Carlow Institute of Technology has opened a new £16 million information technology and multimedia centre for its 4,300 full- and part-time students.

The centre is part of the college's growing specialisation in IT. Director John Gallagher says the new centre has been equipped with the fastest network architecture currently available.

"This modern facility ensures that there will no longer be disadvantages to studying outside the major cities in the world," he says.

The centre contains a radio and television studio and multimedia development laboratory. Events can be recorded and edited off-line or transmitted live over the college's network to local or international audiences.

Gallagher says the centre will provide a "super highway" linking 800 PCs to the Internet and a local network. A catering facility will also be provided within the building, he says.

Gallagher says that, in line with other ITs, Carlow is trying to attract students from the workplace. "We have heard the demographic projections and we are looking at recruiting new types of learners," he says. They will, it is hoped, make up for the loss of school-leavers in the future.

The college had only 174 students when it opened in the early 1970s but has seen dramatic growth in recent years on the back of the electronics revolution in Ireland. Its catchment area has also changed, with more students now from Dublin than Carlow and surrounding areas, Gallagher says. One of the innovations the college is considering is self-tuition, whereby students can download the module they want to study from a PC.

Gallagher says this work is experimental, but was progressing fast. "As the centre is developed, particular emphasis will be placed on self-directed learning materials that will support the development of learners at their own pace," he says. Distance learning would also be possible under this model.