Cross-border schools' enterprise project using new technologies for learning
The IBEC-CBI Joint Business Council has been working with Dissolving Boundaries on a cross border schools’ project that focuses on new learning technologies to promote enterprise skills among primary and second level students. The first year of the two-year pilot project commenced in October 2009 and 10 partnerships involving 20 schools, North and South are participating in the enterprise initiative.
The overall aim of the JBC-Dissolving Boundaries enterprise initiative is to develop pupils’ enterprise skills. In particular it will promote the use of classroom based ICT working in collaboration with another school. This will lead to the development of interpersonal, intercultural and communicative capabilities among pupils as well as their sense of the importance of personal initiative, research and presentation skills. It will also contribute to the professional development of teachers and provide a forum for the exchange of ideas between schools on both sides of the border. A key objective of the initiative is to embed project activities within curriculum and to ensure that collaboration between teachers and students becomes central to the overall learning experience.
In support of the enterprise project, JBC provided a Mac laptop and digital camera to each participating school, as well as teacher training funded under the European Union’s Regional Development Fund through the INTERREG IVA Cross-border Programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body.
150 schools in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland took part in a unique digital link up to celebrate the successful completion of their work in the Dissolving Boundaries programme on 26 May 2011.
For the first time ever, pupils in primary, special and secondary schools joined together to celebrate 'Crossing the Frontier', by linking up for video-conferences with their partner school across the border, sharing work in their 'virtual classroom' and inviting parents and others in the community for a school assembly to mark the occasion.
The teachers and pupils have been working together in cross-border pairs throughout the school year using digital technology so that young people can study different aspects of the curriculum and get to know each other.
Pictured at the Dissolving Boundaries Day were Alma Grace, Dissolving Boundaries,
students Sona Shiji and Robert Smith, Mother of Divine Grace, Ballygall, Co. Dublin, teacher Alice Ring and Paula O'Dwyer and Reg McCabe, Joint Business Council.
An evaluation report on the first year of the pilot project was completed. The report forms part of a rigorous evaluation of teachers’ and pupils’ perception of the quality of learning and collaborative experience. This was the mid-way point in the pilot project and this report should be seen as a formative evaluation designed to highlight good practice for immediate dissemination to the twenty schools as they embark on the second year of their engagement.
A 10-minute DVD incorporating footage from the event and feedback from the first year of the pilot project has also been compiled.
A copy of the evaluation report on the first year of the pilot scheme is available for download here:
Evaluation report on first year of pilot project
- JBC Education for Enterprise Forum 20 Oct 2011
- JBC study of obstacles to cross-border undergraduate education May 2011
- Cross border schools' enterprise project
- North-South masters bursary scheme
- Measuring mobility in a changing island report 2010
- JBC policy paper on skills and education
