ICT helps with inclusion at St Bartholomew's School

Karina, a Year 10 student, has quite severe visual impairment due to albinism and nystagmus. Recently she has been getting more out of her lessons by using an RM tablet PC. Explains Stuart Robinson, Head Teacher: "With Karina's very specific needs we have found the tablet PC to be an ideal aid to learning - both for Karina and those teaching her. Although Karina was always diligent and successful she is now benefiting from the technology available to her through this flexible and adaptable tool. The tablet has brought her both physical and educational benefits."

Cath Foyle, Karina's Learning Support Assistant, has also noticed a difference: "The tablet PC has been a huge help to Karina. For a start, it's much lighter than a regular laptop, so is less cumbersome for her to carry around from lesson to lesson. Also, because of the flat design, it is more discreet for her to set up and use in class." The handwriting recognition feature means that Karina can write her class notes directly on to the screen with the stylus without the need to use a keyboard at all, which can sometimes be difficult for her. It is also easy for her to add in diagrams and mathematical formulas. She has the screen settings and colours personalised to suit her vision.

The impact on Karina's learning is immense. She uses the tablet now in many lessons, including maths, science and RE. The wireless connection to the school network means that during lessons she can go on the Internet and access information and work. Also, with the battery life of 1 ½ hours, she doesn't always need to have access to a plug point. Karina is enthusiastic: "The presentation of my work is now a lot neater and tidier, and I can make my work much more colourful so it is easier for me to memorise when I come to revise. I'm planning to do all my GCSE coursework on the tablet - I really enjoy using it!" There are many practical benefits too. "I get my teachers to mark my work on screen and it is then much easier for me to read their comments than on paper, as I can enlarge the font," She explains. "I can use the highlight tool to make notes stand out. I also ask my teachers to send me handouts before the lesson, electronically, and then blow them up on screen to the size I need. With the tablet features I can write my own notes on to the handout documents and save them."

Now Karina is getting used to using the tablet in her lessons and exploring all the features available. She has experimented with the speech recognition feature so she can train the tablet to recognise her voice and translate it into text. This could also turn into a fantastic tool for her to use both in lessons and for doing her homework. All her coursework is saved onto a memory stick and also on to her area on the school's Community Connect 3™ network. Cath Foyle has been suitably impressed. "It's been so useful that we are now looking at providing a tablet PC to a Year 11 student with visual impairment who will benefit from a discreet PC when entering Year 12 to start her AS studies. She's easily embarrassed by her condition and prefers to write rather than use a keyboard. The tablet PC will be ideal for her as it is more discreet and can convert handwriting to text."

Karina has been recently been awarded the Princess Diana Memorial Award for her outstanding contribution to the school and local community and also a Gold Music Medal for the violin.