SAMI Blog

At SAMI we love to report on innovative events going on in Education, especially when there's a 'techie' element to it!The first item we want to talk about in this week's blog is World Maths Day. When we had a look at their website www.worldmathsday.com initially we thought the had got their numbers wrong as it happens over five days, not one day (!) but actually there is more to it than Maths, encompassing as it does a Spelling Day and a Science Day too. The idea behind this Australian initiative is to get schools and students around the world excited about learning and competing against each other. Students are lined up against students of similar ability and go 'head to head' doing online maths quizzes and other problem solving. It is part of the World Education Games which are aimed at ALL schools and students. It runs from 6th to 8th March, involving a staggering 5.5 million students from over 200 countries and territories. Practice opened on 1 February. The Games are part of a global challenge to get...

So, Christmas is long forgotten, January has rolled around once more, which must mean it’s IPPN Conference time again!

So, it’s Christmas, and time for the Sami blog to pour itself a mulled wine and wind down for 2011..

We take a look at effect of Budget 2012 on students, so it was with some relief that, while bad enough, there are no major or unexpected knock-out blows.

In a webcast last week on the website of the NCCA, Minister for Education and Skills Ruairi Quinn gave his full support (almost!) to the recently published document ‘Towards a new Framework for Junior Cycle’.

Software Asset Management Ireland attributes its growth on delivering value for its customers

Dublin, 24/10/2011 — Software Asset Management Ireland (SAMI) today announced that it ranked number 2 in the 2011 Deloitte Technology Fast 50, a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in Ireland. Rankings are based on average percentage revenue growth over five years. SAMI grew 6899% percent during this period.

So, the 2011 Leaving Cert results are out and congratulations to all the students who have come through it in one piece!  We should also congratulate all the teachers and parents whose support was crucial throughout a stressful 12 months for our latest school-leavers.
It was disappointing yesterday to see the media commentators mainly focussing on negative aspects of the results, so we’d like to add a little balance to the issue.

The 2011 Irish census will show a worrying change from the 2006 survey. Whereas then, Ireland was a young country with a lot of highly-skilled people in employment, this updated national survey will indicate the country's high unemployment, and high emigration levels. Should we be fearful? We must remember that media headlines are designed to catch our eye and grab our attention. With huge multi-national information technology companies like Google, Microsoft, Dell, Apple, HP, and Facebook operating from these shores, there is a burgeoning technology sector, which should be cultivated and expanded. At primary school level, we still have bright young pupils who want to learn and explore new ideas using Microsoft software for schools. Growth in broadband services, cloud-computing, and smartphones have meant that everywhere on the island of Ireland is accessible, all the time, every day of the year. What we need though is more money in the technology education sector. Our young people need to be taught valuable...