The Intel® IT Innovation Centre (ITIC) in Leixlip launched its Digital Classroom pilot at Gaelscoil Uí Fhiaich, Maynooth, Co. Kildare today. The Minister for Education and Science, Mary Hanafin T.D. who visited the school today witnessed the learning experience of the Digital Classroom in action. She learned more about the pilot from the pupils themselves as well as the benefits seen by the teaching staff. The Digital Classroom pilot is one element of the Digital Nation IT Innovation Initiative which is being conducted by the ITIC to explore futures for the Knowledge Society.

The Digital Classroom pilot is being undertaken to understand and demonstrate how Information Technology can be used to support and enhance the learning experience of primary school children. The ITIC has provided wireless enabled laptops, a wireless local area network and technical support to enable a 1-to-1 computing environment for a classroom of students. Each teacher in the school has been equipped with a wireless laptop to use as a teaching aid; these systems are also being used by the teachers to enable inter-classroom communication to improve collaboration.

Neil Tarrant who has been teaching at the school since 1999 is coordinating the pilot and in 2005 he used the laptops to supplement class work. The students spent 20 per cent of class time using the laptops as learning tools. The results show that children scored highly overall in standardised national tests in English and Mathematics in comparison with their peers during the course of the year. Neil commented; “This project has shown that technology in the classroom can enhance an effective learning environment for young children and I find it very reassuring to see the benefits of the project delivered through improvements in the students’ scores.”

Speaking at the launch Martin Curley, director of IT Innovation and Research at Intel said; “Intel is delighted to be working with Gaelscoil Uí Fhiaich because they have a positive and very progressive attitude to education and technology, the results to date highlight the benefits of early digital literacy.”

Máirín Ní Chéileachair, principal of the Gaelscoil said, “The Digital Classroom approach we are piloting with Intel is delivering promising results. The manner in which the children have taken to the laptops shows that this is not just the way of the future, but actually the way of the present.”

Intel, the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.