A DISADVANTAGED Dublin school has recorded a significant improvement in student grades following the introduction of laptops for all students.

Pupils at St Aidan's School, Brookfield in Tallaght experienced a noted up turn in exam results since the e-learning technology was introduced.

Pupil suspensions and absenteeism have also decreased dramatically in the school since the initiative was launched.

The school, which is a DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) school, has experienced a 50pc decrease in the number of suspensions in one school year since the laptops were introduced.

Principal Frank Moran has noted a significant decrease in the number of suspensions, which he says is a huge indicator of the effect of technology in the classroom.

chalk

He told the Herald: "Learning only through books and chalk and talk doesn't engage them. I'm not saying that teachers need to be actors and magicians at the top of the room but technology engages them more.

"The learning culture is innovative and new. Student engagement is far better. Student attendance is far better and student behaviour is far better," he stressed.

The change in attendance statistics at St Aidan's between 2004/05 and 2008/09 is significant. Days lost through student absence fell from more than 9,000 a year to less than 4,000, while the number of students absent for 20 days or more halved from almost 200 to below 100. Suspensions also dropped dramatically -- from almost 70 in a year to about 40.

Mr Moran said the new e-learning environment has had a definite impact.

A group of 30 students in St Michael's, a second-year class in the school, had History and Geography e-books installed on their laptops last April, and the principal hopes the scheme will be expanded to at least five or six books in the future.

All classes in St Aidan's, except sixth-year pupils, now have laptops, and first-year students were given netbooks, a small and cheap laptop, which are as light as a feather.

He said: "If all the teachers have laptops and are all trained with data projectors and they use screens in the classroom, then it's obviously going to increase student engagement.

"If you're teaching art and you're trying to explain Picasso, you can log onto the internet and do a virtual visit to the museum in Madrid."

However, the principal is keen to advocate the benefits of old-fashioned teaching methods through reading books, but he says the school atmosphere has improved greatly in recent years. Students now willingly attend school, since classes have become more enjoyable.

Mr Moran said: "It doesn't replace the page. It's not an either or situation," he stressed.

hnews@herald.ie

- Geraldine Gittens