Small Primary School
Current ICT Status: Intermediate Stage
School Profile
- 3 classroom teachers
- 1 shared resource teacher for Travellers
- 75 students
- 4 classrooms - 1 is currently used as a resource room
- 4 computers (1 per room)
- 2 printers (1 inkjet and 1 laser)
- 1 digital camera
- Selection of educational software
- Internet connection in one room
ICT Adoption To Date
The staff was first introduced to ICT in 1998 and attended a number of computer courses run through their local education centre. These courses included Introductory Phase 1 and 2 (Primary), ICT and the Primary Curriculum, Multimedia Authoring and The Internet. Having attended these courses, the staff set about integrating ICT throughout the school in a co-ordinated way. The school's educational software collection was audited and relevant titles were assigned to each class grouping. Members of staff then evaluated and selected an age-appropriate word processing application for the entire school and introduced children to keyboarding and word processing in junior infants, as part of the writing process. They also selected an age-appropriate spreadsheet and database program for the entire school, primarily to support the Maths and Science curricula. A range of software tools was purchased to give the children the opportunity to create and publish their own resources. These included:
- an art program
- a photo editing program
- a multimedia authoring program
Currently, the children use the school digital camera to take photographs of a wide variety of events in their locality and they combine these with text and sound to create their own digital projects. The resource teacher for Travellers also uses the digital camera to create both teacher and student materials that are culturally appropriate. When relevant, students and teachers use the digital camera to record local happenings and items of interest. The school has now developed a comprehensive library of digital images for use in many of their projects. The school is connected to the Internet via a telephone line and this is located in the senior classroom where it is used primarily by fifth and sixth class students. The staff uses e-mail and discussion forums on ScoilNet to communicate with colleagues on topics of interest. They also use the Web to locate relevant online content, including lesson ideas, on the Web. Students primarily use the Web for project research - downloading text and images on a wide range of topics. Recently, the sixth class participated in an e-mail project with children from Canada to monitor the flight of the Canadian Brent Goose. This endeavour was part of the NCTE Netd@ys project.
Plans to Reach Advanced Stage
Based on the staff's experience, the school has identified a range of infrastructure additions and curriculum integration priorities. These priorities will shape the school's focus over the coming three years and will determine how their next round of ICT funding will be spent. They form the backbone of the school's ICT plan and are listed below in terms of the five categories outlined in the planning matrix.
Management and Planning
- Integrate appropriate ICT activities throughout the school plan
- One member of staff is to assume responsibility for co-ordinating all ICT resources
- Develop a range of ICT policies over the next 3 years (e.g., Internet use, software and hardware maintenance
ICT Resources and Infrastructure
- Purchase 4 additional computers to reduce the pupil-computer ratio to 1:11
- Network existing and new computers so that printers are shared and Internet access is available in all classrooms
- Purchase a laptop computer to enable staff to familiarise themselves with digital content (both software and Web resources) outside of school hours
- Purchase a scanner to support more sophisticated project work
- Upgrade to a high-speed ISDN Internet connection
- Obtain a maintenance contract for the school network and associated hardware, in conjunction with other schools
ICT and the Curriculum
- Source and buy educational software and appropriate licences for specific curriculum areas (e.g., SES, Science, Geography, etc.
- Source and buy additional software titles to meet the needs of individual students, particularly students with special needs
- Expand the use of word processing to improve students' creative writing skills School ICT Culture
School ICT Culture
- Develop a school Web site to publish student work and local community information
- Extend the use of e-mail by students within the school Staff Development
Staff Development
- Assess staff training needs and organise relevant training based on those needs. This will include:
- Whole staff training on ICT integration
- Training in Web site development
- Basic troubleshooting and network management information
- Additional training in the area of multimedia authoring (e.g., using digital video, etc.)
- Attend local software and Internet ICT Support Groups
