David Puttnam at Science Gallery (Video)

I recently attended a lecture in the Open Minds series in Dublin's Science Gallery in which David Puttnam gave a wonderful lecture on 'Technology, Education and Ireland'. The lecture was recorded and is now available on YouTube. It's embedded below for your convenience. You may find the question at the end particularly interesting.

 

Amazing Line-up Announced for ISTA 50th Annual Conference

Details of the 50th Irish Science Teachers Association Annual Conference have been announced and boy is it shaping up to be a cracker! A 'Symphony of Science' is this year's theme and the line-up of speakers and workshops is extremely impressive. Delegates are sure to be inspired and have their passion for science teaching ignited! The programme of events takes place over the weekend of April 20th - 22nd in Trinity College Dublin & the Science Gallery and registration is now open!

There are several key figures from the world of Irish science speaking at the event as well some of the UK's great science communicators. I'm particularly looking forward to hearing Dr. Michael Mosley, presenter of BBC's 'Inside the Human Body' series (as well as many others) giving the plenary lecture on the Saturday afternoon. Also in the line-up are UK based physics teachers and film maker Alom Shaha, TCD Biochemistry Professor Luke O'Neill, UCC's Professor of Microbrial Food Safety Colin Hill, Dr Eric Finch (Senior Lecturer TCD School of Physics), Dr Ronan McNulty (UCD School of Physics), friend of the Frog Blog Dr Aoife McLysaght (TCD Genetics & science communicator), Dr Ciara McMahon (Director of Environmental Surveillance and Assessment) and many more. Also on the programme of events are a series of workshops for teachers of physics, chemistry and biology as well as exhibits from SciFest. Mary Mulvihill from Ingenious Ireland will give a two hour science themed walking tour of Dublin on the Sunday moring too - something that will surely shake off the cobwebs from the night before! Winners of the PharmaChemical Ireland Teacher Awards will also be announced at the event, with the finalists each giving a short presentation on the work they do to promote science in their schools. I'll be there too - speaking on the opening night but attending all weekend - so come along to put a face on the frog!

Details of the event and registration (which is absolutely essential) are on the ISTA's dedicated conference website. Credit must go to Mary Mullaghy, Chairperson of the ISTA Dublin Branch, for all her hard work in compiling such an impressive line-up!

CESI Conference 2012

There is just about enough time to register for this year's Computers in Education Society of Ireland (CESI) Annual Conference this Saturday in Portloaise - a brilliant event which brings together the leaders in educational technology in Ireland. The event takes place in Portlaoise College and promises a wide range of workshops, talks and presentations for anyone interested in using technology to improve teaching and learning in their classrooms. Some of the possible highlights include Fred Boss on the hugely successful #edchatIE twitter hashtag, Caroline Carswell and Miriam Walsh on Captioning Videos for School Use, John Heffernan on A Brief History of the Near Future, Simon Lewis on Creating a Mobile App for your School, and Mags Amond on Edmodo in the Classroom. However, the programme is jam packed with workshops and presentation to meet everyone's needs and tastes - check it out.

I am particularly excited to be attending Friday night's 'CESI Meet' (my first one!) - an "anti-conference" where the talks are short and snappy (15minutes, 7 minutes or 2 minutes) and the atmosphere more relaxed. Look out for my CESI Meet post on Friday night - hopefully you might find it interesting?

David Puttnam on 'Technology, Education and Ireland'

The 'Open Minds Series' returns next Monday (February 27th) with the brilliant David Puttnam speaking on "Technology, education and Ireland: How new ways of learning can assist economic recovery". The 'Open Mind Series' is a collaborative effort from McCann FitzGerald and TCD's Science Gallery, which will see some of the world’s leading thinkers coming together to support the development of Ireland as a global centre for science, technology and innovation. The event kicks off at 6:30pm sharp and pre-booking is essential. Tickets cost €10 or €6 if you are a student. Further information can be access from the Science Gallery website here.

David Puttnam - A Short Biography.

As well as producing award winning films like The Mission, The Killing Fields, Local Hero, Chariots of Fire, Midnight Express, Bugsy Malone and Memphis Belle, David Puttnam has been working in the areas of education, the environment, and the 'creative and communications' for nearly 15 years. He founded the National Teaching Awards, was the founding Chair of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) and spent 10 years as the Chancellor of The University of Sunderland. He is President of the Film Distributors’ Association, Chairman of The Sage Gateshead, Deputy Chairman of Channel Four, Deputy Chairman of Profero and a trustee of the Eden Project. He is also the present Chancellor of the Open University,

The talk is sure to inspire and engage, and might prove a nice way to top off what is sure to be a cracking weekend at the CESI Conference in Portlaoise?