Time to transform school into a place where kids go to learn, not to power down

It was the flamboyant New York publisher Malcolm Forbes who once said that education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.

It is clear to anyone who appreciates the impact of today’s digital revolution that the days of kids learning by rote are over. The textbook as we know it has a limited future. Today’s kids are digital natives who converse on mobile phones, social networks and video games and go to school to power down. The responsibility of educators is keeping their young minds engaged, challenged … and open.

Great expectations
The kids who will be tomorrow’s workforce are expected to be digitally literate, adept at sciences and maths, equipped with critical-thinking skills and with the ability to cut their way through oceans of data. Failing to equip our young with these abilities is effectively failing the economy of tomorrow.

While this country flourished in the good times, barely a dime went into putting 21st-century IT resources into Irish schools. A €254m investment unveiled two years ago never materialised.

The €150m announced by the Taoiseach in recent weeks to put a laptop into the hands of every teacher as well as a digital projector in every classroom is the very foundation that is required and a brave decision in these difficult times. But it must also be remembered that this is just the start.

The content and technology must get into the hands of students in the classroom to unlock young minds, better equip teachers facing crowded classrooms and ensure that struggling students aren’t left behind.

Irish development
It is ironic therefore that while Irish classrooms lack digital tools, the very technologies that are changing the educational experience among millions of students in leading economies such as the US are being developed here in Ireland.

The above is an extract from an article in Silicon Republic See full article here

Computers for Irish Schools, takes computers which are not quite ready for the recycling bin and donates them to local schools

To get involved go to www.cfis.ie