ICT and the teacher in Ireland

Some reflections on a digital decade.

uTeach SeminarVenice

4 – 9 October 2004

Where we’ve been...

• Early 1970s.

• DE&S involvement in courses since 1971. University involvement since 1973.

• 1980s saw a series of unconnected but innovative school-set projects;

• Primary Curriculum Unit IT project,• Secondary Computer Studies• Vocational IT programmes - Euro TecneT

The watershed?

• 15 December 1994: Netscape Navigator.By mid-1996, millions of people were accessing the Web, thousands of companies were serving it, and the press was writing about it constantly. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) sprouted everywhere… Computer jocks in small towns around the globe started putting up their own homepages, and soon enough offered to do the same for businesses, the local shop, and individuals.'

Berners-Lee (2000: 117)

• EU Action plan, 1996-8: Learning in the Information Society.

So, what did we need mid- to late-1990s?

• Imagination: vision: leadership

• Time to plan

• Significant investment in cutting-edge people and projects.

And what did we get?

And what did we get?

And what did we get?

And what did we get?

And what did we get?

Basically...

A man….

… a plan.

The Full Details

• “ Schools IT 2000: A Policy Framework for the New Millennium” (DES: 1997)

What was Schools IT 2000?

• A four year plan (1997 - 2001) to put in place a permanent schools’ IT infrastructure; not just the machinery but also the teacher skills to use it.

• The biggest single investment in living memory in any educational initiative in Ireland.

What’s the driving purpose behind it all?

• Schools IT 2000 was intended to place “...our pupils and teachers at the cutting edge of international innovation and development in education and help to secure important skills necessary to our future economic well being.”

DES 1997:3

Three core elements

• Technology Integration Initiative (TII)

• Teaching Skills Initiative (TSI)

• School Support Initiative (SSI), incorporating the School Integration Project (SIP), and ScoilNet.

The TII

• 60,000 multimedia computers in Irish schools by the end of 2001

• The NCTE helped schools in building up their ICT equipment infrastructure during the course of the initiative• The Telecom Eireann machine

(Gateway)• The purchase grant

The TSI

• The development of a complete ICT skills programme to ensure teacher progression from novice to expert

• IT Skill development for at least 20,000 teachers nationally (and to at least one teacher per school)• Phase courses / Front Line Maintenance• Primary /second level differences

The SSI - ScoilNet

• A Web site to publish Schools IT 2000 advice sheets, guidelines and curriculum materials to assist ICT integration in the classroom. ScoilNet support staff to provide expert advice to schools via e-mail. Curriculum materials to be developed in partnership with educational organisations and teacher groups. Curriculum resources produced by ScoilNet to be made available to every school.

The SSI - SIP

• A schools project to lead to the identification of policy, training and support models, pedagogical strategies and classroom resources for ICT adoption in Irish schools.

• A core group of 40 schools to be involved in piloting various models of ICT integration.

The SSI - ICT Advisory

• ICT Advisors have been appointed to a number of Education Centres (22) in order to provide local advice, guidance and leadership to schools.

www.teachnet.ie.

www.netdayseurope.org

www.netdaysireland.ie

eschola.eun.org

www.sligoseashore.com

www.thinkquest.org

www.spinaweb.ie