SIP 43 involves a broad range of organisations and partners. These come form
the world of commerce and industry, third level institutions and community groups.
The benefits of such partnerships are many and include:
Increase in pupils awareness of industry and commerce.
Co-operation between the different education strata.
School development by involvement in clearly focused, directed projects.
Increased awareness of developments of ICTs in education.
An elevation in profile of the sponsoring companies both locally and nationally and methods of teaching.
An opportunity to test new technologies and methods of teaching.
An opportunity for participants to develop projects appropriate to their own needs.
A grass roots response to educational change.
An opportunity to develop models of innovative practice.
Central to the success of this project has been project co-ordinator Donie Keane.
Donie was seconded from his post as vice-principal of Newcestown N.S. to act
as joint co-ordinator of SIP 43 and SIP 28.
His duties included:
Securing funding
Putting management structures in place
Sourcing and purchasing equipment
Liaising with Eircom to install I.S.D.N. lines to participating schools.
Organising training for teachers in participant schools
Testing technology
Timetabling activities for virtual links
Identifying curricular areas suitable for video-conferencing
Managing interactions at school level
Managing project budget
Dissemination of information to wider communities
Developing a suitable model of good practice in education
The official launch of SIP 43 was held in Baltimore Hotel on November 12th with
the Minister Michéal Martin as guest of honor. Master of Ceremonies for the
evening was Michael J. Collins, principal of Rath N.S., Baltimore and the list
of speakers included:
Minister for Education and Science |
Michéal Martin |
Minister for Agriculture and Food |
Joe Walsh |
Cormac O' Sullivan |
Eircom |
Michael Crowley |
West Cork I.T.N. |
Paul Stevens |
S.P.E.A.K. |
Fionbarra O' Tuama |
Department of Education and Science |
Professor Kieran Byrne |
University of Limerick |
Marie Martin |
International Officer of the Western Educational and Library Board, Northern Ireland. |
This was a unique occasion and included a video-conference link up with some northern colleagues who were virtual participants. This launch included an exciting virtual demonstration of the advantages of technology by the senior classes of Rath N.S. who performed for the audience form their adjacent classroom.
If you do not have Acrobat you can download it from this link |