IRELAND

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IRELAND

• Jerome Morrissey Director
• National Centre for Technology in Education
• Dublin City University
• Ireland
• www.ncte.ie

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BACKDROPThe celtic tiger 1998 - 2004
Fastest growing Economy in Europe (10 p.a.)

• Employment growth 6.5 p.a.
• Productivity growth 7 p.a.
• Unemployment rate 4.5
• GDP growth of 10 p.a.
• Info. Tech - 330 companies-30 billion exports
• Pharmaceuticals/Health care (1st. in Eur,) 19b.
• Financial Services - 400 companies - 800
  projects.
• All world majors present.(85bn.dom.funds )

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Ireland growth of the Celtic Tiger.

• A small Island (4 million) on the western
  periphery of Europe - not a natural location for
  industry and services.
• Incentives to create a fertile habitat
• Access to internal market (EU) of 450million
  people
• Competitive operating environment -12.5
  corporation tax
• 24 return on investment (after tax)
• Planned Economic Social Pgms. since 1986

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Importance of FDI to Ireland (2004)

• Status
• IDA companies 1,100 (510 from USA)
• Total employment 150,000 (85k, USA)
• Total annual sales - 85bn
• Corporate Tax Paid 3 bn
• Impact
• gt80 of manufactured exports
• gt35 of gross domestic product
• Technology and management skills
• Global orientation

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FDI in 2001

• Ireland and FDI
• Attracted 40 of available US manufacturing
  investment in Europe (2000/1)
• 13 of overall US overseas investment (Ireland
  is 1 of EU population)
• Germany UK next in scale
• Industry and Services

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THE IRISH ECONOMY
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Why this success?

• USA Boom, ICT growth, EU single market
• People, skills, costs,
• Low corporate tax - 12.5
• Corp. profits rise by av. of 13.3 p.a
• Public policy e.g. Education
• Performance of Irish Managers
• Flexibility, agility, creativity
• Ancestral/historical/cultural ties

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Key Sectors

• Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
• International Business Services
• Pharmaceuticals/Medical Technologies
• International Financial Services

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ICT

• One of Europes leading ICT Locations
• Over 300 companies exporting 30 billion p.a.

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Ireland - software

• 630 companies (130 foreign incl. World top 15
  )
• No.1 software exporter in world (US-2nd.) 16 bn.
  exports.
• Growing Irish companies
• Trintech,Riverdeep, Iona Technologies,
• Skillsoft (Smartforce), Havok, ECDL
• World class support audio/video/art/design/animat
  ion/translation/ transport etc.
• 80 of national output is exported.

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Digital media research

• Medialab Europe -MIT establishes in Dublin 2000
  -first outside the US. Failed initiative.
• New Digital Media research centre
• Inter- varsity collaboration on co-research and
  on IPR with ICT industry participation
• Technology and Learning research

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Government Initiatives in Research Development

• 2.5 billion programme of investment in RD under
  the National Development Plan 2000-2006
• Programme of Research in Third Level Institutions
• 605m approved for broad range of disciplines
• Collaboration between colleges
• Substantial increase in output of post docs and
  researchers.
• Science Foundation Ireland
• 650m funding 2000-2006
• World class research in ICT and Biotechnlogy
• Attracting renowned researchers from abroad
• Centres of science, Engineering Technology

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RD (GERD) (BERD)

• EGFSN (skills group) action plan target of 2.5
  of GNP by 2010 on GERD
• 1.9bn in 2004 380 companies active
• 8000 researchers needed (current supply of 4400
• 20million on IreL Initiative (publishing/Journals
  /online access)
• Target of 2.5 of GDP for BERN (3 bn)
• 1.2bn in 2004

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The Learner

• an affinity with ICT
• exploit and push the boundaries of ICT
• Communications/entertainments media used are
  visual and multi-format.
• highly interactive ,participative,
  individualistic and collaborative.
• Individualised /personal learning environments.
• need for learning resources and tools which
  connect with
• this learner profile

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The teacher ?

• Delivering curricular objectives time
  constraints/ learning learning resources
  already propared.
• Teacher evaluation linked to pupil achievement in
  examinations (parental pupil pressure)
• High quality learning objects required to assist
  teachers

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ICT Industry interface with some of the key
pre-requisites for ICT integration in education

• Pervasive ICT facilities for schools and
  learners
• Availability of curriculum-relevant quality
  digital content
• Professional development and ICT supports for
  teachers
• Funding innovation and transferring good practice
  
• Portal sites to facilitate engagement by an
  active learning community and assist more
  personalised learning (VLE)

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Pervasive ICT facilities for schools and
learners

• 2004. Joint government / industry project to
  fund design and installation of a new
  national broadband network.
• Telecoms and Internet federation (TIF) - 18m.
  Government - 3- 4
  million.
• competitive RFT issued.
• Subsequent EU ruling on e-rate/percentage.
• Technologies DSL/ wireless /satellite/fixed
  line (2 10 megs)

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Schools Broadband Network
Centrally Managed Services hosted by HEAnet
Secure Email Virus Control Spam Management
Controlled Internet Access Content Filtering
Security Services Firewall Other
Applications
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Centrally Managed Services

• Controlled Internet Access
• Centralised Filtering System
• Website blocking, Web Content blocking
• Schools can still use their own
• Filtering Guideline included
• Security Services
• Central Firewall
• Virus Management Guideline included
• Email for schools
• Provide email address for every teacher
• Additional no. of addresses for each school
• Schools decide how to use additional addresses
• Integrated Anti-Virus and Anti-Spam controls

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Service Desk
Support by email and telephone between Schools
and the Service Desk
ICT Advisory Service
Schools
Service Desk
NCTE
HEAnet
Broadband Service Providers
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School infrastructure

• 2005. Exploration of a joint government / ICT
• industry sponsored initiative to
• enhance/refresh ICT equipment to
• schools. More difficult than the TIF
• initiative.
• industry consensus unlikely.

