Technology            

• THIS DOCUMENT IS a statement of the aims, principles and strategies for the use of Information and Communications Technology at Scoil Barra BNS, Beaumont, Corcaigh.
• IT WAS DEVELOPED through a process of consultation with teaching staff and Board of Management.
• IT WAS APPROVED by the Board of Management on the 14th of April 2000.
• THIS POLICY WILL be subject to continuous REVIEW / EVALUATION but will be formally reviewed

A schedule for the review of this, and all other, policy documents is

set out in the school’s Five Year Plan of Whole School Development.

All pupils will use ICT as a tool to enhance their learning in as many areas of the curriculum as is feasible. Teachers will use ICT as a tool to enhance teaching and administration.

To enhance teaching and learning across all curriculum subject areas through the provision of up to date information and communication technologies and through the contribution of well trained, highly skilled and motivated staff.

calculators, sensors, video cameras etc. Technology has radically altered today's society. It has been a driver of change in such areas as global communications, economics, the arts, politics, and environmental issues. Education must analyse the changing fibre of today's society and weave the reality of the information age into the education system.

There is a critical need for students to be able to access information, manipulate data, synthesise concepts and creatively express ideas to others using video, text and audio media. Technology can virtually bring the world to the child, providing a depth and richness of instructional approaches to reach children of all learning modalities. The child becomes a "knowledge architect" using the rich resources at his/her fingertips through technology to bring personal meaning and expression to knowledge.

Skilful use of technology supports the development of process skills such as flexibility, adaptability, critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration which are essential to success in our rapidly changing information age. These skills are crucial in terms of pupils becoming life-long learners.

Technology allows us to better serve the diverse learning styles of our students and educate them for a wider range of intelligence (e.g., verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, visual/spatial, bodily/kinaesthetic, musical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal.

• to develop Information and Communications Technology capability in each child
• to ensure that pupils capabilities in ICT are extended from class to class
• to enable children to use ICT equipment and software confidently and purposefully to communicate and handle information, and to support their problem solving, recording and expressive work
• to integrate ICT into the curriculum, using ICT to support teaching in other curriculum areas
• to develop skills in the use of ICT
• to use ICT as an aid to good teaching in the classroom
• to enable children asses the value of ICT in their working practices
• to use ICT to explore and solve problems in the context of work across a

variety of subjects

• to use ICT to further the pupils understanding of information that they

have retrieved and processed

• to use ICT equipment and software to communicate ideas and information in a variety of forms showing sensitivity to their audience
• to develop an ability to interpret, analyse and check the plausibility of information held on ICT systems and to select the elements required for particular purposes, considering the consequences of any errors
• to use ICT to raise educational standards in literacy and numeracy
• to use ICT to support effective whole-school management
• to have in place schemes of work in each subject which are designed and implemented to make best use of ICT
• to create an environment where staff confidently use ICT in their work and where children confidently use their ICT skills to enhance their learning

General:

Become familiar with operating in a windows/mac environment.

Explore the use of computer systems in everyday life.

Find information from CD-ROM sources.

Prepare computer system (including printer) for use.

Internet:

Know the history of the World Wide Web.

Connect to the internet.

Retrieve information from the WWW

Use links.

Mark favourite sites.

View favourite sites.

Organise favourites.

Close connection to the internet.

Manage the history folder

Save web pages.

Save text, images, sound

View saved pages.

Print web pages.

Search the web using a search tool.

Download files/sites.

Design and maintain a web page.

E-mail:

Check mail

Compose a message.

Send and receive messages.

Open messages.

Save messages.

Delete messages.

Open attachments.

Reply to author.

Reply to all.

Manage an Address book.

Send attachments.

Multimedia Authoring

Use a package (Hyperstudio or Illuminatus) to:

Create a stack

Name cards

Add and format text

Add images

Add sound

Assemble text, images and sound on a page

Add buttons

Organise, refine and present a set of linked multimedia pages

• Vary in size from pairs (most common) to groups of 6/8 (for programs where discussion is paramount.
• Are usually of matched ability as this makes for more equal interaction.
• May occasionally be of mixed ability to enable more competent children to help those less able (for example in word processing activities in the early years.)
• Are usually of matched gender in order to avoid the commonly experienced marginalisation of girls as boys monopolise the equipment.
• May be involved in teaching one another through a rolling program (for example when introducing a new piece of software.

