Computer boost for Clontubrid kids
A PRIMARY school in rural Co. Kilkenny has been named as one of the 30 most innovative and forward-thinking schools in the world.
Scoil Naomh Fiachra, Clontubrid, in Freshford will take part in a new IT project run by Microsoft that only 30 schools have been selected to participate in. It is the only Irish school taking part.
The Microsoft Path-finder project aims to identify schools that have a track record in innovation and ICT - a vision for where to go with it and it helps them develop a learning plan for how to get there.
Scoil Naomh Fiachra, Clontubrid, was chosen to participate in the programme because it has demonstrated strong school leadership with a proven record of innovation and successful change implementation. All the Pathfinder schools were chosen because of their vision for learning and because they have already started on the road to reform and improvement.
Scoil Naomh Fiachra, Clontubrid, principal Tommy Maher said there was a two-month application process and more than 110 schools worldwide applied for the project.
After being selected to take part in Pathfinder, Mr Maher travelled to Salvador, Brazil, where he took part in a conference with representatives from the other Pathfinder schools and their mentors.
"At the conference we were put into groups of four or five schools with broadly similar aims and ideas and these are the schools we'll collaborate with over the next 12 months," he said.
The collaboration will all be online, including conferences and virtual lectures on topics such as IT and innovation.
"Microsoft are always looking at the best practice in schools around the world that are at the cutting edge in technology and education," he said. "It's great for us to be considered to be in the company of such schools around the world and it's great to meet people who are interested in the same things you are."
Pathfinder isn't Mr Maher's first interaction with Microsoft schemes. Two years ago, he was awarded the Microsoft Worldwide Innovative Teacher of the Year Award for the innovative and creative curriculum he ran in his school.
Following his award, Mr Maher put together an e-learning proposal for the school, which included planning and administration packages, and submitted his plans to the Department of Education in the hope that they would see the merit in a pilot project and agree to fund it.
However, that wasn't to be and Mr Maher was forced to approach Microsoft for funding for computers.
"We were hoping the Department would fund the hardware and we could just approach Microsoft for the software, but although the Department thought it was a great idea, they offered no funding or any hope of getting it off the ground," he said.
So Microsoft came to the party with 35 tablet PCs. With 64 students in the school, Mr Maher said that 35 computers was enough to ensure that every senior school student had a computer to themselves and there was a bank of laptops for the younger students to share.
Over the next 12 months, the teachers and students will undertake a mission to transform the way their school operates.
"Our priority now is to utilise the technology we have and to use it across the curriculum," Mr Maher said. "There is an advanced software suite for each PC to help the students with any activities or projects they have. They now have the tools to do almost anything they want to do.
"The leading schools worldwide are making their curriculums more pupil-directed, so the students take responsibility for their own learning. that's ultimately where we want to go, but it will take a while to get there."
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Monday 21 May 2012
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