At the Learning and Technology World Forum (LATWF) in London last week, we were struck by how far ahead many western countries are moving when it comes to fully integrating ICT throughout their education systems. As an indication of how far things are moving regarding opening up access to technology in education, the UK Prime […]
ICT in education being taken seriously? Read More »
Taoiseach Brian Cowan announced €150 million funding over three years a fortnight ago in a new Department of Education and Science plan for “Smart Schools”. €22 million was promised for primary schools before the end of the year. The first details of these very welcome ICT grants for primary schools began to emerge in the
ICT Grants for Primary Schools Read More »
Silicon Republic journalist John Kennedy published a very interesting article on October 29th entitled, Talent & Education, where they issued a “Call for Action” in relation to the current poor state of ICT integration in our schools. The article contains the views of notable captains of Irish industry Jim O’Hara (Intel), Martin Murpy (HP), Dermot
Silicon Republic’s Call to Action Read More »
Our good friends at CESI are busy organising the CESI National Conference which will take place on 12th and 13th February 2010. The conference entitled “Creative Technology in Challenging Times” will highlight the varied and creative ways teachers are using ICT to enhance teaching and learning at primary and post primary level. To do this,
CESI call for presenters Read More »
In November 2008 the Minister for Education and Science launched a €1 million grant scheme for DEIS band 1 schools to help them acquire the Digital Schools Award. A great idea but with typical hamfistnedess only 100 of the 179 schools in this category were invited to apply. The social inclusion unit of the DES
ICT Grant to Deis Band One Schools Read More »
While reflecting on the recent pronouncements on the Smart Economy, I went back to the Building Ireland’s Smart Economy – A Framework for Sustainable Economic Renewal to look at the specific mention of ICT in schools. Basically, it mentions that the DES Strategy Report from last year “provides a clear direction to inform actions to
Investing in our Smart Economy – the missing connect Read More »
We have been busy putting the finishing touches to our online summer courses for primary teachers which kick off on July 1st. A lot of effort has been put into making these courses as interactive and as interesting as possible for teachers. Thanks to the TeachNet mentors who developed the course tutorials, we are delighted
Still enrolling for TeachNet Summer Courses Read More »
So as the school year draws to a close what were the highs and lows for ICT in learning? I think we should all take stock of what has been a disappointing year for schools wanting to improve their integration of technology into the classroom. We are all aware of the lack of funding, policy
Looking Back, Looking Forward Read More »
The Coalition of School Networks (CoSN) published a video, “Learning to Change, Changing to Learn” a number of years ago. The video was published in response to a US Department of Commerce survey of 55 industrial sectors in relation to their ICT intensiveness. This survey found that education ranked 55, the lowest, below coal mining.
21st Century Learning Read More »
The new Obama administration has promised a package of €142 billion for education and €1 billion has been earmarked for ICT. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan plan promises to enable students of all ages to learn in 21st-century classrooms, labs, and libraries to help US students compete with any worker in the world. Time
Obama to invest €1 billion in ICT Read More »