It's in the bag: the high-tech, light way to pack schoolbooks [IrishTimes]
- Published: 12 August 2011
The Irish division of a British firm aims to transform a beleaguered schools system with cheaper and less back-breaking e-books
PUPILS IN up to eight Irish post-primary schools will be at the vanguard of technology when the new term starts, clutching Intel mini-laptops preloaded with e-books that cover the Junior Cert curriculum rather than a bag full of textbooks. A small but significant step in integrating technology into Irish classrooms, it came about because of the work of two former employees of IT multinationals.
Greg Tierney and Conor McGrogan were at Dell and HP respectively before establishing an Irish division of Steljes, a UK distribution company that counts Smart interactive whiteboards as its flagship products. Steljes Ireland opened for business in 2007 when Smart had about 5 per cent of the Irish whiteboard market. Now it has just under 40 per cent and has seen its annual turnover rise from €400,000 to €4.5 million. Education accounts for 70 per cent of its business and two of its five staff are former teachers.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
