Web Content What types of resources? What resources for teaching and learning Irish? What role ScoilNet? How can we ensure quality?

Local or central? Local focus –Local material of most interest. Links between schools and libraries. –Local information, held centrally, available locally (SCRAN) –Cost of digitisation. Lack of existing software is an opportunity….

Bilingual? Need for bilingual materials. –Irish culture is not just the Irish language, bilingual material will make it more accessible. –Not just teaching Irish as a language. Don’t have all the material bi-lingual. –This could defeat the purpose of encouraging the language.

Curriculum/exam focus Primary - secondary difference. –Second level are driven by exams. –Commercial company (Little Hero) getting teachers involved in “Webification” of material. –BBC working on “ Digital Curriculum” –NINE - downloads for teachers in Word of PDF. –Too much focus on exams limiting.

Media rich? Media rich material. –Beyond text and graphics to audio and video Broadband issue –Broadband.... ISDN nowhere near that. –Publish to the bandwidth –Maybe hybrids are the answer, media rich material on CD or DVD. Off-line HTML

Materials for whom? Materials should target teacher, – teachers are the intermediaries. “Children teach children best” –learning from resources produced by other schools. Primary Secondary divide: –Secondary content rich, –Primary more focus on process.

What resources for teaching and learning Irish? Dialect issue. Gaeltacht based? Multi-choice work on-line. Support on-line for teachers who are worried about their own language skills. Co-ordination at 3 rd level

What role for ScoilNet? ScoilNet: –A vehicle for all of this material. –Not appealing enough, too text based. –“webify”: video, audio and interaction. ScoilNet as a portal. –Links section downgraded, hard to find, and this discourages smaller initiatives, and creative work. –“labour of love” updated constantly

How can we ensure quality? Much of web content is trivial. –anyone can make a website. Standards –Metadata. –Role for NCTE in “stamp of approval”. Book publishers impose a structure. Need to mark level, level of language. Link sites are safer, attractive

Next Steps NCTE should link with broadcasters to consider an educational channel. Teachers who produce not rewarded. –Why not reward excellence? Need to fund development of material. –Funding, and therefore standard is very patchy.

Summary Opportunity for materials from local sources –Coming from schools –From national resources Need for central structure for: –Checking standards, –“Mark of approval” –Marking levels.