Wouldn't it be great if you could play with your videogames consoles whilst being taught at school? Well, that fantasy has partly come true for the pupils attending HolyHead Secondary School in the city of Birmingham in the UK, reports the BBC. Lessons in French, history, and geography have become the test-bed for a scheme that involves children being taught via Sony's PlayStation Portable handheld.

The school's head teacher, Martin Bayliss, says that the system, which aims to tailor individualised lessons to pupils, certainly has potential: "It's not about using the console for games, but it does have a lot of exciting potential for learning opportunities," he said. "Sony are interested in developing education software and we are delighted that they are carrying out their PlayStation pilot at Holyhead."

French language teacher, Lorna Diprose used to work for Sony in marketing (coincidence?) and was also keen to heap praise onto the concept. "The big key is independent learning," she said. "The console is just like a mini-computer, but fast, and you can use it to tailor-make lessons for pupils who need support or stretching."

However, she says that any mischievous students hoping to load games into the handheld consoles will be quickly found out. "You are talking about access to all kinds of resources, but it would be very obvious if anyone tried to load games onto them," she added.

Teachers at the school have been taught how to use the machines in the hope that they will be able to create podcasts, download pictures and videos, upload students' work, and focus on individual learning needs.

Earlier this month, Sony held a "PSP in Education National Launch" event in London to demonstrate how the PSP could be used as a device to assist learning in schools. Sony Computer Entertainment UK's managing director, Ray Maguire, introduced the concept, which showed how the handheld's wireless functionality could benefit schooling, even though videogame consoles are generally prohibited by the administration of most UK educational establishments.

Richard Owen from Maplesden Noakes School, the first to test the scheme in several classes, said the short experiment had been a success. He explained that teachers found students enjoyed being able to work at a pace which suited them - being able to review an audio or video file several times if necessary, for example.