In September 1998 the Department of Education and Science, through the NCTE, invited schools to apply for inclusion in the Schools Integration Project (SIP). Applicants were encouraged to propose project ideas that would exploit Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in developing innovative practices in teaching and learning. The response reflected the rich tapestry of the ICT activities already taking place in schools and the desire of teachers and school managers to extend and enhance these, and to explore new methodologies and learning opportunities.

In early December 2000, a symposium was convened at Portmarnock, Co Dublin, at which twenty of the early-initiator SIPs were invited to present papers on their work in progress and in prospect. What they had to say makes interesting reading and represents an honest and open account of the realities of working with 21st century ideas in oftentimes less than ideal conditions.

But, more importantly, it also illustrates what is possible when teachers apply imagination and professional know-how to the challenges of integrating ICT into the teaching and learning day. The symposium also provided time and opportunity for teachers and others involved in the education ICT agenda to meet and debate the future of new learning and teaching technology in our schools and our country. Notes from some of the roundtables which took place over the symposium are also included in this publication, as are the keynote papers which opened and closed the event.

The message from Portmarnock is primarily a promising one — integrating ICT into education works, but it takes time, resources and enthusiasm. For those with an interest in using ICT to enhance teaching and learning within our schools and more broadly within our society, these are exciting times. The scale of SIP activity marks it out as one of the largest, nationally co-ordinated, school-level ICT initiatives to date in Europe. Therefore, the challenge of evaluating and disseminating SIP results and outcomes — of 'mainstreaming' the best of emergent practice and pedagogy — is a formidable one. What is needed now is imaginative policy to build on achievement to date. This publication is intended to contribute in a constructive and honest way to the discussion surrounding that policy.

Conor Galvin
University College Dublin
December 2002