Microsoft has been working to enable further learing through technology and is encouraging an innovative approach to education through different initiatives.
The modern classroom bears much resemblance to the ones our grandparents and great grandparents attended. Desks, chairs, blackboard and chalk with the teacher at the top of the class directing proceedings from a book or other textual source. And that in essence is still more or less the same template that's with us today.
Microsoft wants to change that by pushing Ireland as innovators in the delivery of learning through ICT (information communications technology). Microsoft sees technology as an enabler of teaching and learning and within that context it has been working with schools, colleges and students to try and advance the tech agenda and help teachers and students at primary and post-primary level to unlock the learning potential that technology can facilitate. Microsoft's vision, it says, is learning, any time, any place and on any device.
The software company has been working on a number of initiatives throughout the world in the education space.
In Ireland there have been a number of projects and agreements, including low cost software for students in conjunction with the National Centre for Technology Education (NCTE). An agreement with the organisation Chest Ireland incorporates all Irish universities and institutes of technology, with a range of benefits including access to the most up to date software on offer, on-site consultancy and ICT training for both faculty teaching and IT. It will also include a wide range of services for students. Another venture sees collaboration with Trinity College in launching a new video game masters degree. And the jewel in Microsoft's technology and education crown is the ongoing School of the Future initiative with Dunshauglin Community College.
Kevin Marshall, academic programme manager at Microsoft says if Ireland is to avail of the move towards digital learning, teachers need to be at the core of it and have to be provided with basic ICT skills and programmes to bring them to the next level.
"I have a strong belief that the system that got us here in the last 100 years is not sufficient for the next 100 years and we as a country, across all levels in education, need to be thinking about what policies we put in place to make sure our kids have the best skills," he says.
Steven Duggan, education business manager at Microsoft Ireland, was a teacher before he joined the company and has a unique perspective on the future of education and technology. He says there's a massive appetite from the teachers for tools and resources to integrate digital learning into what they do on a daily basis. "There's recognition by teachers that we have to move with the times and embrace new e-learning styles. Children are self-directed learners - if a 10-year-old asks a question, they won't wait long for you to give them an answer, they go and research it themselves.
"They work in collaborative communities . . . and technology is a key enabler of that. The majority of our school children are using PCs at home and they expect to see them in school."
The School of the Future project is one of the most interesting endeavors Microsoft is championing. Twelve countries, including Ireland, were selected worldwide. Schools go through a two-year project with Microsoft looking at the notion of what educational change and renewal could mean for that school in its particular circumstances.
"I am working with the project team in Dunshaughlin we have a series of projects kicking off soon," says Marshall. "Over the next two years, there'll be a series of workshops and visits to Seattle. There's a very strong research focus, so by the end of this programme we'll have a series of papers published on what we've seen throughout the programme that will be discussed at a summit by educators throughout the world," he says.
Jerome Morrissey, director of the NCTE and one of the bodies that Microsoft has an agreement with, warmly backed the software vendor and welcomed its presence and efforts in the education sector. "I think the methodology for teaching will have to include ICT otherwise we may lose the kids.
"We have to incorporate these methods, otherwise we won't be able to offer a credible learning experience to our children. It's also necessary for the economic wellbeing of the country to make sure our children have good ICT skills," says Morrissey.
Microsoft Authorised Refurbisher (MAR) programme:
Microsoft Ireland has recently launched a project aimed at increasing the number of low-cost computers available to charities and schools. The initiative also helps to sustain a cleaner environment by keeping working computers out of dumps.
The main purpose of the Microsoft Authorised Refurbisher (MAR) programme is to augment the number of low-cost computers available to eligible charitable organisations and academic users. By extending the PCs working life, the environment also benefits.
The MAR programme provides companies with a means of disposing unused or end-of-life computer equipment which can then be serviced, re-conditioned and installed with new software. These computers can then be donated to a charity or school who might not otherwise be able to afford technology.
At the moment there are four companies in Ireland actively refurbishing computers as part of the project and over 1,000 computers have been routed to charities and schools to date.
Microsoft is also recruiting new refurbishing companies to join the programme.
Steven Duggan, education business manager at Microsoft says many organisations go through a three-year cycle with IT equipment. The PCs, however are usually still in good working order. "The idea was to provide a vehicle and a way they could be furbished and we would then provide low cost software that would be preinstalled on the machines keeping the cost to charities and schools very low. And of course the environmental aspect comes into play as well."
The programme has also received the commendation of WEEE Ireland, the national compliance scheme for electronic recycling.
Microsoft has been spearheading the integration of technology into the education sector worldwide for many years now. Here are some of the initiatives, in Ireland, it has been engaged with in 2007:
JANUARY
Bill Gates announces that Dunshaughlin Community College, Co Meath, is one of 12 schools worldwide to be selected for development by Microsoft as a School of the Future through new uses of technology.
The National Centre for Technology Education (NCTE), Union of Students of Ireland (USI) and the Combined Higher Education Software Trust (CHEST) sign an agreement with Microsoft to offer specially priced software to every primary, second and third-level student in the country. Under the Software4Students programme, each time a student purchases Microsoft software, at significantly discounted prices, the school or third-level institution attended by the student receives a rebate.
APRIL
A primary school teacher at SN Muire na nGael, Dundalk, Co Louth wins an Innovative Teacher Award at the Microsoft EMEA Innovative Teachers Forum 2007 in Paris, and will represent Ireland at the Worldwide Innovative Teachers Forum, in Helsinki in November.
MAY
Chest Ireland and Microsoft sign a national Education Alliance Agreement to build a partnership to deliver 21st Century Digital Learning across Irish third-level education.
JULY
Trinity College Dublin partners with industry to launch a new gaming masters degree. Microsoft supports the course with the XNA Gamelab giving students access to the latest Xbox 360 and XNA game development technology.
AUGUST
At the global final of the Microsoft Imagine Cup in South Korea, students from Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) secured second place in the web development competition, beating 500 students from 155 universities. The NUI Maynooth team secures a position in the top 6 of the software development competition and is awarded a place on the in-depth business and technology training Innovation Accelerator Programme.
The Microsoft Authorised Refurbisher (MAR) programme launches at the Rehab Recycle facility in Tallaght, providing companies with way of disposing unused or end-of-life computer equipment which can be serviced, re-conditioned and installed with new software. These computers can then be donated to a charity or school.
