Both The Printworks building and the International Conference Centre were buzzing with activity over the weekend of events as over 1,200 students, parents and teachers gathered to celebrate a year of digital activity. Among the projects and activities taking place were the finals of the EA Robot Games, won for the first time by Villiers School from Limerick. Students on both the School Digital Champion and the Digital Schools of Distinction programmes showcased their projects, which covered topics as diverse as book-free classrooms, digital medi-bands and ‘Go Gaeilge’, a website that uses Irish language versions of pop songs to help with vocab and grammar.
Meanwhile, of the 30,000 young people who had participated in the LearnStorm math challenges during the regional heats, almost 200 came for the final celebrations and elsewhere teachers shared examples of best practice in the implementation of and successes achieved using a variety of different digital tools to transform the teaching experience in the Digital MegaMeet. This last event was also streamed live, increasing the audience by 900 online viewers.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny, a longtime supporter of the work of Excited, acknowledged the commitment and dedication of those involved, saying “Over the last number of years I have seen the good work being done by Excited in developing our young people’s digital skills and empowering them to learn independently. The Excited Digital Learning Festival is a wonderful celebration of the talent and commitment to excellence of our teachers and students. They are working together to develop the skills that will power the next generation. I wish them every success.”
‘EXCITED 2016 – Celebrating Success and Sharing Innovation’, is Ireland’s only Digital Learning Festival. The Festival reflects and celebrates just some of these young people and teachers and their incredible achievements using digital technologies to revolutionise the way learning is being delivered.
