*Teaching: Learning: Technology - Gaining Vision*
CESI National Conference
Friday, 13 Feb 09, Maldron Hotel, Tallaght
Saturday, 14 Feb 09, Coláiste de h-Íde, Tallaght

CESI Conference News, 31 Dec 08
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1. General Conference Programme
2. Online Registration is live
3. Meet the Conference Working Group
4. DigiTeach Article: Bloom-in' Pixels
5. Online Poll: How old are the majority of PCs in your school?
6. Conference Questions and Comments
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1. General Conference Programme

This year's General Conference Programme is now accessible on the CESI website. The programme provides an overview of the events that will take place over the two days. This year, the conference will consist of a special Friday evening programme followed by a full Saturday day programme.

The Friday evening will see the first-ever *CESI Meet* take place! This is a CESI version of a TeachMeet session, its aim is to encourage people to share information, ideas and projects in a semi-formal and social setting. Three formats of volunteer presentations - mini (7mins), Soap Box (15 mins) and Nano (2 mins) - will provide us with good variety, food for thought, and provoke discussion. This last can be continued when participants who last the pace repair to the lounge for light refreshments.

Saturday's programme will include the opening keynote, 16  presentations & workshops, the capstone keynote and the CESI AGM. Along with this agenda, plenty of time has been factored in to allow for touring of exhibitor areas. Specifics of the keynotes, presentations and workshops will published in the weeks ahead, so stay tuned to CESI Conference News.

View the General Conference Programme at
http://www.cesi.ie/conference-2009-programme

2. Online Registration

Securing your place at the CESI Conference has never been easier! Visit http://www.cesi.ie/conference-registration and book your place now for either one or both days of the conference. Booking is a two step process where first you'll be prompted through a registration page and then onto the payment page.

CESI encourages all conference attendees to use our secure Online Payment facility which is powered by PayPal. As it is more efficient for us to process online payments, we are giving a discount of €5 for those attending Friday or Saturday or €10 for those attending both Friday and Saturday where the bookings are made via our online system. We are happy to receive postal bookings in the normal manner as outlined in the Postal Payment section below.

3. Meet the Conference Working Group

Whose behind this year's conference? Teachers just like you, teachers with a keen interest in using ICT to bring about the best in teaching and learning. Year in and year out, a subset of the CESI Executive Committee gives of its time and talents to organise the conference.This year's Conference Working Group is made up of the following:

* Mags Amond, Second Level Support Service & Loreto College, Cavan
* Mary Becker, Dun Laoghaire College of Further Education, Dun Laoghaire
* Noel Cunningham, The Kings Hospital, Palmerstown, Dublin
* Enda Donlon, Mater Dei Institute, Dublin
* Conor Galvin, UCD Belfield
* John Hegarty, Clongowes Wood College, Clane
* Tom Kendall, Loreto Secondary School, Navan
* Bairbre Ní Choisdealbha, Galway
* Pádraig Ó Dubhaigh, Coláiste de hÍde, Tallaght
* Pat Seaver, Pobalscoil Neasáin,  Baldoyle, Dublin
* Adrienne Webb,  St. Michael's Holy Faith SS, Finglas, Dublin
* Nelius Young, Second Level Support Service & Abbey Community College, Wicklow

4. DigiTeach Article: Bloom-in' Pixels

In this week's featured CESI DigiTeach article, "Bloom-in' Pixels", Mags Amond of Loreto Cavan and Second Level Support Service takes a look at using images for educational purposes, and explores sources to find them, software to edit them and methods to use them. Access the article from the CESI homepage, http://www.cesi.ie

5. Online Poll: How old are the majority of PCs in your school?

While visiting the CESI homepage, take a moment to respond to our latest poll question, "How old are the majority of PCs in your school?" Upon completing the poll, you'll have the opportunity to view the results of our previous polls including (i) Will we ever get our €252m? and (ii) Do you think the ECDL should be offered by all Post-Primary Schools?

6. Conference Questions and Comments

If you have any questions or comments relating to the conference, please use the 'comments' facility below to post them.

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CESI, founded in 1973, promotes the use of ICT in Education at all levels in
the Irish Education System. It is a voluntary body that draws its members
from primary, post-primary and third-level teachers. The CESI Conference is
generously supported by the National Centre for Technology in Education,
www.ncte.ie.