Scoilnet is the Department of Education and Skills official portal for Irish education. It is responsible for the promotion and use of the Internet in education under the Government's ICT in Schools Programme. Launched in 1998, the website is managed on behalf of the DES by the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE). Its current interface was launched in 2003 with design tweaks in September 2009. Scoilnet offers a wide range of services and supports, all of which are documented as follows.

Resource Finder
Scoilnet contains a database of over 11,800 digital resources including thempepages, reviewed websites, quizzes, lesson plans, crosswords and other multimedia. It acts as a support to teachers, students and parents at both primary and post primary levels. Resources, which are constantly being reviewed, developed and updated by a team of over 30 curriculum experts, are accessed primarily via the “Resource Finder”. Further information on Scoilnet's resources and other content may be found in the FAQ section. A demonstration video of the Primary Teacher's Resource Finder is also available.

Scoilnet sites
Scoilnet actively promotes the integration of ICT in teaching and learning and as a result has been involved in developing a number of sites with specific relevance to the Irish curricula. This has been done in conjunction with professional development and curriculum support services. It includes the following sites:

As Go Brách Linn, Documenting the experiences of post primary students on an exchange programme.
Fón Foghlaim ón Nuatheicneoleolaíocht, Supporting learning, teaching and assessment of Irish at Junior Cycle.
French.ie, Providing support for the French Junior and Senior Cycle curriculum.
German.ie, Resourcing German at second level. Launched May 2009.
HIST (History Inservice Team), In-service support for teachers of Leaving Certificate History.
I Am An Artist, Supporting Visual Arts in the primary curriculum.
Imagebank, Providing a photo library where people can access and share photos for educational use.
Learning Resource Exchange (LRE), Exchanging resources at European level.
Sci-Spy, A Science initiative aimed at primary students in 5th and 6th class.
Science Unleashed, Videos, games, weblinks and quizzes mapped to the Junior Cycle Science curriculum.
Scoilnet Geography, Resourcing Geography at Senior Cycle level.
Scoilnet Maps, Providing Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) maps for Leaving Certificate Geography.
Webwise, Internet safety awareness resources for teachers, students and parents.

Online Encyclopaedias
In June 2009, World Book Online, the renowned encyclopaedia and reference source was licensed for educational use within the Scoilnet website and the Schools Broadband Network. The encyclopaedia, which is normally only accessible following a substantial subscription fee, has been purchased by the NCTE to make it available to schools free of charge.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, another world leader and trusted source of reference content is also now licensed for educational use through Scoilnet and the Schools Broadband Programme. Content from Encyclopaedia Britannica and from Imagebank (www.imagebank.ie) has now been integrated into the Search Function on Scoilnet.

Scoilnet Webhosting/Blogging
Scoilnet is also engaged in the provision of a webhosting/blogging service to all schools. This will enable schools to easily develop and host their website or blog for free on the Schools Broadband Network. More infomation on this is found on our Webhosting/Blogging page.

Contact us
Your feedback is important to us. If you would like to contact us on any issue relating to the Scoilnet site please use the "Contact Us" facility on the top of each page. Also, if you would like to download and distribute our promotional flyers please do so here.

Scoilnet Post Primary ( 1.42 MB)
Scoilnet Iar-Bhunoideachais ( 1.42 MB)
Scoilnet Primary ( 1.42 MB)
Scoilnet Bunoideachas ( 2.72 MB)

Scoilnet Viking & Themepages Poster (English & Irish versions) ( 1.42 MB) New

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The NCTE is located at Dublin City University, Glasnevin, Dublin 9.

The page was last updated on 26th May 2010.