About us

Technology is part of our daily lives and how we work, learn and communicate with each other

Yet over 800,000 of the most disadvantaged schoolchildren in the UK are still living on the edge of our digital society with home access to a computer and the Internet a seemingly inaccessible dream.

The e-Learning Foundation aims to reduce the effect of this “Digital Divide” by working with schools, parents and other stakeholders to ensure that all children have access to learning technologies when and where they need them, both at home and at school.

Launched as a registered charity in 2001, our aim is to bridge the digital divide by significantly increasing access to ICT for education, and specifically to ensure that every child in the UK, irrespective of background, has access to technology for learning especially at home, working in partnership with schools, parents and businesses.

What we do:

The e-Learning Foundation performs three main tasks:

• Provision of a free advisory and support service to help schools develop the most appropriate strategy to achieve personal access for all, at school and at home.
• Financial support through fundraising, grants, and services to take away the administration burden of collecting parental donations.
• Campaigning to keep the Digital Divide at the forefront of public consciousness and encouraging the use of learning technologies to help children achieve their full potential

Since 2001, the e-Learning Foundation has helped over 1000 schools in the UK give over 200,000 of their most deprived students and families schoolo and home access to IT. And many more schools are in the process of developing their own programmes.

Three core principles apply if a school wishes to benefit from help from the e-Learning Foundation.

1.  Equity of access
A school that provides equity of access is one where every child in a given group has exactly the same opportunity to have access to the school’s technology, at home as well as in the classroom, regardless of whether, or how much, their parents have contributed to the school e-learning scheme. (Parents can, of course, always choose to opt out).

Where a school operates a 1:1 ratio then every child will be provided with their own device (laptop, tablet, etc). Where a school allows pupils to bring in their own devices, then any child who is not able to do so will be provided with a suitable device by the school.

Where a school operates their e-learning programme through a pool of shared computers, then every child will receive the same level of access, including the same rights to take a computer home at night.

2.  Sustainability
Sustainability is at the heart of the e-Learning Foundation model. The education world is littered with examples of one-off funding for projects that grind to a halt three years on when the equipment needs replacing. However, it is not possible for most schools to buy every pupil their own device, so local sustainability is vital. School funds, are complemented by parents making small donations (usually between £3-£5 a week), normally collected monthly or quarterly, to the school e-learning programme.  Schools serving disadvantaged communities are strongly encouraged to allocate some of their Pupil Premium funds for this purpose.

3.  Home use
The focus of the e-Learning Foundation is helping schools extend access to ICT beyond the school day and the school gate, and in particular ensuring home access is available to all. While schools increasingly provide good access to ICT during the day, they rarely allow pupils to take school computers offsite. Research confirms that high levels of home access to a computer makes a significant impact on the learning outcomes of schoolchildren, an impact that children from better off families inevitably benefit from in contrast to children from more disadvantaged families.

Schools have a key role to play in developing effective home-school links so that students can continue to benefit from school based support and resources when working at home. The e-Learning Foundation supports schools that accept this role and are willing to engage with their families to achieve equity of access at home as well as at school.