Mid-Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser has revealed in a freedom of information request that over £3.5 million pounds has been spent in the last 2 years on tablet computers in Scottish schools.
28 from 32 local authorities have declared spending on tablet computers.
The Scottish Conservative MSP believes that although these computers are valuable educational resources he would like to see greater analysis of the learning outcomes they help foster. The statistics reveal a huge disparity in schools that use tablets, and an evaluation of each system would be useful in realising whether iPads have a valuable role to play in the classroom in the long term.
Murdo does believes that there is a danger of children failing to learn education essentials if there is too much time devoted to teaching on digital resources.
Commenting Murdo Fraser MSP said:
“As you can see from the figures, one or two local authorities haven’t deployed any tablet computers in their schools whilst others have adopted them on a large scale. I would like to see the Scottish Government evaluate the successes and failures of these two different approaches.
“There is a danger of devaluing the cornerstones of traditional education if there is too great a shift towards solely using digital resources. The ability to write legibly, and form sentences without the use of a spell/grammar checker must be protected.
“In university and school exams there are no spell/grammar checkers to help students, therefore the fundamentals of the English language must be promoted.
“Furthermore, there are arguments that the large scale adoption of iPads and other tablet computers can stunt creativity due to the limitations of its size and features.
“However, I do believe that for children disaffected by mainstream education these devices are incredible at encouraging pupils to learn and fostering inclusion. Additionally tablets can act as motivational tools for pupils who struggle with conventional teaching. Furthermore, for children with disabilities and autism tablet computers can provide that vital spark in helping them learn.”