Schools get £125m for classroom software

Schools have been given an extra £125m in eLearning credits by the government to spend on educational software.

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) money is in addition to the £75m announced as part of schools' overall capital expenditure last November and can be spent over the next two years.

The credits can be used to buy any approved products from the DfES' Curriculum Online web catalogue such as virtual theatres, specialist communications for children with speech difficulties and online multimedia newsrooms.

The government launched eLearning credits in August 2002 to try and boost the supply and demand for multimedia educational software.

The programme will run in parallel with the BBC's £150m Digital Curriculum project - now called BBC Jam - which is due to start in January 2006 and aims to use the BBC's extensive archive to develop and distribute free content to schools online.

Andrew Adonis, the Department for Education and Skills' representative in the House of Lords, said in a statement that the extra investment will help create more high-tech classrooms.

He said: "There is now a considerable body of evidence showing that bringing appropriate technology into the classroom helps engage minds, capturing the imagination of both learner and teacher. We must continue the systematic use of technology to accelerate reform and transformation in education."