ICT in Schools - Department of Education and Skills

Executive summary
• Support services should give priority to the integration of ICT in teaching and learning. There is
an opportunity for such services to work more closely with schools, and with school ICT coordinators
in particular, to determine staff training needs and assist in organising appropriate
professional development courses for teachers. Support service personnel should aim to be
proactive in providing examples of how ICT can be used to facilitate teaching and learning in any
programmes provided. Furthermore, course organisers should take greater account of the wide
range of ICT abilities and experiences commonly found in groups of teachers and should provide
differentiated ICT learning experiences for course participants.
• Additional guidance should be provided to schools and teachers of students with special
educational needs so that the needs of learners may be matched more appropriately with the
technology available.
• There needs to be an increased emphasis on the application of ICT in teaching and learning in
teacher education at pre-service, induction and continuing professional development stages. It is
recommended that teacher education departments in third-level colleges should provide student
teachers with the skills necessary to effectively use ICT in teaching and foster in them a culture of
using ICT in their work. Consideration should also be given to extending and expanding
significantly the current range of professional development courses available for teachers. A
major focus of such an initiative should be on how ICT may be integrated fully in the teaching
and learning of specific subjects and curricular areas. The ICT Framework for Schools, which the
NCCA will issue in the near future, will be a further assistance to schools in this regard.
Key recommendations for schools
• Schools and teachers should regularly review the use of ICT in their work. In particular, they
should strive to ensure greater integration of ICT within teaching and learning activities in
classrooms and other settings.
• Teachers should exploit the potential of ICT to develop as wide a range of students’ skills as
possible, including the higher-order skills of problem-solving, synthesis, analysis, and evaluation.
• Principals should encourage and facilitate suitable ICT training for teachers. Schools should liase
with relevant support services and should endeavour to establish mechanisms to facilitate the
sharing of good practice among members of the staff.
• Schools should endeavour to provide all their students with an appropriate and equitable level of
experience of ICT at all class levels: at the primary level and at both junior and senior cycle at the
post-primary level.
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