The DEIS Department of Education Development is an academic department residing within the School of Humanities in the Cork Institute of Technology. DEIS began life in 1993 as a research centre set up to carry out an EU-funded project in the area of what was then called open and distance learning (ODL). In 1996 it became an official Department of Cork Institute of Technology with a mission to “innovate in education for quality and access”.
In order to progress its mission, significant research and development activity has been undertaken by the DEIS Department both at a European and national level. The department continues to be involved in EU-funded research as both project lead or research partner. Current projects are funded in the main under the EU’s Lifelong Learning Programme and address topics such as the use of web 2.0 services for learning, the online recognition of prior learning, the development of reusable learning objects and research and development in the field of serious games (i.e. computer and video games from learning). Nationally, the department is participating in a range of Enterprise Ireland funded work, primarily through a range of innovation vouchers; such work typically involves the provision of education and training-related services to a range of local and national clients. DEIS is also the institute co-ordinator for the National Digital Learning Repository project in the Cork Institute of Technology.
Work is also ongoing with regard to a range of commercial projects typically involving the development of e-learning resources for corporate clients. Animated features and full interactive learning resources have been developed for clients in sectors such as Finance, Health and Safety and Telecommunications.
The department finally continues to carry out mainstream support and development work in collaboration with a range of other departments and centres within the institute, most notably the Media and Communications Department, The Clean Technology Centre , The Teaching and Learning Unit, The Department of Social and General Studies, The Development Office and the TEC and NIMBUS research centres.
An indicative list of current and recent projects is provided below under four main headings: