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National Centre for Technology in Education
The National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE) is an Government agency in Ireland established to provide advice, support and information on the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in education. It is hosted by Dublin City University at its campus in Glasnevin.
Its web site is at http://www.ncte.ie
Further information
The National Centre was established under the auspices of the Department of Education and Science in 1998. As the Government's agency on the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in education it plays a central role in helping to maximise the benefits for learners and teachers in using ICT.
At the time of its formation, the NCTE was charged with managing the implementation of Schools IT 2000. This role has now evolved with the core work areas of the NCTE today being:
- Providing relevant and up to date ICT advice and support to schools on a range of technology related areas to assist in achieving a high quality ICT infrastructure to support learning and teaching
- Coordinating the Schools Broadband Programme for all primary and post-primary schools, and managing the Broadband Service Desk as a single point of contact for schools to support the delivery of online content and learning resources
- Designing and implementing a comprehensive programme of continuing professional development in ICT for teachers
- Developing and maintaining the educational website portal - Scoilnet, which provides access to thousands of teacher reviewed resources
- Development of digital content resources and provision access to digital content tools that are relevant to the Irish curriculum
- Developing and evaluating educational software
- Piloting models of technology integration and support through the Schools Integration Project (SIP)
- Developing resources and providing support in relation to ICT and special needs education
- Providing advice and developing policy proposals for the Department of Education and Science (DES) on issues related to the development and use of ICT in the Irish education system
- Providing information and advice to other educational agencies on ICT in education
- Undertaking research on the best uses of ICT in education
- Maintaining Irish involvement in EU and international projects related to ICT and education
- Developing and maintaining the NCTE website.