VoIP phones helping children learn

VoIP phones and video conferencing facilities have been installed at a school in Wales.

Padre Pio RC School in Pontypool, which opened on Monday, also has wireless internet which will be used to deliver lessons electronically, reports the Western Mail.

And the futuristic school will have no blackboards, just interactive whiteboards, while each teacher will have a laptop with Moodle, a virtual learning system, installed.

As well as the cost-saving benefits of the VoIP phones, headteacher Paul Welsh believes they can help children learn through experience and play, along with the video conferencing facilities.

"We can link up with Nasa and speak to an astronaut, speak to a curator of the British Museum or link up with schools locally or in another country without leaving the classroom," he told the newspaper.

"We will be working with the timetable to make this unit available to all the pupils every week."

The school cost £3.5 million and was financed by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff, Torfaen Council and the Welsh Assembly Government.