Information and communications technology (ICT) is an accepted element in all our lives and has a
central role to play in education. Since the appearance of the first Government policy on ICT in
education in 1997, a substantial investment has been made in ICT facilities and training in Irish
schools. In Ireland, as in other countries, the debate about ICT in education concentrates on the
potential impact of ICT on teaching and learning and on the measures that need to be adopted to
ensure that the potential of ICT to enrich students’ learning experience is realised.
This Inspectorate report presents the findings of a major evaluation of the impact of ICT on teaching
and learning in both primary and post-primary schools in Ireland. The evaluation set out to establish
the extent to which ICT was used in the schools at both levels and, more importantly, to assess the
impact ICT had on teaching and learning, including the ways in which ICT is used to facilitate the
learn