• Pupils with difficulties in learning, who need to be motivated to practice basic skills regularly and intensively, and thus benefit from the use of programs in which skills practice is set in the context of a motivating game.
• Pupils of high ability who may be extended through the use of programs which offer challenge and opportunities for investigation

• word processing is the application most widely used throughout the school.
• most activities using ICT are allied to other work carried out away from the computer.
• as pupils progress through the school they are given increasing control of their use of ICT, gaining growing independence in their use of ICT as a tool appropriate to any given activity and in their choice of software required.
• calculators are available in all classrooms.

• Display around the school of text, pictures, graphs and charts that have been produced by pupils using computers.
• The production of a school newsletter by senior pupils. The newsletter is distributed to all families and contains important information for parents.

RECORDS OF PROGRESS IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY kept for each child contain

• a termly record of progress in each strand
• a portfolio of work, dated and annotated with teacher comments and containing one item for each half term which shows achievement and progress.

REPORTING TO PARENTS is done ………………………………… through interviews and annually through a written report. Reporting on IT use will focus on each child’s ability to use a computer with confidence and competence across a variety of applications.

FEEDBACK TO PUPILS about their own progress in ICT is rarely formalised is usually done while a task is being carried out through discussion between child and teacher.

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT is used to guide the progress of individual pupils in their use of IT. It involves identifying each child’s progress, determining what each child has learned and what therefore should be the next stage in his/her learning. Formative assessment is mostly carried out informally by teachers in the course of their teaching. Suitable tasks for assessment of ICT work include

• small group discussions perhaps in the context of a practical task
• specific ICT assignments for individual pupils.
• individual discussions in which children are encouraged to appraise their own work and progress.

PLANNING FOR THE USE OF ICT is a process in which all teachers are involved, wherein

• a termly staff meeting is used to discuss the use being made of ICT across the curriculum and ensure consistency of approach and standards
• software use throughout the school has been carefully mapped out to ensure that pupils’ experience of ICT is continuous and progressive (see Appendix for details.)
• teachers are fully conversant with software packages before introducing them to the class

• take the lead in policy development and the integration of ICT into schemes of work, designed to ensure progression and continuity in pupil’s experience of ICT throughout the school.
• support colleagues in their efforts to include ICT in their development of detailed work plans, in their implementation of those schemes of work and in assessment and record keeping activities
• monitor progress in IT
• Take responsibility for the purchase and organisation of central resources for ICT, including relevant computer magazines
• provide technical support to colleagues in their use of ICT in the classroom.
• lead or inform staff of in-service support, where needed
• keep up to date with the use of ICT in the curriculum
• pass on information to colleagues as appropriate.
• ensure that hardware is safe and complies with School Safety Statement
• liase with external agencies
• help teachers to help themselves

Due to the nature of the technology and the uses and abuses to which it is put, it is not possible to guarantee the safety of all children using the Internet, the World Wide Web or other on-line services. It is possible to greatly minimise the risks involved as it is widely believed that the potential benefits for students and teachers of using this technology far outweigh any risks involved. This will be achieved in the following ways:

