NCTE e-Learning Planning

The NCTE (National Centre for Technology in Education) website contains a number of useful resources to assist schools in developing their e-Learning Plan, from the NCTE’s e-Learning Handbook and Roadmap to case studies and video exemplars highlighting how teachers are integrating ICT in their classrooms. For the development of the school’s e-Learning Plan, there are also templates available which are designed to be adapted and customised along the particular needs and priority areas of a school.

The NCTE’s e-Learning Handbook outlines the process of planning for e-Learning in a school and has been developed in consultation with the school development planning initiatives at primary and post primary level. It provides a step by step guide to the development of the school’s e-Learning Plan and outlines the key roles and responsibilities of all involved in the development of the plan.

The e-Learning Roadmap is a planning tool designed to help a school identify where it currently is in relation to e-Learning, and the priority areas for e-Learning Development. The Roadmap provides a number of statements under the following headings:

• Leadership & Planning
• ICT & the Curriculum
• Professional Development
• e-Learning Culture
• ICT Infrastructure

The statements can be categorised as ‘Initial’, ‘e-Enabled’, ‘e-Confident’ or ‘e-Mature’.

The website is at: http://www.ncte.ie/elearningplan/

Status

The Department of Education and Science in Ireland has adopted a detailed information and communications technology strategy for 2008 – 2013 which prioritises a number of key areas for investment which is furthering the integration of ICT in learning and teaching. Each school is required to prepare and implement an e-Learning Plan as part of its Whole School Plan. It is in this context that the handbook and other resources have been produced – to assist schools to develop concrete action plans and strategies to integrate ICT into learning and teraching across the curriculum.