The girls who have been outside photographing their plasticine models with their camera phones appear at the outside door of the classroom.

“Miss, we think the pictures we have taken will help us explain why there is day and night, but we’re still not sure how to explain seasons. Where can we find out more?”

I point them in the direction of the iPad in the library area.

“Hey, John! Did you find out how to make that character in the game you were making turn around when he gets to the edge of the screen?” one pupil asks another.

“Sure, Li from Singapore told me how to do it when we were on Twitter. Do you want me to show you?”

The wiki that was set up with our partner class in Singapore is coming into its own now that the children have started to establish global relationships with each other. Li and John have discovered that they both enjoy creating games using Scratch and have been sharing tips and tricks with each other.

But the dream of personalised, child-centred, child-driven learning is not only a possibility, it’s becoming a reality. The school’s technology infrastructure will be sustainable because it will focus on providing the server, the wi-fi, staff equipment and specialist tools. Providing cameras throughout the school is expensive, but how many children have cameras in their phones? So why not lift the mobile phone ban?

Pie in the sky or possibility? Maybe it’s not as far off as we think.

What else?

Films for Learning is a file-sharing website for teachers, who can upload and download films created for learning. Try a five-step guide to getting started at www.filmsforlearning.org

Watch and read about Mike Adams’ experimentation with virtual worlds in the classroom on TES Resources.

In the forums

How can iPads be used as learning tools? Share your ideas on the TES forums. Elsewhere, teachers are debating the best programming language to use to teach their pupils and the need to reform the way ICT is taught.