I object to Framework companies advertising in schools
I received an email from a company offering me a complete package to fulfil the NCTE’s procurement framework. The company are called IT Systems and they are a HP partner. This means that because HP were one of the chosen few companies that we are allowed to buy from under this restrictive scheme, we can […]
Projector Procurement now on
The NCTE have released the procurement procedures on short throw projectors. This spells an end to companies who were offering alternatives to the chosen six projectors on the list. The companies selected are: DCB, Dell, Image Supply Systems, Imex Instruments, Meritec and Promethean. The projectors are: 3M SCP716, EPSON EB-410We, NEC NP610S EDU, Sanyo WXE46, […]
NCTE’s “Hidden” Services
There’s a really interesting conversation going on on the CESI mailing list right now. It started off with the incredible news that the Irish government is spending almost half a million euro in licencing fees for products available to all Irish schools through the Broadband scheme. These products are two encyclopaedia – the World Book […]
Loophole in NCTE Procurement?
The CESI mailing list is a great source of information. All this snow is keeping us inside so I’m getting loads of information. Today a contributor informed us of a potential way of supporting local business by working around the purchasing framework. I’ll paste a response he got from the ICT Policy Unit in the […]
Sleeping with the Multinationals
I was fairly shocked when I was made aware of this press release from the Department of Education. Twenty graduates of technology or teacher training college courses are to get work placement positions in Microsoft Ireland to help develop digital material for the school curriculum as part of a deal signed by the Minister for […]
Feedback from NCTE Training of Primary Principals
Today I attended a seminar for primary school principals, which was given by the National Council for Technology in Education, (NCTE), in Kilkenny. I was very interested in this seminar as I believed that I would be hearing all about the €150m grant that was recently announced. Although this was indeed the case, the NCTE […]
Schools are going to ignore NCTE advice
Following the announcement by the Department of Education that all schools will share a grant of €1,700 + €34 per pupil, I’ve been asking primary school teachers and principals how they are going to spend their money. Well, to be honest, several primary school principals are asking me about how to spend their grant. These […]
Waiting for broadband
I just realised that today (or maybe it’s tomorrow) is the day that one year ago I rang the NCTE to request that they would supply my new school with their Broadband service. I asked how long the process would take and was assured it would take no longer than 2-3 months due to tendering […]
Why are we still being filtered in school?
Because of the annoying blocking of YouTube by the powers that be in HeaNet, Seaghan Moriarty from Digilogue and Scoil.net has created Teachers’ TV – an Irish version. Though the site is not completely finished, it is now live and accepting videos. The idea was hatched because a number of teachers really wanted to use […]
New NCTE course coming up…
The NCTE are finally embracing Web 2.0 and will be giving a course on blogs, wikis and other Web 2.0 applications. They’re currently looking for tutors, which means there will probably be holding courses by this autumn or next spring. More information can be found at: http://www.ncte.ie/tutorapplications/