Lifelong learning
The question is posed: what happens when every student in the education system from the age of
5 has regular access to a computer with learning, knowledge gathering
and communication tools, including access to the Internet and to other
learning institutions through applications such as videoconferencing?
Carrigaline second level students can already
provide some of these answers - their world view is broadened,
and they get a strong grasp of the importance of IT in all aspects
of life in Ireland today, both in business and in the home.
However, the same cannot be said for first level students or
for adults yet. We would like
to see improvement of the Community school's Internet
access
and the introduction of state of the art computer systems and Internet
connections to the four national schools, tied into a comprehensive
training programme for teachers, as recommended by Andrew Cohill of the
BEV project.
At BEV a virtual school project was carried out involving
six classes at different levels connected using a fast Ethernet system.
Initial progress while the teachers were being trained and technical
issues were being resolved was very slow. Then there was a burst of
activity as teachers began to publish lessons on the web and receive
course material by email. Two teachers are now working with
their students on a networked multimedia magazine. To read Andrew
Cohill's recommendations on how to make virtual schools
successful by training the trainers,
click here. He also comments:
"There is simply no precedent in human history for the ability to directly address
hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people in a few seconds
from your home. Interestingly this capability must be explained and
demonstrated time and time again before users may be convinced of its value
in their daily lives... people are not particularly impressed with
the vast resources of the Internet. What interests them most..
is better access to local, real substantial services."
Recently the outgoing Minister for Education, Niamh Breathnach,
announced the Schools IT 2000 project which will target teacher
training and support in IT, classroom resources and infrastructure,
and policy and research. Carrigaline hopes to be involved in all
three aspects of the IT2000 project.
As well as improved Internet access, the following educational
projects are planned:
School online publishing on the local information system - transition
year projects and newsletters to help students learn web authoring
and multimedia skills- Teachers to be assisted to develop further computer based teaching materials
e.g. providing assignments online, which students can then submit
through email (or homework on disk).
- Email system so that parents can contact teachers and they can
contact each other, obviating the problems of teachers being
unavailable while teaching for much of the working day and improving
school administration
- Voicemail system for all teachers for those parents
who do not use email
- Open access Knowledge Resource Centre as recommended
in the Information
Society Ireland report, developing work done at the Sutherland Centre
in Skibbereen, which is acting as a remote campus for Cork RTC.
This will provide adults and third level students with access to open learning,
distance learning, CD-ROMs and computer based training as well as
to Internet based courses such as FAS Cabra's multimedia training
course and IMI's small business management course, both of which
use the WEST Internet system for educational support.
- The Knowledge Resource Centre would also provide space
for tutorial sessions for distance learning courses such as
the OU courses, and would run regular free introductory sessions
for Internet and basic computer usage for Carrigaline residents.
- In addition, publically accessible computers and Internet connections
based in the library could be used to provide basic keyboard and mouse
skills which many residents of the town still lack on a "learn at your
own pace" basis (self directed learning). We would like to see
a small computer based training programme developed to aid people in using
the local information system, which could be accessed directly
from the main home page of the system by new users.
- The parish centre, in association with Cork County VEC, could
provide introductory IT courses in basic applications like
computer literacy, word processing etc. if it were possible to provide
computers. Dr Margaret Buckley, Adult Education Organiser for
Cork County VEC is supportive of the idea and could provide some
extra tutorial hours with VEC funds, but these would probably
not be sufficient to meet demand so some courses would need
to be charged for in the absence of alternative funding.
The parish centre also has a creche which would make it an
ideal venue for women returners wishing to learn IT skills.
- The parish centre could also access Youthreach funding in
cooperation with the VEC in order to train unemployed school
leavers and young people in IT skills if it were able
to obtain suitable computers.
- Satellite communications to allow further development of the school's
media conferencing facilities e.g. to participate in programmes
run by satellite by the College of the North Atlantic, Newfoundland, Canada.
- Upgrade of existing ISDN conferencing equipment to provide better
image quality and speed.
- Installation of equipment to allow for training courses in
telemarketing including caller line identification, automated call
distribution, screen popping etc.
Broadband technologies
The use of broadband technologies can provide many more educational
possibilities than the narrowband technologies which have already
been trialled in Carrigaline through the Community School. A UK Education
Department document, Superhighways in Education, spells out
some of the possibilities.
English Likely to be the main language on the superhighways.
Written and oral English presentation skills within videoconferencing
technologies will become important. A wide range of multimedia resources
could add to the content of literature and drama courses, perhaps by
comparing videos of different versions of a play.
Mathematics Broadband technologies could help pupils
collect, analyse and interpret data from worldwide sources, and
illustrate the outcomes as visual models.
Science There is potential for online experimentation,
shared between sites, access to pre-recorded experiments. Person to
person access to research scientists may also be possible.
History Archive video footage could be available allowing
access to electronic archives worldwide.
Geography Access to real-time relay of satellite images
of the earth for weather data, or global warming data, or study
of patterns of settlement and transport networks.
Modern languages Direct class to class or pupil to
pupil video links of far higher quality than that available today.
Satellite downloads could also bring a wider range of languages
into the classroom than is possible using local resources.
Design, technology and art Access to high definition images
of works of art from around the world. Modelling of design ideas,
discussion of design and technology issues by videoconferencing.
Music Access to different high quality interpretations of the
same piece, or access to distant masterclasses could become a
reality without loss of quality.
School libraries
Work in Coleraine, supported by the British Library, has already trialled
the use of multimedia, email and videoconferencing as part
of the school library function. The Coleraine students talked
to an American geologist by email, researched drug abuse via a telephone
link with the world's newspapers, visited the White House and
the TUC conference via the Internet and then created multimedia
essays about their experiences from text, sound, video and pictures.
Suggestions from students
The 5th classes from the town's national schools were asked to
provide ideas on how new technology could be used in the town.
Here are some of their responses:
- Email pen pals in our twin towns
- Altar boys rota
- Children's swap and sell service
- No more messages to and from school! The teacher can send
email to our parents instead
- Homework for sick children can be sent to their homes
- Results, scores and league tables for sports in the town and
also the premier league
- TV Guide
- Details and prices of clothes available
- Information on the dangers of drugs
- Each school should have a web site with school projects etc.
- Timetables and profiles of pupils and staff should be online.
- Restaurants could put their menus on the Internet
Mark O'Mahoney, Room 8 Scoil Mhuire Lourdes Age 11
My idea for the new technology on the Internet is if Carrigaline
won, we could connect a pen pal E-mail onto it. If anyone is interested
in pen pals they could type in their letter saying the name, address
and the country. In a matter of 45 minutes it will come out on your
pen pal's Internet. If you get even more interested you could start
to type to your cousin over in a foreign country or your friend that
you met over on holidays.
PS. Warning. Remember always don't send your letter over the Internet
if your pen pal does not have a PC or the Internet because it will
break the PC and the Internet.
If you want to comment on these pages, please email the
Carrigaline Task Force. Please
note that under the terms of the Information Age Town competition, these pages
have become copyright © Telecom Éireann 1997