Computers to replace teachers in the classroom by 2016

A new flagship 'free school' is planning to replace teachers with computers for some day-to-day lessons, it was claimed today One of England’s biggest academy chains - Ark Schools - wants to set up a new 'blended learning' model – which will see children taught over the internet for large chunks of the day.

The new 'e-school' will be known as the Ark Pioneer Academy and is due to open in London from September 2016 as part of the government’s free schools scheme, according to the teaching journal the Times Education Supplement.

Education Secretary Michael Gove has introduced 'free schools' which give headteachers wide-ranging powers to change the way children are taught

Charter schools in the US - which were an inspiration for the Education Secretary Michael Gove's free schools programme - have already tried and tested similar radical schemes with some success.

One called Rocketship pioneered the model and now operates nine schools in Milwaukee and San Jose, teaching 5,000 pupils who spend a quarter of their school day online.

Rocketship chief executive Preston Smith said that computers had allowed his organisation to 'really rethink the school day'.

'We have fewer teachers than a traditional school serving the same number of students.'