Uptake of school technology and knowledge portal Promethean Planet by Irish educators has surged 150pc with more than 5,000 members – making Ireland the country with the fifth highest membership base in the world.
Promethean Planet has nearly 500,000 members in more than 150 countries, and is the world’s fastest growing online interactive whiteboard community.
It is free to join and enables teachers from around the world to exchange their ideas and experience, to share new and innovative lessons, and gives them to access a wide variety of professional development materials.
Alongside the increased uptake of Promethean Planet, over 40pc of interactive whiteboards purchased in Ireland during 2009 were Promethean’s innovative ActivBoards, according to Futuresource Consulting.
“As a knowledge based economy, it is great to see our teaching community embracing digital learning resources given the proven positive impact of interactive whiteboards on education,” said Graham Byrne, head of Promethean in Ireland.
“It is a tribute to our forward thinking teachers that they are leading the charge to bridge the technology gap to other OECD countries, by adopting the best of cutting-edge teacher supports and resources,” he said, adding that Ireland is now only trailing advanced economies like the US and Australia in the uptake of Promethean Planet.
John Williams, principal at Divine Word National School, Marley Grange, Dublin said that Promethean Planet allows him to connect with a global network of supportive teaching professionals.
“I can explore resources created by teachers that have been tried and tested in the classroom. It helps spark lots of new ideas which I can easily customise to suit my topic. There is no better resource to help me plan and prepare interactive lessons and support my use of technology in the classroom,” Williams said.
By John Kennedy
