Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in schools
The effective use of ICT plays a central role in all the key education policies being taken forward by the Department of Education (DE), including the revised curriculum and the revised literacy and numeracy strategy. Ensuring that young people acquire the skills to use ICT effectively, confidently and safely is a key priority for DE.
The C2k service provides every grant-aided school across Northern Ireland with a modern, connected ICT infrastructure.
C2k provides schools with a managed ICT service which includes:
- networked computers;
- administration and management systems for school staff;
- a high speed managed learning environment called LearningNI; and
- full service support via the C2k help desk.
Since 2000, DE has invested £387 million in providing the ICT infrastructure in our schools through the Classroom 2000 Project making Northern Ireland a recognised leader in the use of ICT in education.
Further information on the C2k Project is available on our C2k webpage or by accessing the C2k website.
A new online data warehouse will become operational from September 2009. The warehouse will store data collected from schools, education and library boards and other education bodies and issue reports which will assist schools with self-evaluation and school improvement. More detailed information is available in the eSchools Data Warehouse section.
The emPowering Schools Strategy of 2003 set out a broad vision for enhancing teaching, learning and leadership in schools through the use of educational technology. The strategy links to the eight elements of the Becta ICT Self-Review Framework which is designed to enable schools to take a whole-school approach to the use of ICT and benchmark their performance against established best practice.
Information about the benefits of the Self-Review Framework and how a school may access it is available on the Becta website.
Circular 2007/24 - Use of Information and Communications Technology in Schools PDF 208 KB issued to all schools in November 2007. The circular sets out the necessary actions to further the development of ICT as a teaching and learning tool.
DE, along with our education partners, is reviewing emPowering Schools to assess the progress that has been made since 2003 and consider how we can successfully develop the use of ICT to improve learning, teaching and school management.
Further information on the progress of the ICT Review will be published on this website in the near future.
DE has worked closely with key organisations involved in child protection to provide guidance for schools on the safe use of the Internet and other digital technologies.
The guidance is available online and links are provided to a range of information and resources for schools to use when drawing up their policies on the acceptable use of the Internet.
Wireless connectivity will be used increasingly in schools in Northern Ireland in order to maximise the use of the new ICT equipment which is being provided. More information can be accessed in our WiFi section.
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