Ryan Kelly, first year, from St Mogue's, Bawnboy, with his new ipad.

Long gone are the days of passing scraps of paper with scrawled notes around a classroom as students at a Bawnboy school are now experiencing. They are the first in Cavan to convert to a paperless classroom and have swapped text books for iPads.

"The iPads bring learning alive and allow the students to take hold of their own learning, which makes it more effective than a book," says religion and Irish teacher Niall Lynch.

The iPads were paid for by parents and teachers (who also have iPads) at a net cost of €400 each. With books for junior cert costing up to €30 each, iPads could provide a long-term cost saving, says Mr Lynch. "On average you save about €100 a year on books," he estimated.

St Mogue's are the ninth school in Ireland to convert to a paperless classroom and Niall thinks every school should do the same. "There is nothing you can't do on these iPads and it makes learning fun for the kids. We hope to roll this system out at Leaving Cert level in the next three or four years." The path to paperless education is underway and St Mogue's in Cavan are leading the charge.