Small Post Primary School
Current ICT Status: Intermediate Stage
School Profile
- 17 teachers
- 270 students
- 17 networked computers, located in a computer room
- 1 computer located in the career guidance office
- 1 computer located in the staff room
- Internet access via an ISDN connection
- 5 printers
- 1 scanner
- 14 teachers have participated on NCTE courses
- Designated ICT teacher
- ICT plan updated on a yearly basis
ICT Adoption To Date
The school has a networked computer room with all machines connected to the Internet. There are only three computers located outside the computer room. The main emphasis over the coming three years will be on the integration of ICT into as many curriculum areas as possible. The staff have already indicated that they would like to receive additional training coupled with an increase in the number of computers dispersed throughout the school.
Fourteen staff members have participated in NCTE courses. However, the majority of these courses focussed on basic ICT skills. They are now keen to learn more about integrating various software programs and the Internet in their own classrooms. There is currently one stand-alone computer located in the staff room and they intend purchasing an additional computer and networking both machines to the server and the Internet.
At present, transition year students are the most frequent users of the computer room, where they mainly research and compile project reports on a range of topics. Students learn how to create advanced Web sites using a variety of software tools and a core team maintain the school Web site on an ongoing basis. The school has also established a mini-company for TY students and this mini-company develops and maintains Web sites for businesses in the locality.
Plans to Reach Advanced Stage
The staff are now very keen to integrate ICT into their classrooms in meaningful ways and already the Science teachers have placed a computer in the Science lab. The modern language teachers also plan to integrate ICT into their classroom teaching in a variety of ways over the coming three years. Initially, they intend using the digital projector with a number of content-rich language titles in a whole class setting. They also plan to develop their own resources using presentation software complete with appropriate graphic and sound files. Modern language students will also have timetabled access to the computer room so they can correspond via e-mail with students in France and Germany as part of a European Studies project.
The students studying German are travelling to Germany later in the year and they are using the Internet to research the towns they will be visiting. The school has a long history of producing a school magazine and this year it intends using desktop publishing software to layout the document in-house. The team producing the magazine is very excited about this task and is looking forward to using the digital camera to take all the necessary photographs. It also plans to develop an online version of the magazine, which will be published on the school's Web site.
The staff would also like to experiment with different computer deployment models for two reasons - to alleviate the congestion currently being experienced in the computer room and to improve the strategic positioning of computers around the school. In addition to deploying computers in the computer room and in whole class teaching, the school also plans to place computers in the career guidance and language rooms. Already students use career guidance software to identify their career interests and to research suitable college courses and, most recently, all Leaving Certificate students completed their CAO applications online. In order for a new computer deployment model to work effectively, the school needs to network at least seven classrooms over the coming three years. By networking the classrooms and specialist rooms, teachers and students can connect to the school server and the shared printers from any of these locations.
Management and Planning
- Attend ICT planning meetings organised in local Education Centres to discuss the school's ICT needs and decide on the best strategy to move forward
ICT Resources and Infrastructure
- Purchase 6 additional desktop computers
- Purchase additional educational software
- Network the school's 7 classrooms
- Purchase a laptop computer
- Purchase a digital projector
- Purchase a digital camera
ICT and the Curriculum
- Staff are to use relevant software and Web resources in whole class teaching
- Students will be encouraged and supported in their use of CD-ROMs and the Web to research content for school projects, essays and class presentations
School ICT Culture
- Staff are to schedule time in the computer room as the need arises
Staff Development
- A number of staff are to attend the Intel Teach to the Future course to learn more about integrating content-free software in their own teaching
