Online revolution hints at future of paperless schools

The Government held out a vision of the paperless school yesterday when it unveiled plans to put online all the subjects in the national curriculum from next September.

The Education minister Baroness Ashton of Upholland, speaking at the launch of the £200m scheme, said she believed "computers will eventually replace these" as she held up a pen and a piece of paper. Under the scheme, the Government is earmarking £50m for schools to buy their own online teaching materials.

The BBC is spending £150m over the next five years so that a wide range of subjects can be taught online and teachers can tap into already prepared lesson plans to reduce the amount of time spent on marking and preparation. Lady Ashton said the drive was likely to lead "eventually" to a computer on every school desk. Lady Ashton and Lord Puttnam, the chairman of the General Teaching Council, the new professional body set up for teachers, predicted 10 or 20 years might be needed for the revolution in the classroom to be completed.

But Lady Ashton added: "This will transform teaching and learning in a way that it has not been since the Victorian times." Lord Puttnam said a Victorian surgeon would not recognise or be able to work in a modern hospital were he to arrive back on Earth today, but a classroom would still look the same if a teacher were to do likewise.

Both said the changes would not mean books or teachers becoming obsolete but would form an additional and crucial aid to learning. The new curriculum would also allow pupils to choose from a broader range of studies including minority languages such as Latin and Japanese.

Yesterday's announcement is part of a £1.5bn drive that has seen 96 per cent of primary schools and 99 per cent of secondary schools linked to the internet. Pupils would be able to do much learning online and tap into expert teaching.

Doug Brown, of the National Grid for Learning, which oversees online learning materials, said some schools had already widened A-level studies since using online teaching materials. He said: "Schools are offering subjects like economics and psychology, which they couldn't have done before because they couldn't justify the teaching staff. They use video conferencing links to learn with other schools and then bring specialists into the classroom."