A secondary school class in London have been given free iPhones in a trial to see if the Apple device could be used as a suitable learning aid and more importantly if it could take over from the traditional text book. The scheme is being monitored by Professor Michael Gibson from Kingston University who will be looking at the effect the mobile phone has on children’s learning.

Each pupil will be given a £15 top up to download educational apps. There’s a range of iPhone software currently on the market providing educational support, including applications for the periodic table, GCSE History, Maths, Algebra, Shakespeare and Bible Studies.

Stephen Byrne, Assistant Headmaster at the school thinks the integration of iPhones into schools has the potential to be very rewarding and is excited about the technological possibilities for the future “It’s a very popular scheme at the moment. We carry out spot checks to monitor what they have been downloading. There’s no Facebook in class and the volume must be off. We are encouraging them to download “apps” 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.”

However, many other professionals argue that bringing a mobile phone into the classroom won’t help education; Katie Ivens is from the Campaign for Real Health, “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!”

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