Edinburgh Schools to Get 39,000 iPads in ‘Edinburgh Learns for Life’ Program

All Edinburgh, Scotland students between the ages of 10 and 18 will receive an iPad as a part of the Scottish capital’s “Edinburgh Learns for Life” program, the city’s council has announced.

The initiative is set to start in September and will run through the end of 2022. The local government will issue 27,00 new iPads to pupils and staff, as well as 12,000 refreshed iPads for pupils and staff.

iPads will also be handed out to younger pupils. However, the city has yet to provide the exact number of units that will be available.

The iPads distribution is possible thanks to a £17.6 million ($24 million) grant provided by way of a partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council’s ICT services provider CGI. The program will also provide wireless access points and a comprehensive program of professional learning for teachers.

Key benefits of the Empowered Learning program for young people will include:

• Fair and equal access from P6 to S6, ensuring all pupils have personal access to digital learning with their teacher in school or at home.
• Effective digital workflow to increase engagement, improve teacher feedback and raise attainment.
• A range of innovative accessibility features to improve access to the curriculum for pupils with additional support needs.
• Pupils can work online simultaneously in a class or collaboratively outside the classroom.
• High-quality digital applications for productivity and creativity, providing more ways to personalize and choose how they learn.
• Development of learning, thinking, and digital literacy skills vital for success in today’s rapidly evolving, technological society.

The roll-out meets a key element of one of the 15 outcomes and actions from the Council’s three-year business plan ‘Our Future Council, Our Future City’: ‘increasing attainment for all and reducing the poverty-related attainment gap’.

(Via MacRumors)