Selection process and school activities
Dissolving Boundaries first developed from a successful pilot project
entitled “This Island We Live On” in 1998/99. The two governments
fund the programme and in the initial phase additional resources were
provided by Dell computers and eircom. Schools at primary, post-primary
levels and in the Special schools’ sector in the two jurisdictions
participate in Dissolving Boundaries. The schools are selected on the
recommendation of the ICT CASS personnel in the Education and Library
Boards in Northern Ireland and the ICT Advisors from the Education Centres
in the Republic. When a school has been identified the principal is invited
to a ‘briefing meeting’ outlining what participation in
Dissolving Boundaries would mean for their school. The principal then
makes an informed decision on whether their school will participate.
Teachers attend a planning conference at the start of the school year
when they form their partnerships and plan for the year ahead. Partnerships
work by collaborating on a project centred on an aspect of the curriculum
agreed upon by the teachers. Pupils use a range of information and communications
technologies including video-conferencing, online discussion and collaboration
through applications such as Moodle, MS Word or PowerPoint. They begin
by exchanging personal profiles to build the groups’ interpersonal
relationships and to develop their familiarity with the technology. The
Programme also funds a face-to-face meeting between the participating
pupils.
Working together pupils create such outcomes as collections of illustrated
stories and poems; research findings on historical periods; citizenship
and human rights issues etc. Projects range across the curriculum and
have included almost as many topics as schools involved. One school for
example wrote, rehearsed and produced a play using video-conferencing!
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