The deputy principal of a city secondary school has been invited to attend a prestigious world summit on innovation in education in San Francisco later this month.
Colaiste Iognaid, Sea Road, was the winner of the HP Innovation in Education grant award in May 2009. The initiative invited teachers from educational institutions in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to submit proposals for the most innovative teaching and learning initiative.
The winning project was completed and submitted by Colaiste Iognaid’s deputy principal Catherine Hickey. (As a result the concept of a “roaming e-classroom” became a reality for the school last September. )
The prize was a roaming computer suite comprising 22 HP elite tablet PCs, widescreen LCD monitors, two wireless printers, wireless access points, software and a cash payment of 10,000 US dollars.
The concept of an information technology classroom on the move - a roaming computer suite - has given students a unique opportunity to achieve computer literacy, according to the college.
“It is envisaged that this e-classroom will enhance IT and enable us to prioritise the pedagogic and catalytic goals for integrating ICT across the school curricula.”
The mathematics department at NUI Galway is working with the schools’ maths teachers and helping with the installation of new software on the PC tablets, which are used as a teaching tool in the classroom. NUI Galway maths students are being mentored by teachers in the classroom as part of their innovative “Maths Ambassador Programme” and BA mathematics and education degree.
The PC tablets are particularly useful for subjects which require drawing or calculations as they have touch screens which can be written or drawn upon. They are also used as a teaching tool in biology classes, media studies, Irish, applied maths and many other subjects.
