§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) by what date the CD Rom being prepared for the Teacher Training Agency by ICL to assist in the self-assessment procedure for bids for the New Opportunities Fund moneys for information and communications technology skills training will be available to schools; [67388]
(2) by what date the self-assessment materials required by schools to bid for the New Opportunities Fund moneys for information and communications technology skills training will be available to them. [67389]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeWork carried out in-house by the Teacher Training Agency (TTA) will ensure that packs of printed materials are available to schools prior to Easter 1999. These packs will contain the expected outcomes of the New Opportunities Fund training, case studies by subject and phase to exemplify key factors for teachers in deciding when and how to use Information and Communications Technologies effectively, pro-formas for recording training needs, and guidance on the use of materials. These materials, together with those for school librarians, will also be available in electronic format through the National Grid for Learning.
This first phase is to be extended in scope through the provision of further case studies in an interactive CD-ROM format, for which initial work has been undertaken by ICL. The TTA is now continuing the development and production in time to despatch the CD-ROM to schools in the summer term, for use during the training programme.