The School of Computing at Dublin City University runs an active schools liaison programme, the overall aim of which is to familiarise students with computing technology and alert them to its wide use in modern society. The main activities that we run for secondary school students are outlined below.

School Visits Programme
A year-round activity which involves a representative from the School of Computing visiting your school to give a talk on IT careers and our B.Sc. in Computer Applications degree. In cases where one or more of your former pupils are currently studying with us, we can try to arrange for them to make the visit. This gives students a real insight into what it is like to study computing at Third Level. The School of Computing's new "IT4U" DVD, which looks at IT-related careers, can also be incorporated into the visit.

ComputeTY Transition Year Initiative
ComputeTY is an online, self-pacing Web Design course for Transition Year students. Students attend DCU for one week, where their work is graded and they receive certification from the School of Computing. The course runs over four consecutive weeks in January/February, and bookings are taken from the previous April. At its launch in January 2005, the course attracted over 500 students from 16 north Dublin schools.

Students from Manor House School, Raheny, at ComputeTY 2005

Sean Foley, ComputeTY tutor, with Adrian Delaney, a student from The Donahies Community School

DCU Open Day
As part of DCU Open Day, the School of Computing runs a series of talks on its B.Sc. in Computer Applications degree. Visitors also have the opportunity to view our facilities and meet with lecturers. Interestingly, recent graduates are invited to demonstrate the projects they completed during the final year of their degree. This allows prospective students to view the broad range and high standard of development work carried out by students on the degree. It also allows them to speak with graduates about their experience of the programme. Open Day takes place each year on the third Saturday in November.

Participation in DCU Junior Science Summer Camp
The School of Computing runs a Speech Technology workshop for First and Second Year students in June as part of the DCU Junior Summer Science Camp. The half-day workshop explores aspects of Speech Recognition and Natural Language Processing, and demonstrates to students how computers can be programmed to recognise human voices and carry out commands.

Students at the 2005 Speech Technology workshop

Campus Visits
The School of Computing invites prospective students, teachers and parents to come in and view the School of Computing's facilities and meet with lecturers. This can be arranged for most times during the year, and visits can be standalone or in conjunction with a DCU campus-wide visit.

Further Information
The School of Computing also has representatives available to answer questions at national careers events such as Higher Options at the RDS in September and FÁS Opportunities at Croke Park in February.

If you have a query regarding any of the above activities, please contact Christine Stears at tel: (01) 700 5237 or email: . Any suggestions you might have regarding possible future initiatives are also very welcome.