
Prof Don Passey Image Credit: Lancaster University
In 2022, the IFIP President established an IFIP Task Force to explore how nations were sustaining relevant digital inclusive education for 5-18-year-old young people. Members of the IFIP Task Force undertook extensive consultation resulting in a report that identified how nations were focally concerned with five key success factors: aspiration; diversity, inclusion, the digital divide and the under-represented; computational thinking and its links to problem-solving; developing teacher practices; and short- and long-term plans and actions.
The IFIP President extended the work of the IFIP Task Force, so that specific case studies might be developed, to show more exactly how nations have achieved their long-term successes. The Chair of the IFIP Task Force, Professor Don Passey, identified a nation willing to provide in-depth evidence of how this had been developed and implemented – in Northern Ireland.
The in-depth case study is now published and openly accessible. The case study’s analysis of the nation’s actions, plans and strategies importantly identified 29 design features that were critical to their success. These design features are highlighted in the published case study. Two school case studies are under development to illustrate how these system-wide features have led to current curriculum practices for teachers and learners.
Other national case studies are now being considered – to identify whether those five key success factors and 29 design features have played the same roles in national developments and successes.