Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four home nations of the United Kingdom:

1. England
2. Wales
3. Scotland
4. Northern Ireland

For general information see United Kingdom.

However, Higher Education is devolved by the UK government to the four home nations so that many details are specific to the home nation involved.

Northern Ireland details

The population of Northern Ireland is around 1.75 million.

For more details see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ireland

Higher Education

Higher Education in Northern Ireland is overseen by DELNI, the Department for Employment and Learning. Its role is to formulate policy and administer funding to support education, research and related activities in the Northern Ireland higher education sector.

Higher Education in Northern Ireland is delivered through the following means:

• Universities:
  1. The Queen’s University of Belfast
  2. University of Ulster
  3. The Open University in Ireland
• University colleges:
  1. St. Mary’s University College
  2. Stranmillis University College
• Institutes of Further and Higher Education (16 in number)

There is just one HEI involved in the Higher Education Academy Benchmarking programme:

• Queen’s University, Belfast - with blog

Further Education

The JISC Regional Support Centre in Northern Ireland - RSCni - has carried out a number of ILT Health Check activities with colleges, using the same approach as Becta.

This Health Check is available, free of charge, to all Northern Ireland’s Further and Higher Education colleges. RSCni claims that it:

"is designed to allow RSCni and colleges working together, to identify how far they have developed with the implementation and use of ILT within Teaching and Learning.

The outcomes of this health check, whether it is a few tweaks to your ILT strategy or a radical ILT fitness plan, will help your college stay in ILT shape."

Conclusions

Other information confirms that the only Virtual Campus initiative in Northern Ireland is:

• University of Ulster (Campus One)

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