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“I’m looking for teachers who I can almost call colleagues.”

Canisha and Niek (students) don’t want to sit in the classroom in the old-fashioned way. Rather, they want to have the feeling that they already work at a company.

Canisha & Niek

A project with several departments: media, business, and software. We developed a platform for organisations to draw up contracts that can be understood by people who aren’t very literate.

Yes, and a good thing too. I got stuck in a particular mindset and my teacher got me out of that, mainly by constantly asking what I was doing and taking me out of my comfort zone. Then, suddenly, I saw what went wrong.

No, you have to approach them. Otherwise, they let you figure it out for yourself. But then when you go to them, they’re there for you. To advise and support you.

Our teachers come from the fields in which they teach. With that knowledge and the many practical examples, they make class hours very much like the work that we’ll be doing later. This prepares you for the real world.

It’s like a supporting colleague or cooperating foreman. That’s what you call it, right? They start up a project and take the students along, as a client, but also as a mentor. You work independently, and you can turn to them for help and feedback.

Once a week they do a kind of progress check and that’s enough. You can learn from your mistakes, but of course they make sure you don’t fall completely on your face. For the rest, your time is your responsibility.

One teacher gives an explanation in class, and the other opts for a workshop, for example. So you’re not just watching and taking notes, but rather participating. They also point out events, books, and websites that may be of interest to you. In this way, they motivate you greatly.

We don’t have classrooms anymore. Most of the time we spend on projects. If a teacher sees that certain knowledge is needed, we’ll get together as a class or in a small group.

Definitely more efficient. I still see a lot of processes and systems that involve too many steps and too many people. That can be much smarter.

Canisha

Student ICT and Media Design

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“It may sound a bit blunt, but I don’t want a teacher wasting my time. I’m not looking for old-fashioned lessons, but teachers who share knowledge that will help you in the moment. Luckily, I get plenty of those kinds of teachers here.”

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We’re working on a tool to measure the density of a population. We’re doing this with other disciplines, students, and teachers. I help with the programming and the visualisation.

Hell yes! It was a bit of a puzzle as to who would do what, but in the end we now have a front-end that uses values from technology – made by fellow students from a different field of study – to calculate and visualise how busy it was in a certain place.

The teacher coaches and occasionally sits down to watch, listen, and observe. But unless something really goes wrong, they won’t interfere. You really have to ask for advice yourself.

It suits me just fine. I want to be optimally prepared for the future, where no one will hold my hand. So if I can work like this, I already get an idea of how things will go in my career. This way I learn how to pick up new skills.

Imagine learning a programming language right now, knowing the language well when you’re done. In ten years’ time, a new language will be developed, and when I don’t know how to pick up new things, I’ll be left empty-handed. Fortunately, I’ll learn here how to learn new things, so that I can switch quickly.

The teachers will give you the basic knowledge and a starting direction so that you know what to do. Then you’ll do research and apply matters yourself. Your teachers support and work with you, as an equal. And if they don’t know something, they always know someone who does.

No. All doors are open so that you can learn as much as possible and indulge your curiosity. No teacher knows everything, and they also refer to one another. I think that’s what’s unique about this school and its programme. It doesn’t feel like a traditional school at all.

Yes, and I’m really happy about that. You also learn things that you have less affinity with, but you keep going. Your teachers help you, and sometimes they just push you because they know that knowledge is going to be useful in your career.

By listening, providing information when it’s relevant, connecting me with the corporate world, and by being open to me and my questions. And if we can laugh together, that’s a nice bonus.

Several. They are (fortunately) not all the same, but I get along fine with most. And they get along with me, I hope.

I believe that we as ICT specialists will soon have a 100% guarantee of a job. There’s still so much to automate. There are still plenty of processes in which people can now make mistakes, which can be run much better by software and machines.

Niek

Student ICT and Software

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“I prefer teachers who I can almost call colleagues. That gives me the feeling that I already work for a company instead of being in school.”

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