Never mind the technology, where’s the learning?

Back in November, I blogged on the concerns raised by some teachers as to the possible health dangers of wi-fi networks in schools. The cause has been taken up by the Professional Association of Teachers and apparently Philip Parkin, the union’s General Secretary is to write to the Secretary of State asking for a full investigation. The news item, apart from making the BBC news site, also make the Today programme this morning:

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On the same day, the City of London switched on its first mesh wi-fi network covering the square mile using lampost access points similar to the Norwich network.

Image credit: Peeter Marvet

Update:

Professor Lawrie Challis, head of the government’s committee on mobile phone safety research, has now advised that children should not use wi-fi enabled laptops on their laps:

“if you put a laptop straight on your lap and are using wi-fi, you could be around two centimetres from the transmitter, and receiving comparable exposure to that from a mobile phone. Since we advise that children should be discouraged from using mobile phones, we should also discourage children from placing their laptop on their lap when they are using wi-fi.”