OUR ITALIAN EXPERIENCE

By Victoria Englert

We stayed in Italy thanks to a Comenius exchange. Our journey started on January 9th 2011 and it lasted 3 months, exactly 90 days. Laia and I arrived at Bologna airport on a Sunday morning, it was all cloudy and full of fog. I arrived at my house, located in Mancasale, a little town in Reggio Emilia, two hours away from Milan and 45 minutes away from Bologna in the region of Emilia-Romagna. Our school, located in Rivalta, was called ITC TRICOLORE, it's a technical school. At first it was a girls-only school, but now it's open to both sexes. In Italy students get to choose what type of school they go to at the age of 14, depending on what job they want to do. It was very strange because there was only a maximum of three boys per class, and there are some classes that don't even have any boys in them. The school system there is a bit different to the Spanish one: there they go to school from Monday to Saturday, for five and a half hours per day, but they do not have any afternoon classes. They only have one 10-minute break, not like here in Spain where there is a break of half an hour. School begins at 8 am and finishes at 1.30 pm. You may think that it's a bit annoying to go to school on Saturdays but you get used to it and in the end it's very normal. The bad thing is that you only have one day to sleep until late in the morning. On Saturdays, Italian people go out to the disco or to the cinema; they start going out when they are 15-16 years old, they can start drinking and smoking when they're 16 years old but can only drive a car when they are 18, as in Spain. Every other afternoon, from Monday to Friday, is spent studying; although some people play sports, everyone studies a lot. In Italy they finish school when they are 19 years old, one year after we graduate here in Spain, then they can either choose to work or to go to college.

Computers in the Classroom

By Teresa Bendito and Júlia Bolao

This new education method has revolutionized secondary schools. Students from 1st to 3rd of ESO own portable computers and usually use them in class. A lot of experts agree that these electronic devices will provide an improvement in education. Also, they say that parents will save a lot of money if they don't buy schoolbooks for their children and, furthermore, the weight of students’ backpacks will be reduced.

However, there are other opinions. We asked 20% of students (half boys and half girls) and teachers taking part in the 1x1 project in our School what they think about this matter, and these are their answers:

Is it easier to teach or receive lessons with a computer?

The computers are very good for 72% of students and they find the classes convenient, and easier too. But another 28% are convinced that their performance is lower and they admit that they get more easily distracted.

Twenty-seven per cent of teachers believe the same and prefer to use only the digital whiteboard. Nine per cent definitely don't like computers, only books. All of them think that this method should be studied more before being put into use.

Do you think that computers have improved the class?

Twenty-seven per cent of teachers and 72% of students think that the classes are enjoyable, but that there are many distractions.

Are there any problems with the computers?

Nine per cent of teachers say that sometimes they have problems with students who aren’t working or are on a different website. This fact makes classes difficult.

Which do you prefer: a class with digital whiteboard, a computer class or a regular class?

Ninety-two per cent of teachers like the digital whiteboard a lot. And most of the students prefer to use the digital whiteboard and the computer at the same time.

In conclusion, according to the students’ answers, receiving classes with computers isn't as good as was thought; only 72% were in favour, although the percentage of boys who like computers, 70%, is higher than that of girls, 43%. It is very worrying that 28% of students think that their performance is lower.

The responses of teachers are more unanimous, with only a few of them, 9%, preferring only books to the digital whiteboard.

These results clearly show that this new education method needs to be improved.

The future, a big question

By Joana Roig Borrell

On Thursday 22nd February the 4th of ESO classes went to Sagnier House to receive guidance about our future. Before that we had gone to Porta 22, where we did a professional interests test, but without being asked the typical question: what are you going to do after the ESO? I think that this conference is one of the most useful that we attended, because we were told about all the possibilities that we have after the ESO. On the one hand, we were given specific information about each Batxillerat, and about what subjects (compulsory and optional) we will study. On the other hand, we were informed about training courses and what we will be able to do afterwards. As well as all the ways to go to University, etc...

To really learn, quit studying and take a test

By Enric Capel

This is the title of the article published in The New York Times on January 20th. It summarizes a study appeared in "Science" magazine. This study shows that taking a test is more useful than other studying techniques.

The research proves that students who took a test after reading a text remembered more information a week later than students who used other well known methods for students, even if they didn’t believe it previously.

The new generation of textbooks

By Xènia Nogué

The new computers for the students of 1st and 2nd ESO classes are very controversial. Some people say that they are good for the pupils because they can learn to use a computer and do not have to carry books all over the place every day.

However, I think that this is stupid because most students of this age already know how to use a computer and they still have to carry the laptop, along with some books. On top of that, they can buy books for the computer for only 30€ but I think that at this price the quality will probably be low.

In general I think that these computers are bad for students' health because they spend all day sitting on a chair in front of a computer, which I think is bad for their eyes and backs.

Maybe there is something good in this but I cannot see what it is. Maybe it is true that students do not have to carry as much as before, but between their books and their computers they still carry a lot.

I think that working with computers is a good thing but there is something that is wrong here. If students can go online any time they want, they are not going to study. They are playing games online all day and this is not good for their learning process.

For me, it does not matter if they want to play instead of studying. But then all the politicians say that the learning process in Spain is very bad and they are trying to fix it now, but this is not the best way, in my opinion. They could provide computers for all the students but block the internet, or simply block Facebook and the online games.

German Schools and Spanish Schools

By Leon Buengel and Rut López

We are two students from the secondary school. One of us is a German student who is doing his exchange and the other is a Spanish student. Here we explain the main differences between German and Spanish secondary schools.

In Spain, students go to school from 8 am to 5.15 pm, and for this reason they cannot do many after-school activities, such as sports, and they cannot do so much homework. In Germany, school begins at 7.50 am and normally ends at 1.30 pm, although students sometimes stay in school until 4 pm; so they have time for other activities after school and they have time to do homework.

Furthermore, students get a computer too early in Spain and they use it for too many hours. First, they have seven hours at school plus the break, when they can be connected to the Internet. After they arrive home they play computer games and the like. In Germany, students need to have a computer, because very often they work with them at school, but after school they are not on Facebook or playing computer games, and they go out with their friends or play sports. And, after these activities, they study for school to get good grades.

The main difference between the Spanish school system and the German one is the number of hours dedicated to each subject.

German students have 5 hours of Maths per week; Spanish ones only have 3.

In Spain, every autonomous region has 3 hours of Spanish and 3 hours of their local language. In Germany there are only 5 hours of German.

In Germany, students are very good at English, because they study English 5 hours per week at school. In Spain, they only have 3 hours per week.

In Germany, they dedicate more hours to the various subjects. For example, in Germany History and Geography, Physics and Chemistry and Biology and Geology are studied for 4 hours, in Spain for just 3.

Year 2010 Selectivity in Catalonia

By Nina Vanishvili

In Catalonia 94.4% of students passed their Selectivity exams in the first year of the LOE. It is the highest percentage ever in these admittance tests to the university. The average mark was 6.2, also higher than last year.

Out of a total of 24.244 students, 18,140 were from Barcelona, 2,378 from Girona, 2,198 from Tarragona and 1,454 from Lleida.

There were lower marks in Catalan language and literature than in Spanish language and literature, compared to those of last year, and in English the results were more or less the same: very poor.