Teachers throughout Northern Ireland have  been praised for their work in learning new approaches to teaching and learning that will enable them to provide ICT focused teaching to school children.

Teachers have been  recognised for achieving excellence in fostering the use of ICT resources at the LearningNI User Awards held at a conference at Storm Cinema in the Odyssey, Belfast recently.  Over 150 schools and education professionals across Northern Ireland achieved  LearningNI Awards.

LearningNI, a secure online learning environment provided by C2k, allows new methods of teaching and learning for both teachers and pupils.  LearningNI includes of a library of digital resources licensed from educational publishers and customised to the revised Northern Ireland Curriculum.  Northern Ireland currently has the world’s largest online learning resource which is managed through C2k and connects over 350,000 users. It also contains a range of safe areas for learners to learn online with one another and their teachers, supplementing the learning which takes place in the classroom.

Jimmy Stewart, Director of C2k said, “The education system is changing to make learning and teaching methods more ICT focused and teachers across Northern Ireland are at the forefront of implementing any changes to the way in which children learn.  It is vitally important that they are trained to do this and recognised for their achievement through the LearningNI User Award.”

The LearningNI User Award is awarded to candidates who demonstrate competency in ten areas of LearningNI, including demonstrating these within the collaborative learning areas which lie at the heart of the online environment.  Users can then work towards the LearningNI Leader Award where they have to successfully mentor two of their colleagues to LearningNI User status and submit a reflective summary.