iPhone School
Rather than banning phones in class, secondary school children are now being given iphones in an experiment that may see the end of books in class.
Thirty pupils at Gumley House Convent School in West London have been given the latest 3GS iphones topped-up with £15 credit to buy 'apps' to help them learn - or to download tunes.
Popular software being downloaded at the school help students study The Periodic Table, Shakespear, GCSE History, Algebra, Bible studies and Maths.
Assistant Headteacher, Stephen Byrne, 40, said: "It's a very popular scheme at the moment, we carry out spot-checks to monitor what they are downloading. There's no Facebook in class and the volume must be off.
"We are encouraging them to download 'aps' and share this with us and other students - the children that feedback the most constructive data will be given more itunes vouchers that they can spend how they like.
"The iphone opens up the class room to anytime-anywhere-learning.
"We're designing the classroom of the future - there won't be computers as we know them - we'll be wearing them or whatever.
"We thought we'd give the students the power to do everything."
The pupils will only have to fork out for any calls they make on their iPhone 3GS, with the rest of the tab being picked up by Brentford City Learning Centre.
Proffesor Michael Gibson from Kingston University will be monitoring the study, observing how the students use the phones for learning.
Katie Ivens from the Campaign for Real Education said: "Mobile phones have quite rightly been banned from many classrooms as they prove to be a distraction.
"The case for learning by computer has not been proved at all."