Dundalk school leads way in ICT education: ThePost.ie


TCH Archives > Sunday Business Post > 2006/10/15 > Dundalk school leads way in ICT education

Dundalk school leads way in ICT education
Sunday, October 15, 2006 -
Technology in schools may not be as widespread as was once hoped, but there are several schools leading the way in integrating education and ICT.

St Mary’s College in Dundalk, known locally as the Marist, has brought technology into the classroom with its National Centre for Technology in Education-funded TYTV project.

This year’s project was based on the school’s karaoke contest ‘‘Stars in Yer Eyes’’ competition. The documentary project saw the school’s transition year students involved at every stage of the process, from drafting the original storyboards to shooting it on digital video and editing it on Mac computers.

The project got a great reception from students and teachers, and is on the cards again for this year.

The integration of technology and the classroom was not solely confined to transition year students.

Fifth-year students were recently involved in producing a news broadcast based on the Shakespearean play Macbeth, using quotes from the play in their programme.

Rather than simply teaching the European Computer Driving License (ECDL) course, the projects brought technology into the classroom in a manner that students could relate to and actually see working.

Teacher Tommy Flynn believes that this approach is the way forward, that technology should be part of learning.

‘‘They are using it as a tool for their learning,” said Flynn.

Although the TYTV project is a new one, the school has been integrating technology and education for a few years.

Flynn believes that broadband has made a difference to the use of technology in the classroom.

The school has broadband in every classroom, with wireless connections also available.

There are three staff laptops, but most staff members have their own laptops which many of them use in everyday lessons.

For example, online dictionaries can be brought into the classroom, while others use PowerPoint presentations to teach grammar in languages.

Flynn says teachers have begun using podcasts to help students advance in languages.

German classes, which is one subject that Flynn teaches, can offer students news programmes are often available in podcasts; the teachers just need to show them where to find the podcasts online and the students can access them from there.

A number of website have also proven useful to teachers.

Scoilnet is an important resource for both students and teachers.

Flynn said that he uses the website all the time in the classroom, providing students with an added source of information.

Another website, Teachnet, provides teachers with a resource to help use web-based resources in their lessons.

However, while teachers in the Marist have embraced technology in the classroom and use it to enhance their lessons, others are still lagging behind.

‘‘It needs another bit of a push,” said Flynn. ‘‘There is a fear of using it on some teachers’ parts.”

There are a number of familiar obstacles to adopting IT in education. The technical support aspect is a stumbling block for many teachers.

‘‘Technically a lot of teachers are afraid of it if a machine goes down, what do they do?” said Flynn. ‘‘Tech support on hand is not always available.”

The school has solved that problem by employing a former pupil as technical support.

The money to pay for the call out fees comes out of the school fund, as there is no proper funding at present to pay for it.

The Marist’s prowess in the field of technology has also been recognised outside the local area, nominated for two Golden Spiders for its website and won the Digital Media Award in 2005 for Best Secondary School.

The school is also involved in the Dundalk Learning Net, as part of the IBM Wired for Learning Project, which is designed to enhance communication between a number of local schools, an in turn between them and the wider community.