Rosendale Primary School in Lambeth wins a £253,000 grant for ipads

The Education Endowment Foundation and Nominet Trust announced today that a £253,000 grant has been awarded to Rosendale Primary School in Lambeth to test the benefit of using iPads.

This project is part of seven new programmes which will test if new technology can help less advantaged pupils achieve better results.

It will test the impact of a programme to teach children meta-cognitive, or ‘learning to learn’, skills.

The school in West Dulwich has been developing an approach to teach these skills using digital portfolios. Children record learning through photographs, written records and audio recordings, which are then tagged by subject or responses to the topic.

Pupils are then encouraged to review and reflect on these records over time with teachers and peers. Teachers can also look across these tags to get an overview of the areas that pupils are enjoying or struggling with, and identify specific pupil needs.

Rosendale will codify the programme and develop materials with a view to training other schools in its approach.

1,400 pupils in 24 schools in London, Essex and Manchester will use the tablets to monitor their progress.

Sir Peter Lampl, Chairman of the Education Endowment Foundation and of the Sutton Trust, said: “Schools spend huge sums on money every year on technology, but there is too little evidence on new technology like iPads. The gap in educational outcomes between rich and poor is the biggest barrier to social mobility we face and it is essential to find out if and how technology can be used to help close it.”