Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The development of digital skills and literacy must start from a young age. The Department of Education’s response to the provision of digital skills and literacy within early childhood and care and school settings includes:

• Curriculum at all levels
• Digital Strategy for Schools to 2027
• STEM Education Policy Statement 2017-2026
• Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy 2024-2033.

Existing curriculum from early childhood to senior cycle offers multiple opportunities for the development of digital skills and digital literacy. Reform of the curriculum at all levels is already underway which will ensure that our young people are equipped with the necessary digital skills and literacy required to participate fully in society.

Primary

The was undertaken by the NCCA from 2017-2019. It included:

• Initial desktop audit of 22 jurisdictions with a focus on identifying the presence of coding in the curriculum
• Follow-on in-depth curriculum investigation which explored how six international jurisdictions integrated coding and computational thinking into their curricula
• Review of literature on computational thinking and its importance for children’s learning as well as its place in a primary curriculum.

The initiative found that:

• An ever-increasing number of primary schools are moving beyond the current curriculum and are already teaching about coding and computational thinking in their classrooms.
• A playful, child-centred, project-based approach to the teaching of coding and computational thinking was very effective.
• The identification of three aspects of digital competence—creating with technology, understanding technology, and using technology— as fundamental to the inclusion of coding and computational thinking in a curriculum.

Some of the steps set out for integration of coding and computational thinking include:

• Continuing with interagency collaboration, for example, with PDST, Education Centres, DES Digital Cluster Initiative and Webwise, to ensure a joined-up approach in the work with schools on digital technologies and to inform the ongoing redevelopment of the primary curriculum.
• Adopting and supporting a playful, child-centred, project-based approach to teaching coding and computational thinking.
• Creating an explicit space in the curriculum, for example, in ‘science and technology’ to enable teaching and learning of the fundamental skills and concepts of coding and computational thinking, alongside integration across the curriculum.

The findings from the report were taken into consideration in the redevelopment of the primary curriculum.

• The Primary Language Curriculum highlights the important of Digital Literacy which supports the child’s ability to locate, select and critically analyse relevant information in text, visual and audio. It also includes the capacity to engage with digital technology in creative and imaginative ways.
• , published in March 2023 outlines ‘being a digital learner’ as one of seven key competencies. This seeks to support children to become curious, creative, confident, and critical users of digital technology while fostering responsible, safe and ethical use of technology. The framework also proposes that digital technology would become part of the curriculum area of Science, Technology and Mathematics with its own subject specification for third to sixth class.
• The Primary Mathematics Curriculum, 2023 provides for children to investigate, develop, select, apply, interpret, model and compare a variety of problem-solving situations and strategies as they explore Mathematics and deepen their mathematical understanding. They apply their mathematical knowledge and skills in flexible, efficient and creative ways to solve problems; conduct investigations; and develop and share their computational thinking.
• The Science, Technology and Engineering (STE) Education Curriculum specification to be published in September 2025 places an emphasis on developing children’s awareness and appreciation of the nature of STEM, while engaging in scientific inquiry, computational thinking and the design thinking process. Computational thinking encourages children to use logic and reasoning to break down problems into manageable parts, to apply prior knowledge to new contexts and to focus on important information relevant to the process of problem-solving.

Post-Primary

The Framework for Junior Cycle – which underpins all learning in the first three years of post-primary – has an explicit focus on development of digital skills. At Junior Cycle the student is expected to use technology and digital media tools – to learn, to communicate, and to do so in a responsible and ethical way.

Specific short course in Digital Media Literacy – students learn to use digital technology, discriminate between multiple sources of information and to participate safely and effectively in an online environment.

In Junior Cycle English, the course highlights the use of non-literary texts such as media texts (advertisements, media broadcasts) and opinion pieces (articles, speeches, social media posts) to interpret meaning, compare, evaluate effectiveness of, and respond to media and digital media

Many Classroom-based assessments at Junior Cycle require students to conduct research and reflect on their findings and of course digital literacy is in play there

Leaving Certificate Computer Science is the study of computing and algorithmic processes. It includes how programming and computational thinking can be applied to the solution of problems, and how computing technology impacts the world around us. Resources and information on professional learning are available on and .

At Senior Cycle similarly there are opportunities to learn with and about digital media literacy in subjects like history, English, politics and society – and similarly we will soon have an updated SPHE specification too which also has some learning outcomes that deal with digital literacy and online safety.

Online Safety

Online safety and the safe and ethical use of digital technologies is a key component of the Department’s Digital Strategy for Schools. The strategy recognises that the education system must equip children and young people with the appropriate digital skills necessary in a digital world.

Webwise is part of the Irish Internet Safety Awareness Centre who support teachers, students and parents on online safety. They provide a wide range of training material and resources. The Irish Safer Internet Centre partners are Webwise, Hotline.ie, ISPCC Childline and National Parents Council.

Webwise promotes the autonomous, effective and safe use of the internet by young people through a sustained information and awareness strategy targeting school leaders, teachers, parents and children themselves, with consistent and relevant messages. It develops and disseminates resources that help teachers integrate digital citizenship and online safety into teaching and learning in their schools. Webwise is funded by the Department of Education and the EU Internet Safety Initiative.

The resource includes a dedicated School/Teachers Hub, a Parents Hub and a Youth Hub. These give practical information and advice on the safe, ethical and responsible use of the internet and address key issues such as cyberbullying, sexting, image sharing, respectful communication, social media, popular apps and more. Throughout the implementation of the Digital Strategy, Webwise will continue to develop and disseminate relevant resources and run campaigns addressing key topical issues as they arise.

All schools are expected to have an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) in place that sets out rights, privileges, responsibilities and sanctions associated with the use of the internet for school purposes including the use of smart phones and personal devices. The policy is drawn up by school leaders, teachers and management and generally in consultation with parents.

The Department published guidelines in 2023 for parents called Keeping Childhood Smartphone Free. The aim is to support parents of primary school children who wish to agree collectively on a voluntary agreement on the use of smartphones for their primary school age child.

Following on from these guidelines and the need to support teachers in upskilling in digital citizenship, a “Digital Citizenship Champions” programme was developed. It is designed to equip primary teachers with essential knowledge, skills and resources to effectively teach and champion digital citizenship in schools and through their local Education Centre. 75 primary teachers who opted to participate in the programme are being trained to deliver a range of practical interactive workshops. In addition, an “Agree to Agree” pilot online safety initiative is currently underway across three education centres and involves 21 primary schools. It will facilitate each school in collaborating, designing and implementing an Internet and Technology Use Agreement particular to their individual circumstance. It will also raise awareness of the ‘Keeping Childhood Smartphone Free’ guidelines and all the education resources available through Webwise.

In 2024, all schools, both primary and post-primary, were instructed to implement a ban on the use of mobile phones during the school day. This policy approach is based on the growing concerns expressed about the impact of the use of mobile phones during the school day and builds on the “Keeping Childhood Smartphone Free” initiative for primary school children.

In addition to the above, Oide, the Department funded support service for teachers and school leaders, provides a variety of professional learning to teachers that places the learner at the centre of the learning experience. It provides school-based supports, workshops, specific resources and training online and in person. Oide has dedicated Wellbeing teams at Primary and Post-Primary. These teams support teachers and schools, through the Social Personal and Health Education curriculum, to develop and promote the personal development, health and wellbeing of the student, to create a positive school environment and culture, and, to prevent and tackle bullying, including online bullying and harassment.