County Durham is a rural county in the UK with around 500,000 residents. The county has higher than average unemployment and lower than average educational attainment. A project was launched to improve literacy and numeracy using mobile devices with 700 devices distributed across 17 schools. Schools that made best use of the devices saw improved pupil engagement, better home-school links, and higher exam results. Factors like strong technical support, teacher buy-in, and consistent use contributed to success. Unexpected benefits were found for pupils with special educational needs.

1. Transforming Learning with mobile technology Feedback from a proof of concept BSF project.

4. A Council with High Aspirations Learning – who cares? DYNAMIC DURHAM DEGREES OF FAILURE POLARISATION LEAVING THE NEST Strong economic growth Economic stagnation Commitment to learning Ambition, Growth & Community Winners & Losers No hope – No point Education – but for what?

9. Video

12. Raw SAT data 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 English 4+ English 5+ Maths 4+ Maths 5+ Science 4+ Science 5+ Project Schools LA Average

13. CVA

18. Teachers… Teachers that prefer to teach using the device also think that their pupils make better progress… Better Progress Prefer to teach with the PDA

19. Pupils spend more time on task Neutral Agree Disagree Schools