Ms Rita Sexton:

I will touch on the new strategy and the last strategy. The last strategy commenced in 2008 and lasted until 2013. In the past couple of years a number of things have happened in the ICT in school space. One of the big things was that the National Centre for Technology in Education, NCTE, became the PDST. Policies and changes have happened in the background. All of the policies and best practice will be carried through to the new digital strategy. A few people described ICT as a tool and the IPPN referred to it as a vehicle, a view which is at the heart of the new digital strategy. The strategy is focused on the use of ICT in teaching and learning assessment.

Ms Murtagh touched on the funding side of the strategy. Other significant areas of the strategy are the plans for continual professional development and training for teachers. There will be a lot of that happening and the PDST will play a lead role.

The PDST has a new online platform called TeacherCPD.ie. Such innovation is needed in the system because teachers need access to blended and flexible models of learning. Over the lifetime of the strategy we will build on the number of online courses available. There will be blended learning, a mix of online courses and face to face learning.

The strategy aims to target and support leadership in schools because we know it is necessary in order for ICT to be embedded in schools.