iPad use in schools to be investigated

WAYS of promoting the use of tablet computers in schools are to be explored by the Scottish Government amid concerns that those already using them could leave others behind.

National agency Education Scotland will look at where devices such as the iPad are already being used in the classroom to consider whether they could be used on a wider scale.

However, education secretary Mike Russell said there was currently no money available for providing all school pupils with tablets.

Scotland’s largest teaching union, the Educational Institute of Scotland, warned varying levels of access to the technology would widen the attainment gap between poorer and more affluent households, and said talking about tablets without the funding to support them was “pious”.