Education Network NI (ENni) Innovation Forum

Sustained investment in digital education and the digital learning outcomes for children and young people, are recognised as a "model of excellence" by international experts. The finding, featured in a first-of-its-kind suite of case studies by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), is a major validation of the digital provision in our classrooms.

To view the report visit IFIP ePublication.

An international study of Northern Ireland, Sustaining Relevant Digital Inclusive Education for Young People (5-18 years of age), identified 29 design features critical to NI’s sustained success over 35 years investment by the Department of Education through EdIS. 

These include setting a clear long-term purpose, aspiration for young people, ensuring equality of provision, linking strategies closely to curriculum, and supporting teacher professional development.

Key aspects of the report include:

• Five Key Focus Areas: The report identifies aspiration, diversity, inclusion, the digital divide/under-represented groups, computational thinking (and its links to problem-solving), and teacher practice development as crucial to sustainable digital education.
• Strategic Approach: It promotes aligning policies and practices with long-term strategic plans, exemplified by 35–50 years of development in Northern Ireland.
• Contextual Examples: The research, published through late 2024 and 2025, provides in-depth analysis of curriculum integration, specifically referencing school-level practices.
• Global Relevance: The findings are intended to assist UNESCO, the UN, and national bodies in building inclusive, future-ready, and digitally empowered educational environments. 

The report highlights that for digital education to be sustainable, it must be integrated into the curriculum and supported by ongoing teacher development, rather than just providing hardware. 

An evaluation study of a NI primary school demonstrates an integrative model, embedding structured problem-solving across subjects from foundation stage to KS2, rather than equating computational thinking with programming alone. 

To view the primary study visit IFIP ePublication.

A NI post primary school showcases a cascading approach, with digital skills taught in a dedicated Digital Hub before being applied across the wider curriculum.

To view the post primary study visit IFIP ePublication.

Professor John Anderson has written a professional response, reviewing experience of the 50-year journey, informed by a substantial 35-year evidence base, which can be viewed at IFIP ePublication.

 “Northern Ireland offers a somewhat unique, and certainly compelling case study in the sustained strategic integration of digital technologies into schools. Spanning five decades, from what would now be regarded as primitive computer-assisted management of learning, to developed digital literacy and AI integration, NI’s approach, particularly its centrally managed ICT service in every school, offers insights for global educational policy and practice.”

Based on the IFIP case studies the Forum has commenced an international comparison of primary and post-primary curriculum plans for computational thinking with the research University of Klagenfurt in Austria.   

Since 2015 the Forum facilitates and provides judges for the Capita / C2k / EdIS sponsored awards.

Attracting a high number of entrants annually the entrants, the highly commended and the winners exemplify the highest standards in creative and effective uses of digital technology in classrooms.

The evidence generated by the entries and the visits to schools is summarised in annual synoptic reports by the judges and illuminated by school video case studies.

Capita ICT Excellence Awards 2024-2025

Capita ICT Excellence Awards 2023-24

Capita ICT Excellence Awards 2022-2023

Capita ICT Excellence Awards 2021-2022

The 2025-2026 Awards scheme judging is underway, and this year Northern Ireland Screen has joined as a sponsor to place an emphasis on the creative benefits of digital technology by teachers and learners.

An increasing proportion of entrants are providing evidence of their effective use of Gen AI in schools.

Two joint research projects with the University of Waikato, New Zealand, and the Innovation Forum explore the benefits of using digital technologies in Early Years education. 

The first study evaluated the practice in the uses of digital technologies to build connections between families and schools as children transition to school and to maintain further parent partnership in eight nursery schools in New Zealand and Northern Ireland.

A report by Woodhouse, H., Passey, D. and Anderson, J. (2024), ‘Exploring the uses of digital technologies to build connections between families and schools as children transition to school and to maintain further parent partnership’ can be viewed Parental Engagement Research Report. 

The second study, which is currently underway, is based on an evaluation of practice in teaching and learning with digital technologies in eight nursery schools.

Based on the research a confidential technical paper was produced for the use of the EdIS Programme to assess the role of a new school management information system being introduced by EdIS for nursery schools 

A guidance paper on digital technology was prepared for leaders of early years settings and formed part of an EdIS conference. Videos recordings from the conference can be viewed our Information Roadshow for Nursery Schools webpage.

A guidance paper (Anderson J, Woodhouse H, Passey D and Evans C.) to inform leaders of nursery and primary school new entrant settings is available to view at New Entrants Guidance Paper.

Based on the two GenAI Proof of Concept studies (CoPilot and Gemini), a member of the Forum was commissioned to provide evaluative evidence to support a business case. 

The full Trailblazing NI – GenAI in Education: A Proof of Concept Study in Schools in NI with MS Copilot (Taggart, S., and Roulston, S. (2025)) is available here: University of Ulster Trailblazing NI Report.

The Forum has, over an extended period, developed a framework of high-level principles to guide the response of schools (and others) to digital technology and GenAI. 

This work forms the substance of a new DE Circular to be issued early in 2026.

Four key principles to guide the use of GenAI 

• Support pupil learning whilst being digitally safe;
• Transform teaching, learning and assessment;
• Promote inclusive design for digital learning; and
• Advance professional development, promoting efficiency, effectiveness and ethically sound practice.

In January 2025, the Forum met with Lucy Crehan to share its research-based experience of the role and benefits to inform on the reform of the Digital Technology and Digital Capabilities Curriculum as part of her review of the NI Curriculum.

Since then, the Forum has continued to contribute to the working groups on reform of the Digital Technology and Digital Capabilities Curriculum specifications.

In 2023, the Forum produced an important report for the Independent Education Review - Inspiring Digital Learning.

Going back only to 2010, it synthesizes 44 reports on digital learning based on evaluation and research studies in over 400 classrooms in Northern Ireland which are bench-marked against international research and linked to EdIS developments.

For more information see our Education Information Solutions Programme (EDIS).

It contains chapters examining:

• the conditions for spreading the most effective practice more widely and its characteristics;
• C2k usage and links to practice; and
• the future of disruptive technologies in classrooms.

As a consequence of which the Independent Review contained 18 recommendations about digital education.

A Forum evaluation of a pilot year of a teacher professional development micro-credential programme linking UDL to digital technologies.

Twelve teachers from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, undertaking a pilot programme supported by the Odyssey Trust, Capita Learning, Microsoft Ireland the Innovation Forum through a partnership with Lasell University, Boston, Maynooth University and Ulster University.

A second year was run in 2024-25 extending the pioneering group.

Innovation Forum research, sponsored by the Standing Conference on Teacher Education, North and South (SCoTENS), and conducted by the Ulster, Dublin City and Lancaster Universities explored the connection between educational technology and teacher wellbeing, using Passey's (2021) framework and proposition that specific digital technology adoption in schools can benefit teacher well-being in various educational contexts. 

Six schools: three primary and three post primary, in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, were examined through in-depth case studies focusing on teacher wellbeing and technology adoption. Interviews were conducted with school principals, leaders, and teachers. 

The published findings were presented at the Standing Conference on Teacher Education, North and South (ScoTENS) in 2023.   

Taggart, S., Butler, D., Passey, D., and Anderson, J. (2023). Teacher Wellbeing from Engaging with Educational Technologies (TWEET): Case Studies from across Ireland, can be viewed on the University of Ulster website.

Organised jointly by the Education Authority’s Education Information Solutions (EdIS) Programme and the Innovation Forum, the ground-breaking ‘AI in Education in NI’ conference for school leaders took place on Tuesday 21 November 2023 in the award-winning science discovery centre, W5, in Belfast.

Videos of all the presentations are available on our AI in Education in NI webpage. 

Digital technology provision offers a very wide range of tools that teachers can select to use in specific teaching and learning circumstances.  Whilst the affordances offered from selected networking connectivity, hardware, a communication platform and software curriculum resources can be utilised to support specific subject or topic tasks, they can also be selected to explore and address educational challenges and consequently to support school improvement leading to better outcomes for the learner. 

The process and examples that two NI primary and two post-primary schools have taken in this respect – selecting digital resources to better address educational challenges leading to school improvement – are the focus of this evaluation study.

The research provides four practice studies of success:

• Case Study 1 – addressing low parental engagement and support
• Case Study 2 – addressing a pupil’s lack of writing confidence and school disinterest Case Study 3 – addressing boys’ low engagement with musical composition
• Case Study 4 – addressing low engagement of pupils with higher-order mathematics tasks

View the research on Lancaster University Centre for Technology Enhanced Learning - School Improvement Through Digital Technologies Paper. 

The uses of a specific software resource, Learning by Questions (LbQ), was piloted in six schools across Northern Ireland leading to four case study vignettes providing evidence of outcomes arising in practice. 

LbQ provides question banks that cover entire areas of the curriculum for specific age groups in mathematics, literacy and science. The questions are grouped according to levels of difficulty and their applicability to real-life problems. The levels allow pupils to move from more general understanding, to reasoning, and finally to problem-solving. It is clear that pupil uses are affecting and shifting both teacher and pupil behaviours. Importantly, some of these behavioural shifts are not only positively affecting learning and teaching, but also teacher wellbeing.

For more information view the Working Paper ‘Learning by Questions'.

The Forum supported an Agenda NI round table discussion with key stakeholders across the education and technology sectors to discuss the role of data in transforming the educational outcomes for learners.

Information on this round table discussion can be found on the AgendaNI website.

An international journal, edited through the Forum, focused on parents/guardians, education and digital technologies with four publications from within Northern Ireland drawing on evidence of the benefits of using digital technologies to sustain teaching and learning during the global pandemic.

The journal can be viewed at Studies in Technology Enhanced Learning Issue 3.3.

Sponsored by Capita Learning through the Innovation Forum, the Take Ten App pilot focused on 140 pupils in 7 primary schools and Year 8 transitionary pupils in 7 post-primary schools. 

The App was shown to improve resilience by giving feedback, helping the user to gradually bypass the natural fight or flight response, speeding up recovery from stress hormones and keeping heart and breathing patterns working together to improve performance.

For more information visit the TakeTen Solutions website.

The Forum provided a synopsis of 24 research publications to provide the substance of guidance to be considered by school leaders who wish to ensure that when mobile digital devices are being introduced into the classroom they are used in the most appropriate and effective ways to support education as a basis for DE Circular 2016/26 to all schools.

For more information see the Department of Education Circular 2026/26 Effective Educational Uses of Mobile Digital Devices.

EdIS Podcasts bring together industry experts, education practitioners and key stakeholders to exchange in discussion about innovations, best practices and the ever-changing digital landscape in the education sector.

To view the podcast recordings see our EdIS eXchange Podcast section.

Keynote speaker at the Innovation Forum meeting in March 2026 was Dylan Wiliam who spoke on formative assessment. Wiliam is emeritus professor of educational assessment at the UCL Institute of Education.