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Ireland’s Technological Development 1

Ireland’s Technological Development

Group 5

Kevin Kaiser 88480975

Suzanne Tompkins 21984067

University of British Columbia

ETEC 511 64B

Marianne Justus, Ph.D.

October 15, 2006




Ireland’s Technological Development

The Celtic Tiger roars, but does it roar for all socio-economic areas of Ireland?

Like all countries, Ireland must juggle the past, present, and future to meet the needs of

its students who will drive the future economy of the country. The unique aspect of

Ireland’s school system is the changing face of the economy and the socio-economic

divide within its region. The small country of Ireland is experiencing growing pains in

terms of the social impact of educational technology and the strategies used to implement

technology into the school system.

Educational DivideThe economic boom in Ireland is known as the Celtic Tiger. It is this very

economic boom that has brought many of Ireland’s sons and daughters back home from

abroad. These people have not only brought money, but they brought many new skills

and youth back into the country. This has put a strain on the education system to live up

to already high expectations and understandings of what is needed from the schools. This

also gave the entire island of Ireland an opportunity to share ideas through technology.

“The Dissolving Boundaries Programme uses Information and Communications

Technology (ICT) to facilitate cross-cultural educational linkages between schools in the

North and South of Ireland and jointly funded by the two governments.” (DB, 2006. Para.

1) What was once a very separate island; Northern and Southern Ireland are attempting to

come together through the use of technology.

Still, the divide among the rich and the poor within Ireland continues to trouble

the education system. In a country that has seen tremendous growth in wealth and

stability, there remains the educationally disadvantaged. “310 primary schools are




included in the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme serving 64,700 pupils in disadvantaged

areas with 293 additional ex-quota teaching posts in 250 of these schools.” (DES, 2006)

The disadvantaged schools are a major concern in the school system. The Educational

Disadvantage Committee (EDC) states, “In the In-service: provide continuing

professional development for teachers, and leadership and management development for

principals, linked to the strategic goals of educational inclusion and equality (for example

active learning methods, using ICT, classroom interaction, group work)” (EDC, 2006)

Within the EDC’s strategy to help these schools, it states that their 35 page plan must be

carried out using “… existing resources and expertise to best effect, and adequateadditional resources need to be made available to implement the strategy. Implementation

is most effective when resources are employed flexibly, concentrated in priority areas,

and not spread too thinly.” (EDC, 2006. p. 35) The need for a technological

implementation is obvious to the planners, but they have limited resources to rectify the

plan.

Ireland has steadily made its already demanding K-16 education system more

rigorous, creating links between industry and education and formalizing and supporting

work-place education. The disadvantaged schools will have trouble not only graduating

their students, but they will also have trouble putting their students to work in the

lucrative IT sector of Ireland’s economy. “Designated schools also fared better in terms of

pupils’ access to computers, with an average of 37 pupils to each computer compared

with 75 pupils to each computer in non-designated schools.” (Weir, 2004. p.19) The IT

sector is the heart of Ireland’s economic growth, and if the growth is to be sustainable, the

schools must address this problem with a feasible plan.






programs provides solid evidence against the social practice counter-argument that their

outlook is merely another example of rampant techno-utopic thinking. The three-year

policy, Schools IT2000 originally implemented in 1997 with a 50 million dollar budget

outlined a plan to target ICT infrastructure, teacher professional development and

integration of ICT into the curriculum. A second policy targeted broadband access, and

the third is directed toward advancing online learning through improved school

networking. To monitor the progress of these programs a 2004 ICT School Census was

effected which notes that "75% of all Irish teachers have availed of ICT courses."(Carr-

Chellman, 2005, p.74) Both policies were considered a success with regard to improving pupil-computer rations. “37:1 in 1998, 18:1 in 2000, 11.8:1 in 2002.” (Carr-Chellman,

2005, p. 74) These statistical results form part of the governments current functionalist

approach to education, emphasizing cost/benefit analysis over a humanist respect for

different perspectives, or the more radical humanist voices concerned with cognitive

limits to social fulfillment. David Noble's perspective that "the technology education

trend is deeply embedded in the interests of trans-national capital which constructs

education as a commodity to be sold on the free market" is thinly disguised, if at all in the

government’s agenda.

Despite the governments promising census results social practice discourse can

find strength in the counter argument by noting that access in primary schools is still only

39%, post-primary 66%, special schools 33% and that internet service "typically provided

through a standard telephone, thus limiting users to having one computer online at a

time." (Carr-Chellman, 2005, p. 75)

Prohibitive costs of leased lines "means that satellite is often the only realistic






References

Carr-Chellman, A. (Ed.) (2005). Global Perspectives on E-Learning: Rhetoric and

Reality . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Department of Education and Science (2006). The Disadvantaged Area Scheme.

Retrieved October 09, 06 from

http://www.education.ie/home/home.jsp?pcategory=17216&ecategory=34279&la

nguage=EN

Dissolving Boundaries (2006). The Dissolving Boundaries Program . Retrieved October

09, 2006 from http://www.dissolvingboundaries.org/

The Educational Disadvantage Committee (2005) Moving Beyond Educational

Disadvantage, Retrieved October 10, 2006 from

http://www.education.ie/servlet/blobservlet/edc_moving_beyond_educational_dis

advantage.pdf?language=EN , October 11, 2006

Weir, S., Archer P. (2004). Report to the Educational Disadvantage Committee ,

Educational Research Centre, Dublin. Retrieved Oct 9, 2006, from

http://www.education.ie/home/home.jsp?pcategory=17216&ecategory=34354&la

nguage=EN

http://www.education.ie/home/home.jsp?pcategory=17216&ecategory=34279&language=EN


http://www.dissolvingboundaries.org/


http://www.education.ie/servlet/blobservlet/edc_moving_beyond_educational_disadvantage.pdf?language=EN





