Every pupil should have their own computer that goes with them everywhere. Easy enough to say. But implementation difficult. Maybe not for much longer though. Not if the promise of handhelds is fulfilled.

A large proportion of pupils already have some sort of device that slips into their pockets, if not a personal digital assistant (PDA) then a phone or even a gaming device like the PlayStation Portable. They are widely considered by schools to be distractions, not a focus for learning. However, some in education have begun to see them differently, many of whom gathered to share their ideas at the “Handheld Learning 2005, Towards 1:1 Access” conference held at Goldsmith’s College recently.

Handhelds in action in the Black Country
The Black Country was the cradle of the industrial revolution, now it’s the testing ground for a learning revolution, putting computers in pupils’ hands. In Dudley and nearby Wolverhampton hundreds of these devices have been put into every type of school and are transforming what's happening in classrooms - and beyond.

The dream, says John Davies from the Future Learning Team at the Dudley Grid for Learning, is: “You can have the planet in your hand whenever you need it.” Including at home. Here handheld technology isn’t confiscated but distributed.

“It is,” says Brandon’s mum in a video clip, “like bringing the teacher home.” His teacher at Wren’s Nest School is similarly enthused, describing how he is now more talkative and articulate, especially since he became the class technical wizard, fixing and restoring those that crashed.

Over in Wolverhampton at St Alban’s Primary School it’s Danielle who’s demonstrating the unexpected benefits, advising her classmates on what games to install. She’s taken to visiting websites, downloading trial versions then spreading the word about what’s worth getting.

A particular favourite is “Lemonade Stand,” where players have to run a business, buying supplies, setting prices and trying to find thirsty punters even when the sky is grey and the beach is closed. Useful as games are, they are only a small part of the resources available for learning with handhelds. Well recognised applications from the likes of Kar2ouche, Espresso, Big Bus and Skoool are all being used.

Handheld resources
There are also new resources being developed especially for this technology. One such is MathAmigo from Valiant Technology. Here questions designed to improve “computational fluency” are downloaded from a bank of over 3,500 to individual pupils' machines for skills practice.

With this kind of software marking is automatic, which is not difficult with this technology as Geoff Stead and Jo Colley from CTAD demonstrated. They've developed learning modules to run on mobile phones for clients as diverse as Birmingham Health Authority and Lakeside Shopping Centre. One popular module is the driving test theory paper. For a modest subscription learner drivers can test their own knowledge anywhere they like (except at the wheel of a car, of course).

Anywhere, anytime
Which is another advantage of handhelds - being able to learn wherever you are. It is the sort of  educational experience found in museums and galleries when visitors get an audio tour, nowadays often accompanied by written information and graphics on a PDA.

An experience taken further by NestaFuturelab with its “Mudlarking in Deptford” project. Here pupils are dropped in a creek off the Thames at Greenwich (when the tide is out) and asked to explore it through a number of tasks, all recorded on PDAs and used as both a record of the experience and a resource for future visitors. A good example of how PDAs are not just depositories of knowledge but tools for creating it too.

A characteristic that can be harnessed for assessing creative activities themselves. Professor Richard Kimbell, director of the Technology Education Research Unit (TERU) at Goldsmiths, has been developing an assessment method for design technology. Students working in threes used electronic pens – which work like biros but can save electronically – and PDAs with cameras to make a  record of a six-hour task. The results provided the story of the process and were uploaded to an e-portfolio to be viewed by an assessor.

All change
Handhelds are a technology that is changing rapidly. Many of the difficulties that have held back the use of portables in the classroom are now resolved. Batteries will be replaced by fuel cells and recharged by a squirt from a bottle, memory will be “non-volatile" so a PDA will never again lose all its information, and screens will roll up so size will no longer be an issue, according to Paul Anderson, technical editor of the Joint Information Services Committee (JISC) Standards Watch.

The combined phone and PDA with MP3 player and even TV will be with us shortly. Technology that fits the pocket, both in size and price is on the horizon. And who knows, maybe also the day when pupils will get a detention for not bringing it into school.