Last week saw the launch of a landmark educational research project that will see every primary school in Ireland receive a free Digital Technology kit.
EDTips – Enabling Digital Technology in Primary School will provide every primary school with free digital technology teaching resources and equipment to prepare for the introduction of the Primary Curriculum Framework[1] during the 2025/2026 academic year.
The project, led by CSinc (Computer Science Inclusive ) at TU Dublin, has received funding from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI ) and is supported by the University's industry partners AWS In Communities and Workday.
Running over two years, EDTips will train primary school teachers in a suite of age-appropriate and interactive educational tools, catering to the abilities of all pupils and encouraging them to become confident, creative, and critical users of digital technology.
TU Dublin academics with research expertise in Computer Science education will develop comprehensive teaching materials and activities modelled on the Primary Curriculum Framework, while AWS In Communities will supply 3,000 free offline Digital Technology kits, enabling all schools, irrespective of technical infrastructure, geographical location or socio-economics, to fully engage pupils in the curriculum.
EDTips is also supported by Workday, a leading provider of enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources. Employing over 2,000 people in Ireland, Workday will provide critical resources to help deliver the programme, including software development, content, design and project management.
Minister for Education Norma Foley said that EDTips will not only equip primary school teachers to deliver Digital Technology education but also has the transformative ability to spark the imaginations of young minds.
"This could set the pupils from Stanhope Street Primary School on a trajectory of educational discovery, potentially paving the way for a rewarding career in Ireland's tech sector."
AWS Country Lead for Ireland, Neil Morris, said: these new technology kits will enable teachers in every primary school in Ireland to learn and be curious with coding and empower them further with digital literacy tools ahead of the introduction of Digital Technology curriculum.
"At AWS Ireland, we are determined to play our part in fostering the next generation of Irish technology leaders and we will continue to look for opportunities to encourage young technology talent and supporting them in their journey through schooland into further education.”
Read more: https://www.edtips.ie/
