Fourth year primary school students to get tablets in December

Education minister Evarist Bartolo has said that all fourth year students will be given tablets, which they will be using in class, in the beginning of December.

Bartolo was answering a question in Parliament on progress made on the One Tablet Per Child (OTPC) project. He said that teachers were currently in the final stages of their training on how to use the tablets in the classroom, and that 4,000 tablets will be distributed to children in the beginning  

The minister said that over the next month, meetings will be organised for students and parents alike, to clarify how the tablet is to used and maintained and to discuss issues related to digital literacy.

He said that teachers will be able to make use of roughly 35 apps, which have been chosen by specialised teachers, who also formulated ways in which these apps can be used in the class room.

13 of the apps came with the tablets and include over 360 lessons spread across all subjects. There will also be an electronic version of the Maltese language book, Buffuri, which will be supplemented with augmented reality, as well as other programs that were purchased through a separate tender and which cover subjects such as coding, interactive quizzes, concept-mapping in science, mathematics, art and music and a number of others.

He said that all fourth-year class-rooms have been provided with Wi-Fi access and will also be using ‘Real-Time Classroom Management Applications’ as well as ‘Mobile Device Management Applications’

Bartolo said that another tender will be issued for software for reading software in both English and Maltese.