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A report on the first year of the Schoolscape@future Minerva Action

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Abstract: This short paper reports on the initial work carried out by the schoolscape@future project, part of the EU Minerva Action. The project explores the building of a vision for 21st century schools where ICT is integrated into practice. The project creates models of integrated and innovative ICT practice in schools, put forth by teachers, school managers and industrial experts in three countries (Ireland, UK and Portugal). The project seeks to build a networked knowledge between teachers, researchers and industry through identifying, analysing, documenting and disseminating not only innovative pedagogical practices using ICT but also effective school organisation and management processes which use ICT. Two expert seminars have been organised in each of the three participating countries and highlights of the seminars and selections from the emerging database will be shown here.

Keywords: (1) new and emergent technology (2) future schools (3) EU Minerva Actions

Acknowledgements: This study was made possible by support generously provided by the EU Minerva Action and contributions from Trinity College Dublin, MirandaNet UK and Universidade de Evora, Portugal.

Schoolscape@Future is an EU Minerva Project

This short paper reports on the initial work carried out by the schoolscape@future project which is in its first year of a two-year study. The Minerva Action seeks to promote European co-operation in the field of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education and this specific initiative explores a vision for 21st century schools in which ICT is integrated into practice. Through working with successful schools, the project creates models of integrated and innovative ICT practice, put forth by teachers, school managers and industrial experts in three countries (Ireland, UK and Portugal). The project builds a networked knowledge between teachers, researchers and industry through identifying, analysing, documenting and disseminating innovative pedagogical practices using ICT and effective school organisation and management processes which use ICT. Two expert seminars have been organised in each of the three participating countries and highlights of the seminars and the emerging database will be shown here. The seminars have been designed to involve policy makers, teachers and industry experts so as to provide the opportunity to explore solutions to constraints in depth.

The presentation will begin with a discussion of the aims of the project and its relation to the overall goals of the Minerva initiative. The project seeks to involve teachers and industry experts and this presentation will feature a number of examples from the emerging database designed to brief teachers on recent and emergent technologies. A selection of the Irish teacher and industry experts will present work at ITTE with work of the other team members to be presented at future conferences.

Pat Seaver will introduce a pioneering Irish school and report on is use of ICT specifically in school management. St Helens is a primary school in Portmarnock, north County Dublin. The school caters for nearly 300 pupils with a staff of 14 teachers. A vibrant and caring school, St Helens has earned a reputation for innovation and good practice, especially in the areas of learning support and use of ICT in education. An exemplar of best practice, projects includes primary pupils digitally editing the schools video diary. Having originally pioneered the use of thin-client networks for Irish primary schools, the school decided to respond to the technical support problems of other Irish schools. Using low-cost wireless loop technology, they have extended their own local area network to another school some miles away. St Helens wishes to further demonstrate the scalability of this technology by providing six networked stations to all seven primary schools in their locality.

Jim Kelly will next represent some of the industry-related initiatives with an exploration of recent developments at Intel Ireland. He has designed web simulations and explores their potential as effective learning solutions for complex concepts. His work here will focus on a first-of-its-kind, innovative web 3d simulation-learning solution pilot that accelerates understanding and achievement of higher order thinking skills for plasma etch. Active learning results in better longer-term recall, synthesis, and problem-solving skills than learning by hearing, reading, or watching. We learn best from experience, but we never directly experience the consequences of many of our most important decisions. The key benefit of a web-based simulation beyond standard eLearning (anytime, anywhere), is a learning-by-doing approach where learners can experiment in a safe environment without risk of damaging equipment. The simulation demonstrated here enables learners to discover principles, trends and relationships for themselves. Crucially it demonstrates and visualises what happens inside equipment (which cannot be achieved with a real piece of equipment). Learners are tutored at their own pace for efficient and effective work through mastering the activities.

Mick Meehan will explore the use of an interactive whiteboard in the Irish Armed Forces. The use of the Smart Board will also be explored in relation to its potential in a number of learning environments. It will be argued that interactive whiteboards can turn your computer and projector into a tool for teaching, collaborating and presenting. With a computer image projected onto the board, for example, you can press on the touch-sensitive surface to access and control any application and you can work at the board to take notes and highlight information. Interactive whiteboards help save time, increase interactivity and improve in-class communication.

Enda Donlon reviews a new ICT initiative, the Logos Project, as part of the rather radical transformation of Religious Education. The new NCCA RE syllabus is currently being introduced on a phased basis throughout the country. With the introduction of this new syllabus, Teacher In-Service and In-Career Development becomes a fundamental and undeniable necessity if a successful integration is to take place. The Logos project is a joint venture between the In-Career Development Unit of the Department of Education and Science, and the Mater Dei Institute of Education, a prominent third level teacher training institute in the field of Religious Education. Available to all teachers of this new syllabus, Logos takes the form of a virtual learning environment, and is hosted on the main www.materdei.ie server. Currently reaching the end of year two of a three-year life expectancy, just under one third of all schools teaching the new syllabus are registered for the project, and are "logging onto Logos". The aim of this presentation is to conduct an evaluation of the project to date, by paying particular attention to a number of issues including considering whether Information and Communications Technology is an appropriate medium for the delivery of these resources. Also important is the question addressed through the research methodologies of questionnaire and interview, of finding out what teachers in the field really think of the project, and paying particular attention to any suggestions and criticisms they may have, in order to inform the final year of the project, and also the bigger picture of similar ICD projects.

This presentation will conclude with an outline of the future directions of the Minerva schoolscape@future project including work being carried out on ICT and identity and inclusive citizenship in the UK and also highlight work of the Portuguese team.

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