Digital Skills Week (part of national All Aboard Week)

Digital Skills Week took place at Mary Immaculate College (MIC) in April 2017 and formed part of a range of initiatives at the College—before and after the event—aiming to build digital skills and capacity for staff, students, primary schools and the general public. Funded by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning and run by the MIC Centre for Teaching & Learning, Digital Skills Week included on-campus and online Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) workshops, showcases, webinars and more.

MIC, a third level institution founded in 1898, offers 40+ programmes in education and the liberal arts. With a long tradition of ‘educating the educators’, MIC offers numerous ways to focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) and ICT literacies, and runs many outreach activities in these areas. From modules in its Bachelor of Education undergraduate degrees to Continuing Professional Development courses for teachers to specific postgraduate qualifications, digital skills are to the forefront.

“A strong emphasis on ICT and digital learning ensures that teachers have the skills, competencies and confidence to provide a unique ‘hands-on, minds-on’ experience that supports and enriches the entire learning process from an early stage in their profession.” noted Dr Maeve Liston, MIC Director of Community Engagement and also, a member of the Limerick Digital Leaders Network.

One such example of this approach is a dedicated LEGO Education Innovation Studio for initial teacher education, a first for Ireland and Europe. Other initiatives that MIC in involved in include a collaboration with Dell and Vex Robotics on a schools programme with teacher upskilling as part of that; free CoderDojo sessions on campus; LEGO summer camps; the EMPOWER Summer Programme; events for and participation in Limerick Festival of Science, Engineers Week, Maths Week, the Munster Festival of Science and Maths, Hour of Code Week, ITLG Young Innovators and more. MIC also hosts the Limerick leg of the RDS Primary Science Fair.

In addition, MIC forms part of the Shannon Consortium with the University of Limerick and Limerick Institute of Technology and cross-collaboration between the three is widespread. One such instance was the Take 1 Step (#T1Step), a regional campaign to raise digital skills across the consortium. Take 1 Step activities included workshops, webinars and resources in the disciplines identified in the All Aboard Digital Skills Framework.

At the launch of #All Aboard 2017 at Mary Immaculate College, Dr. Mihai Bilauca, Head of Digital Strategy, Limerick City & County Council and MIC students Lisa Fitzgerald, Katie Fitzgerald, Catherine Buttimer and Cliona Doyle.

For more information, see: www.mic.ie and www.allaboard2017.ie