Mr. Tony Weir:

We in the Department of Education and Skills do not have specific policies which tell schools that something or other must be banned. These decisions are delegated to school level to allow schools make the decisions which they think are most appropriate in their particular educational context. The area in which I specifically work is post-primary schools. I attended an international conference approximately two months ago which ministry experts from around Europe attended. The idea known as the bring your own device, BYOD, space is gathering a lot of traction in terms of integrating ICT into teaching and learning throughout Europe. That particular space has a lot of advantages but it also has a lot of risks, as the Senator has pointed out.

It is very much a question of schools deciding on the appropriate use for any of these technologies. I was quite taken by what Ms Niculescu said earlier, that technologies themselves are not inherently good or bad. It is the use to which they are put that is the question. Within any particular school context, schools can decide to allow smartphones to be used. There is a very interesting video clip of about four minutes' duration on the Professional Development Service for Teachers, PDST, website showing how smartphones can be used in a class in a very educational way in a physical education class. I recommend it strongly to any of the committee members if they have the time to watch it. It is a badminton lesson in Deele College in Raphoe in County Donegal. The teacher uses the smartphone to gather students' opinions about the class, to garner feedback and to set up a link whereby students can see a particular skill being demonstrated on tablet devices. They certainly have a particularly useful educational function. The Senator is correct, though, that access cannot be unfettered and completely uncontrolled, especially for younger children in schools. Those decisions are very much up to individual schools.