A new out-of-hours service that allows pupils to receive homework tips from "virtual teachers" is being piloted in Scotland.

Pupils from Alva Academy in Clackmannanshire will trial the so-called vodcasting system, with teachers of subjects including maths, music, and home economics recording videos recapping key points from lessons to help with homework.

The videos will be posted on the school website and will be accessible by pupils at home. Teachers will also record audio files of lesson tips that will be playable on pupils' MP3 players or mobile phones.

The initiative is the latest in a series of projects that have seen technology becoming an increasingly important part of the education system.

Educational computer games have been used in some Scottish schools to improve maths and concentration skills.

Podcasts of lessons are already common, and some teachers set individual homework tasks for pupils by using their individual school intranets.

The most significant development is the establishment of Glow, the new Scottish schools' educational intranet, which will link pupils and teachers in different local authority areas across the country.

The network can be used for a host of different applications including joint lessons, pupils discussions and video conferencing.

Stuart Clyde, deputy headteacher at Alva Academy, who is leading the initiative, said pupils would engage with the system because it made use of technology that is already popular with them.

"By using this technology we are meeting pupils on their own territory. They engage regularly with this type of technology, using the internet to access information, so they will enjoy using it," he said.

"The children who do best at school are those who reinforce their learning at home and this is just another method of doing that.

"There will always be a place for textbooks, that is without doubt, but vodcasting will allow us to maximise the potential for providing education to our students.

"Children learn well when they have the best practice demonstrated to them and these videos do just that."

Mr Clyde said the school hoped also to engage parents in their children's learning. "The videos can act as a refresher course for parents too, enabling them to help their children with homework," he added.

Pupils who do not have access to the internet at home will still be able to use the facility from the school's machines or a public library.

The school said the project would be evaluated at the end of the current academic session, with a view to rolling it out to more departments.

One of the first classroom-based research projects into the impact of the new intranet, showed that it had had a significant effect on pupil attainment.

A small-scale study of pupils at Cathkin High in South Lanarkshire showed that the marks of S3 biology pupils who used Glow rose by more than 30%.

Learning and Teaching Scotland, which runs Glow, has already reported anecdotal evidence of pupils being more willing to do homework via the system, and being more motivated generally.

Parents have also become more involved because they can access material from home.