In the classrooms of Ravenstone Primary School, high-tech equipment has become almost as common as textbooks and pencil cases.

Some pupils have been given Apple laptops costing £700 each, while a class of seven-year-olds has smartphone hand-held devices with internet access, satellite navigation, video camera and voice-recording features.

Unlike many schools that struggle to cope with technology, pupils and teachers at Ravenstone, in Wandsworth, South London, have embraced the new hardware wholeheartedly.

The equipment is worth about £20,000. While the school has contributed towards the cost, most of it is being met by a sponsor.

The Year 3 classes are participating in university research that compares the educational effectiveness and cost of the different devices for the next year. Simon Elledge, a lecturer in information and communications technology at Roehampton University, said that the smartphone equipment could be used in any lesson, assisting with maths, geography, English and music.

“The satellite navigation shows children where they are using co-ordinates, which is useful for geography and maths and can be related to Google Earth,” he said.

Young people are being urged to switch off electronic equipment and chargers to reduce their carbon footprint. A new online carbon calculator created for MTV’s “i-Trod” campaign shows the environmental damage caused by leaving gadgets on standby or MP3 players charging unnecessarily. Consumer electronics are expected to account for nearly half of all domestic energy use by 2020, according to the Energy Saving Trust.

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