Dundalk FC to launch partnership with Dundalk IT on Monday

Dundalk FC will be holding the launch of their new partnership with Dundalk Institute of Technology on Monday.

The Dundalk FC/DKIT partnership launch will take place at the FAI headquarters in Abbotstown in Dublin and a number of dignitaries and special guests will be in attendance.

The link will be formally launched by FAI President Paddy McCaul and Republic of Ireland first-team manager Martin O’Neill with full details on the partnership being revealed on the day.

Speaking at the event will be Dundalk FC chairman Ciaran Bond, Denis Cummins (DKIT), Paddy McCaul (FAI) and Dundalk FC manager Stephen Kenny.

Dundalk IT to host information morning on range of courses

 

Dundalk IT will be hosting an information morning on Saturday January 18th for all those thinking of attending the college.

The event will take place in the Muirhevna building from 10am to 1pm with a wide range of information available on the day for anyone looking to enrol or thinking of enrolling in any course in Dundalk.

All are welcome to attend.

Meanwhile, at Dundalk IT

The windmill at Dundalk IT is widely regarded as the highest point in the town but the college have just shared a new picture from above it.

This picture was taken with a drone camera operated by Liutas Picture for the Centre for Renewable Energy.

One of the two workers, who clearly have a head for heights, even found time to wave to the camera as it passed.

Egan is IT Tutor of the Year

Google and Age Action Ireland have awarded Dundalk woman Ann Egan the IT Tutor of the Year award, which is given to an individual or group of any age who provides voluntary support to older learners.

Egan, a former school principal and teacher, believes that “education is a lifelong experience”.

She says she has moved on from the “talk and chalk” of the classroom to organising and providing IT classes for older people in Louth.

For the past five years, Egan has been running two classes every year and has opened up the world of computers to almost 200 older people in Co Louth.

With the help of the president of Dundalk Institute of Technology (DKIT), she was given access to the computer suites in DKIT, free of charge.

To date, Egan has sourced and trained more than 40 volunteer tutors who provide one-to-one computer training for older people. She manages and co-ordinates all aspects of running the classes on a voluntary basis.

Thanks: Dundalk IT

Dundalk IT conferrals to take place at the end of the month

This year’s conferring ceremonies at Dundalk IT will take place on Thursday October 31^st and Friday November 1^st.

The School of Informatics and Creative Arts will graduate on Thursday morning from 10.30am, following by the School of Health and Science from 1pm.

The remainder of the School of Science and the Centre for Learning and Teaching will then be conferred from 3.30pm.

On Friday morning at 10.30am the School of Engineering and the School of Business and Humanities will graduate, followed by the remainder of the School of Business and Humanities at 1pm and 3pm.

The exact schedule for individual classes is available for viewing here.

This year there will be two graduation balls for those graduating on each day, with both taking place in the Crowne Plaza.

This week’s Argus

In this week’s Argus, the main headline relates to Dundalk IT sealing the deal to take over the JJB complex. There’s also news of the first group of students attending Coláiste Lú, a chance to win one of two tablets and news of 10 new jobs in Irish Life’s customer care centre.

All that and more in this week’s Argus… on sale now!

Related articles

• Dundalk IT conclude purchase of JJB complex (talkofthetown.ie)
• A new era as Coláiste Lú opens its doors (talkofthetown.ie)

Dundalk IT conclude purchase of JJB complex

An artist’s impression of how the new facility will look

After months of negotiations, Dundalk IT have been given the green light to proceed with the purchase of the former JJB Soccerdome and Ice Dome at Dundalk Retail Park.

The purchase has been in the pipeline for some time, with students even voting on the matter as far back as last December. They will now face an additional levy of €125 a year as a result of the purchase.

The finance committee of the college met yesterday to conclude the deal.

It is understood that the centre will be privately operated and a public tender will be issued in the coming weeks to find a management team to run the facility.

The JJB complex, features up to a dozen indoor football pitches, a fully equipped commerical gym including a swimming pool, an ice rink, a bar, a coffee shop in addition to the first floor retail area.

Some of the pitches will be converted into badminton and basketball courts, while the gym would be available to the entire student population, in addition to members of the public on a fee paying basis.

A shuttle bus will operate between the college and the new facility every 15 minutes and the current gym in DKIT will then be turned into an elite gym for all elite athletes including more lifting platforms for Olympic lifting.

In addition to the existing services on offer, it is hoped to further develop the building for other sports and societies, for example, an indoor 100m track for athletics will be proposed.

The centre may also be used for conferring, concerts and conferences and there is the potential for the ice dome to re-open although this would be further down the line if it were to happen.

Around 30 jobs are expected to be created as a result of the purchase.

New apps from local students help cross the generation gap

Louth students cross the generation gap with app innovations
Lisa McGowan from Scoil Uí Mhuirí, Dunleer, Co Louth; older participant Pat Kilboy from Blackrock, Co Louth; Barrett Akpotor from St Oliver’s Community College, Drogheda; and Nadine Weldon from Scoil Uí Mhuirí, at Dundalk Institute of Technology

Transition-year students from four schools in Louth have been involved in a unique project with adults in the region to come up with prototypes for four mobile apps that aim to cross the inter-generational divide.

The SANDPiT project involved 40 transition-year students and nine adults aged in their in their 60s and 70s who worked together to co-design the apps.

The group showcased their innovations at Dundalk Institute of Technology on Friday.

The apps include an emotional well-being app, an inter-generational quiz app, a community security app, and a ‘Don’t Panic’ app to get help for the elderly quickly following a fall.

The project was run by Louth VEC and the Casala applied research centre at DKIT. Casala’s Dr Julie Doyle, who specialises in human computer interaction research, worked with the group during a series of workshops that were held over nine months.

The Louth students hail from Scoil Uí Mhuirí in Dunleer; St Oliver’s Community College in Drogheda; O’Fiach College in Dundalk; and Bush Post Primary School in Cooley. They worked with the adults to develop the apps to prototype stage.

“We mixed up the generations on the teams and it was wonderful to see how they interacted,” said Doyle.

She said that when older people are using apps, aspects such as contrast, colour and text size need particular attention.

“Our plan is to have the more relevant projects developed into fully fledged apps and a number of DKIT students will be working on this during the summer,” added Doyle.

The project has also been shortlisted for an EU GoAct award for best practice in inter-generational learning.

Source: Silicon Republic