The iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Pro were all available in ...
Apple launched the Apple TV HD, the Siri Remote, tvOS, and their accompanying App Store a decade ago today, marking a major overhaul of the device.
The new vision for the Apple TV was unveiled on September 9, 2015 during Apple's "Hey Siri" event in San Francisco, where CEO Tim Cook introduced the device with the statement, "The future of TV is apps." The announcement represented a major...
Just cut this crap and give a proper school, with proper teaching, and maintain a degree of discipline. A lot of children abuse their privileges, and blame the school for that. iPads can work well for textbooks and interactive programs, but should never take the job of the teachers.
The first seven exclusive "Steve Jobs schools" have opened their doors across a number of cities in the Netherlands. Starting from today, schools in the Dutch cities of Sneek, Breda, Almere, Emmen, Heenvliet and Amsterdam will start teaching students according to the principles of the O4NT (http://o4nt.nl), or*Onderwijs voor een*nieuwe tijd*(Education for a new era), which emphasizes the role of the iPad in an elementary school environment. The*program, which was first proposed (https://www.macrumors.com/2012/03/23/dutch-committee-proposes-to-build-steve-jobs-ipad-equipped-classroom/) by Dutch officials back in March 2012, gives every child access to a "virtual school" (https://www.macrumors.com/2013/07/02/dutch-officials-set-to-open-11-ipad-only-steve-jobs-schools-for-children/) through an iPad and helps them develop information and communication technology (ICT) and information processing skills, collaboration techniques and a critical, problem-solving and creative mind.
Image (https://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2013/08/Screen-Shot-2013-08-21-at-2.41.58-pm.png)
The O4NT foundation is currently in talks with a number of school boards across the Netherlands and they hope that more schools will sign up the model next year. The program has a number of benefits: apart from teaching children useful skills, school hours and vacations are a lot more flexible under the new model -- as the "virtual school" is accessible round the clock, 365 days a year (although the Dutch Ministry of Education is currently preventing this scenario due to legislative restrictions) -- and the ICT-based approach also has a major impact on the role of the teacher. According to O4NT's press release:
O4NT is also planning an international version of the program, allowing Dutch expatriate children around the world to attend full-time education via their iPad. O4NT International, as it has been dubbed, is expected to launch in early 2014.
Article Link: First Seven iPad-Only 'Steve Jobs Schools' Open in the Netherlands (https://www.macrumors.com/2013/08/21/first-seven-ipad-only-steve-jobs-schools-open-in-the-netherlands/)
Sad news, I live there not that that's important but paper textbooks are way better for your eyes in my opinion, altough using iPads for some tasks isn't really bad but meh, we'll see.
I think there is no scientific reason why there should be any difference between paper and iPad books for eyes.
But no real stylus suport in iPad makes it quite limited for education.
Backlit displays are more tiring for your eyes than paper or e-ink displays, and research has shown that prolonged exposure to bright backlit displays (before going to bed) can cause sleeping problems.
The economics of education make all the pie-in-the-sky idealism about education moot. Now that we're getting useful data on the effectiveness of both new & traditional education systems long-term, we're finally seeing just how prohibitive the total costs of traditional education are to its continuation.
Like it or not, change is coming.
Looking at data is only a small piece of the picture. Most of education is social and can't be taught on an iPad.
You have to learn that you need to wait your turn, not everyone can talk at once, that you will be judged by third parties, how to put up with bullies and ignorant people, how to avoid getting in trouble, how to deal with dating, differences in background, diversity, varying talents, handicapped people, sports, music, etc.
This data obsession is beyond stupid..it's one of the biggest problems. Schools exist for far more than any test score and I deeply question outlays of valuable--very limited--resources on new technology.
I'm not a luddite either....I like tech or I wouldn't be here. But, I also don't doubt that a kid would see far more benefits from having 10-1 student teacher ratios rather than 35-1 and iPads.