• ensuring that appropriate blocking/filtering software (Cybernet) is installed in conjunction with the computer’s Internet access software
• no Internet sessions are entered into without close monitoring of the children’s activities
• no unmonitored chat room sessions to take place
• no opening of e-mail attachments permitted, from unsolicited or unknown sources
• advice from the NCTE and our ISP about safe sites and educational resources on the Web will be sought & on-line sessions will be directed towards those resources only
• no registration or the signing of visitor’s books at Web sites without permission
• children will be informed that their on-line activities will be monitored and that they are accountable for their behaviour
• no personal information about the child, the child’s family, the teachers or the school will be disclosed without permission from the teacher supervising the session
• any encounter with information or a message that threatens, demeans or otherwise makes the child feel uncomfortable must be reported to the teacher supervising the session and on no account should a response be made to such a message
• on no account should a child make arrangements for an unsupervised meeting with any other on-line correspondent without permission
• if permission is obtained, any meeting taking place should be supervised and in a public place
• pictures or images, which might assist in identifying an individual, will not be transmitted without permission
• use of a full or last name in on-line correspondence should not occur without permission
• children's work will appear in an educational context on web pages with a copyright notice prohibiting the copying of such work without express written permission
• no home address, telephone number, contact details, or personal information will appear with such work
• the school will get parental permission prior to publishing children's work.
• group photographs rather than photographs of single students are used on the school website
• the school will get parental permission prior to publishing photographs of pupils
• internet access will not be left open after school hours or during breaks for potential misuse

A list of all software purchased by the school under site-licences is scheduled separately. Only software purchased by the school will be allowed used on school premises. Pupils are not allowed to bring private software disks into school and, in particular, 'arcade' games software is banned. This policy is designed not only to ensure that the school is not in breach of copyright laws but also to reduce the risk of viruses being introduced into school computer systems.

Staff action:

Internal systems.

A great deal of information of a personal, confidential and sensitive nature is stored in school computer systems, either on floppy disk or hard disk. Such data is subject to the Data Protection Act 1984 and precautions must be taken to protect it from unauthorised access. The following actions are recommended:

1. Access to files is limited to those authorised.

External systems.

Hackers can gain access to data contained within any computer system, which is connected to a telephone line via a modem, or to a local area network. We have both a need to protect our data from unauthorised access (internal & external) and a duty to prevent our pupils from 'hacking' into external computer systems when using school computers and modems.
The following actions are recommended in addition to those listed in the above paragraph:

We are naturally concerned about all forms of computer misuse but the greatest threat to our pupils’ well-being is from computer pornography and since we have a duty of care, we must obviously take steps to counter this threat. It is an offence, under the Obscene Publications Acts, to publish an obscene article and since computer disks and CD ROM’s contain information which can be displayed in words and pictures, they are therefore articles in the spirit of the law. Furthermore, under the terms of the Children Act 1978, it is an offence to possess pornography, which involves children under the age of 16. There are two obvious ways by which computer pornography can be brought into the school. It could be downloaded from the Internet or any other external communications system or it could simply be carried into the school on floppy disks or CD-ROM’s.

In order to protect our pupils from the dangers of such pornography, the following actions are taken.

Infrastructural Management

It is recognised that ICT is rapidly changing all the time and that equipment very quickly becomes out of date. This must be a consideration in all purchases. A critical question will be the ability to upgrade any new purchases and the effects that this may have on software that is available to the school.

New equipment may mean the learning of new skills. This will also be a determination in purchasing as there may also have to be built into the overall cost a sum for retraining of staff.

New equipment quickly becomes old and there is the need for continuous and ongoing maintenance. This maintenance should be a critical factor built into the ICT budget.

Prior to any new purchases the following will be taken into consideration:

• Current usage will be examined.
• The specific area requiring this equipment will be studied in order to determine any specific requirement.
• The ICT co-ordinator will ascertain the types and quality of equipment available.
• What, if any, new or specific training will be needed by whom.
• Advice will be sought from the ICT advisor/s
• The guidelines on minimum specifications as laid down by the NCTE will be adhered to.
• Purchases will only take place if they fall within the parameters of the budget available.

• the computer room/entire school is protected by an alarm system
• serial numbers of all hardware items are recorded
• hardware is marked with a proprietary marking system

• machines are protected by dust covers during holidays
• machines are placed away from direct sunlight
• hardware is moved from room to room as little as possible
• surge protectors are added to each outlet
• care is taken not to overload power sockets
• power is switched off at night
• computers with modems are unplugged during holidays and at times when lightning threatens
• food and drinks are not allowed near hardware
• cables are kept tidy

• CD Roms are returned to jewel cases, envelopes etc.
• CD Roms are cleaned when necessary
• Children are taught to handle CD’s properly

• setting up and moving equipment
• establishing appropriate working conditions
• general electrical safety.