Senior representatives from the Northern Ireland Department for Employment and Learning visited IT Sligo last week to learn more about the e-learning aspect of the €3.2 million KITE (Knowledge and Innovation Transfer in Engineering) project.
KITE is an EU INTERREG IVA Programme funded project which is being developed by IT Sligo in partnership with Northern Regional College, Northern Ireland, and Ayr College, Scotland.
The three year project aims to secure the long term sustainability of the key engineering and manufacturing sectors within Northern Ireland, the Border Region of Ireland and Western Scotland, by increasing productivity and reducing costs for employers.
Director of Skills & Industry Division at the Northern Ireland Department of Employment and Learning, Nuala Kerr, said that she was fascinated by the work being done by IT Sligo to facilitate virtual laboratories for online students.
“Our interest in the KITE project was triggered when we heard some of the background to it at the launch in Northern Regional College in Ballymena in November,” she said,
“We recognise that to best position Northern Ireland to meet the economic challenges ahead, we need to increase significantly the skills levels of our workforce. Our Skills Strategy sets out the targets we believe we need to achieve, which includes to increase by 20% the number of people in the workforce qualified at least to Level 2 on our Qualifications Credit Framework.
“We wanted to see if on-line learning as represented by the KITE project could play a part in achieving these objectives.
“We were fascinated by the work being done in IT Sligo, and were particularly impressed by the virtual laboratory facility that complements the on-line tuition experience and gives student access to test engineering equipment on a 24/7 basis.
“We could see the potential this offered all students, but especially working adults or people living some distance from training provision, to undertake study and training when it suits their work and domestic commitments.”
Ms Kerr said that the Department of Employment and Learning will consider how this methodology could be applied in training in Northern Ireland.
From left to right are Michael Gould, (Northern Ireland Department of Employment and Learning, Assistant Director of Skills & Industry Division); Professor Terri Scott, (President, IT Sligo); Nuala Kerr, (Northern Ireland Department of Employment and Learning, Director of Skills & Industry Division); Frank Carter, (IT Sligo Head of Department, Mechanical and Electronic Engineering). Photo by Sean Mullery.
Pictured from left to right are: Ross McMorrow (IT Sligo, KITE Technician), Stephen Reid (IT Sligo, KITE Coordinator), Marion McAfee (IT Sligo, KITE Developer), Michael Gould (Northern Ireland Department of Employment and Learning, Assistant Director of Skills & Industry Division), Nuala Kerr (Northern Ireland Department of Employment and Learning, Director of Skills & Industry Division), Brian Mulligan (IT Sligo Open Learning Coordinator), Frank Carter (IT Sligo Head of Deptartment, Mechanical and Electronic Engineering), Bill Watson (Northern Regional College, Lecturer in Engineering), Noel Walsh (IT Sligo KITE Technician), Alan McAfee (Northern Regional College, KITE Coordinator). Photo by Sean Mullery.