Hundreds of students from primary, secondary and special schools across the province came together during the week starting 21 February 2011 for the C2k  Schools’ Videoconferencing Festival, organised in association with HP, to celebrate the important contribution that videoconferencing makes to education in Northern Ireland.  

Throughout the week, the Festival will featured  an extensive and exciting programme of videoconferencing events based on the NI Curriculum, with around 40 schools participating. Launching the Festival on Monday 21 February , Education Minister, Catriona Ruane came under the spotlight when she hosted  a question and answer style videoconference call from Stormont Parliament Buildings, with five primary schools from across Northern Ireland dialling in to take part.  

C2k Director Jimmy Stewart said that video conferencing is being used on a daily basis by schools in Northern Ireland to provide teachers and pupils with innovative visual communication opportunities to improve teaching and learning. “All schools across Northern Ireland have access to videoconferencing technology through the Virtual Classroom videoconferencing service provided by C2k, which enables them to collaborate locally and internationally and encourages the pupils to broaden their horizons by developing new collaborative and digital skills.

“Through the C2k Schools’ Videoconferencing Festival pupils were  given the opportunities to travel virtually across the world from their classrooms, with a number of our events linked up to international content providers as far away as the USA. They also had the opportunity to link up with local providers such as the Armagh Planetarium, Ulster American Folk Park, Belfast Zoo and the Belfast Science Park.”

According to Hugh Rooney of HP, which partners with C2k in the delivery of videoconferencing in schools, the technology also opens up new possibilities for learning opportunities for teachers: “Videoconferencing is helping teachers work together to develop joint learning programmes with other teachers in Northern Ireland and throughout the world to exchange information with each other, easily gain access to education experts and improve communication with parents and the community.

“This was also  celebrated during the Festival with a special event for Biology and Sports Science teachers, who linked  up via videoconference with the Saint Louis University School of Medicine in St Louis, Missouri, for a practical anatomy and surgery seminar.”

The Festival’s programme of events also included a videoconference with renowned historian Maurice Todd, who broadcasted live from the Ulster American Folk Park to present a session on the hopes and fears of those travelling from Northern Ireland to start a new life in America. Belfast Zoo Education Officer John Fisher, meanwhile, discussed  the plight of endangered animals using real-life examples, and an interactive show broadcast from the Armagh Planetarium allowed children to explore the solar system, followed by an interactive quiz.

For secondary-level pupils, the Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida used  videoconferencing to broadcast a narrated shark feeding from their 135,000-gallon shark tank, and a panel of senior executives from a number of Northern Ireland’s most successful STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) companies will present a Q&A session from the NEELB TV  studios, offering sixth-year pupils advice on careers in science, technology, engineering and maths.