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Availability of quality digital content for
learning and teaching

• market difficulties
• Small market base (First level .45m. Second
  level .35m. Third level .14m)
• Several unique national subjects areas
• Market advantages
• English speaking
• Proximity to UK providers
• EU - wide content access
• Localisation deals with publishers and producers
• Pool of software /learning content providers

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Digital Content strategies and Industry

• - production partnerships with Irish
  publishers and
• producers
• - localising existing UK/US content - tagged
  to the
• curriculum utilising applications profiles
• - accessing national archives and public
  data files
• - joint RD with Riverdeep localisation
  actions

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Accessing content in partnership

• Linking to European educational and cultural
  repositories
• Customising backend technologies and gateways
• Partner in Celebrate - learning resource
  exchange
• Partner in EUN interoperability for resource
  exchange
• Multi-lingual (13 languages) thesaurus for
  education
• partnerships in building content for VLEs
• teachers and subject matter experts as
  producers/publishers and as content consultants
• Repurpose relevant freeware
• Teachers as SMEs to write content
• Teachnet.org

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Internet safety
Make IT secure - National media
campaign on ICT security including
internet safety for children. ICT industry
partnership with government Financial
contribution of .5m from industry
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• IMMERSE
• Partnership project - RTE (National Broadcasting
  Authority) and NCTE
• To develop interactive curriculum relevant
  resources for learning and
• teaching and delivery on interlinked platform
  - DTV, WEB and DVD
• Other Partners include
• NCCA (National Council for Curriculum and
  Assessment)
• SMEs (Subject Matter experts) third Level
  Institutions and Media
• production companies.
• I am an artist (www.iamanartist.ie)
• Scispy (www.scispy.ie)
• Look at history (www.scoilnet.ie/lookathistory)

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Interdisciplinary Challenge for Education

• The major innovations of the 21st century will
  occur at interface between ICT and the Sciences
• Biology, Nanotechnology and Cognitive sciences
• i.e. human / machine interface
• (two different worlds, traditionally isolated)
• New kinds of collaboration needed to bring them
  together
• Key roles for curriculum, science teaching and
  the creative arts.
• Resource challenge uniquely suited to ICT.

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Looming skills shortage

• Decline in student numbers taking SET.
• 2006 expected shortage of 4,000 ICT grads.
• Need to support ICT and science at first and
  second levels of education.
• Taskforce on the physical sciences

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Intervention Funding

• Education,Technology Investment Fund (1997)
  360m. 3rd.level IT2000 schools 200m.
• Technology Foresight Fund-1999 (600) -
  innovation /RD
• Fasttrack to Info. Tech. (FIT)
• - IT training for the unskilled and for
  re-skilling
• - long term unemployed
• Job Fairs abroad to attract skills to IRL
• Targeting high - skilled Irish to return home
  (40,000 p.a.).

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• ICT in Science Learning and Teaching -
• Industry collaboration / Input
• ICT enhanced labs / Portable ICT
• Dedicated ICT training for science teachers
• Collaborations with Irish Science Teachers Assoc.
  (Young Scientist Exhibiton)
• ICT and teacher training for science teachers
• Development of specific digital media resources
  for learning and teaching

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Professional development partnerships with
Industry

• Teach to the future - Intel
• Learning Village IBM
• Innovative teacher - Microsoft
• Teachnet City Group
• Cisco learning institute
• (96 of teachers have taken ICT in Learning
  courses)

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Supporting Innovative practice

• Local school-based innovation in ICT integration
  - 40m commercial contribution over 6 years
• Matching state funding
• National project framework
• Dissemination transfer strategy

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State / industry projects

• Joint development of e-learning portal site
  with INTEL - www.skoool.ie
• IBM Learning Village application
• Havok games tools
• INTEL software tool for learning
• Realising significant export market potential

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Tasks forces and action plans

• Technology Foresight Advisory Group on
  Implementation (July 2000)
• Building Irelands knowledge Economy The Irish
  action plan for promoting investment in RD to
  2010 (July 2004)
• Ahead of the Curve Irelands Place in the
  Global Economy (Enterprise Strategy Group) (July
  2004)
• Statement on State expenditure priorities for
  2005 (September 2004) RD

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Hedge schools - learning environment of 1850

• Maths/science (with practical applications), the
  classics, literature, European history, geography
  and the classics and philosophy. Artistic skills
  and crafts.
• Intergenerational learning
• Discussion and questioning by learner
• Love of learning open ended curriculum
• No rote learning

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1900 observations of visiting scholar.

• ..they are trained to exercise their memories,
  to be passive recipients of knowledge, to be
  quiet, submissive and obedient and occasionally
  to sing the national anthem