In January this year, minister for schools and learners, Jim Knight chose the BETT show to announce that the government has pledged a further £30m over the next three years in order to address that imbalance and help low-income families gain home broadband access.
In his speech at the BETT show he said, "We have the highest levels of embedded technology in classrooms in the European Union and one computer for every three pupils. The next stop is home access for all. We have to find a way to make access universal or else it's not fair," he added.
Knight also announced a £600,00 pilot - to be run by Becta and a number of key industry players - to lower the cost of computers and connectivity for poorer pupils. This will cover 50 schools in Birmingham, Brent in London, Stockton and Worcestershire and will involve Dell, Intel, PC World and RM. In addition there will be a three-month study into the effect of technology on children's lives up to 2025 with a public consultation on who should pay for access.
The minister explained that the government hopes schools will be filing reports online for parents to access by 2010, along with information on attendance, progress and special needs.
This government announcement comes at the same time as a Becta-commissioned report found that four out of five schools are currently failing to exploit the full potential of existing technology to educate children and inform parents. And yet, the specially commissioned survey by the polling company Populus shows that 95% of parents think the use of interactive whiteboards and other high tech tools help their children learn at school.
Almost 80% of parents questioned on behalf of Becta, the organisation which promotes the best use of technology in education, think technology can bring lessons to life and engage their child in subjects they find difficult, while more than 60% believe the use of computers raises standards.
"This survey shows that parents understand how technology can put them in the driving seat," said Stephen Crowne, Chief Executive, Becta. "As a parent, you want to know that your child is enjoying school; that they're getting access to the best support; and that if they're having any problems, you know straight away.
"Technology will support next generation learning by making lessons interactive like never before; enabling teachers to use the best resources from schools around the world; and making sure you can be in touch with your child's school 24/7. (But) there is a gap between what parents think about the way schools are using technology, and the reality - we need to close that generation gap."
Crowne added: ‘The world is changing at an incredible pace. Technology and media are now everywhere in society and essential at work. We need people with the skills to thrive and learn effectively in this world. With people increasingly interacting online and creating and using lots of different media to support their entertainment and friendships, learning which does not make the most of the opportunities provided by technology could be increasingly regarded by learners as dull or irrelevant. Businesses also need people with the skills to make the most of this new environment."
The pilot schemes in the 50 schools chosen by the government will undoubtedly provide valuable information on how widespread use of a learning platform can improve results and better inform parents. However, some argue that this evidence already exists and the money would be better used to fund the purchase of hardware for poorer students.
Certainly this is the case in Wales, where the assembly government plans a similar pilot programme. Adam Price, the Plaid MP for Camarthen East and Dinefwr wants the coalition to forego the pilot and give each primary school child in Wales a laptop. He claims that similar pilot schemes in different parts of the world have already proved successful, so there was no need for Wales to have its own.
"In the last month, a computer has been launched which costs around £200," he wrote in his column for the Welsh language magazine Golwg. "This is a slimmed down version with some of the functions found on a normal laptop taken away. The prices of laptops are continuing to fall. The cost of any scheme could fall to £4m or £5m by 2010. Giving a child a laptop computer would change a classroom from a fact-learning factory to a creative library," he added.
In fact, the Welsh Assembly, and the UK government would not have to look too far to find a success story, where the introduction of laptops for all pupils is paying dividends. All 245 pupils on the tiny Scottish island of Islay - the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides were furnished with ultra-light compact computers, funded by the Scottish Executive and the results have been astonishing.
The Islay pupils use the technology in all their lessons and for all their homework too. The PCs act as textbooks, notebooks and videos too. Homework is emailed to teachers, who report that the excitement created by the computers has led to more assignments being handed in on time and greatly increased productivity. According to the BBC, the results of this experiment have caused widespread interest with schools from all over the world contacting Islay High School for more information.
Principal technology teacher at the school Ian Stuart trail-blazed the project and claims that the introduction of the laptops is saving money as well. "Our education money was going on paying for paper which went into the pupils' and teachers' hands, was there for a short time and then was put in the recycle bin," he said.
Pupil Natalie Rountree, aged 16, told the BBC, "Because we live on an island we've got disadvantages to everything. We never expected to get such fantastic pieces of equipment. We didn't think we'd manage to get the funding for it."
On Islay at least, it seems that the pupils have no problems embracing the new technology and making it work for them. But if Becta's research is to be believed, then many other schools in the UK are still underperforming when it comes to ICT. Training for both teachers and parents will undoubtedly be necessary if they are to keep up with the techno-savvy students and get the most out of the learning platforms the government would like all schools to use.
At the moment, the situation in the UK is patchy at best, with one school in five making good use of the technology available and one in three students having access to the internet at home. Creating a level playing field by 2010 seems like an impossible task, however, good the government's intentions.
Becta is leading the drive to improve the use of technology in education via the Next Generation Learning Campaign, which is supported by Johnny Ball.
For more information visit http://www.nextgenerationlearning.org.uk/
