Software in Education

The focus of the Software in Education pillar is on preparing and training future software practitioners. We achieve this through our programmes outlined here:

• Scratch Programme
• Junior Cycle Short Course
• Computer Science at Leaving Certificate
• Computing Camps
• Women in STEM²D 

Scratch Programme

• Materials freely available on scratch.ie for primary and post-primary students
• Working with the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) we have designed and delivered Scratch training to teachers through the national education centre network
• Lero founded the Scratch competition in 2010. See the Irish Scratch website and the Irish Computer Society Scratch website for details on the Scratch competition
• CSFirst mapping to Irish primary and post-primary curriculum in collaboration with Google

Junior Cycle Short Course/TY

• Lero was commissioned by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to write the Junior Cycle Short Course in Coding in 2014
• The Junior Cycle Short Course Exploring Coding pilot project took place from January 2016-January 2017 in collaboration with JCT (Junior Cycle for Teachers Support Service) and Intel. An interim report “Exploring Coding – a CPD initiative to support the introduction of the junior cycle short course in Coding" was produced by Lero and JCT to document the initiative
• A final report was produced to document the initiative
• A new CPD phase “Coding in Action” took place from 2017 to 2018. An interim report is available here
• The Final Report for the Junior Cycle Short Course in Coding was published in November 2019
• The Final Report for the Junior Cycle Short Course in Coding Phase 2 March 2022
• CSLinc curriculum development for TY students in collaboration with TU Dublin

Computer Science at Leaving Certificate

A new Computer Science Leaving Certificate subject was introduced in September 2018 for a selected group of 40 schools. As part of this ‘Phase 1’ roll-out, teachers from the participating schools embarked on a Professional Development (PD) programme which commenced in the Spring of 2018. The programme, provided by the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST), aimed to support the teachers’ professional development throughout the introduction of the subject into schools. Lero was successful in applying for SFI Discover Funding in 2018 to track the development of the teachers’ progress during the first two years of the subject roll-out.

• CS Impact: Exploring Students’ Experiences of Leaving Certificate Computer Science
• Professional Development Recommendations for CS and STEM subjects
• Professional Development for In-Service Teachers
• Final Report – September 2020 Exploring teachers’ professional development to support the roll-out of Computer Science in Irish second-level schools and publication
• Interim Report – October 2019 on the Leaving Certificate Computer Science Teachers’ CPD Programme
• In 2016, Lero was commissioned by the NCCA to conduct research around the provision of computer science in upper second level education internationally: Report on the Provision of Courses in Computer Science in Upper Second Level Education Internationally

Computing Camps

• Lero is running CodePlus computing camps for female transition year students in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin and University of Galway. If you are interested in the Limerick/Munster Codeplus camps, please email brian.harkin@lero.ie
• Lero was awarded a GoogleRISE Award in 2015 and ran summer computing camps for girls during the summer of 2015. Watch the 2015 Video  Publication Publication
• Lero has been involved in the UL Cybercamp since 2009. During the summer months we invite second-level students on campus to give them a computing experience.