Ciaran has a BA Hons Degree in film and television from the National Film School at the Institute of Art Design and Technology Ireland. He has a Masters in Education specialising in Digital Learning from Dublin City University, graduating with honors. In 2000 he launched Magic Inc Productions where he became the Creative Director. Magic Inc was a digital media company that designed,created and broadcasted corporate content for leading Irish companies.
For the past 15 years he has been a member of the Society of Irish Magicians and has performed at over 800 shows. His unique knowledge of education, film and magic has allowed him to develop a unique approach to developing Digital Media programmes for both adults and children. Ciaran's educational approach draws inspiration from unlikely sources "The Art of Misdirection of Learning". In 2003 he became the Creative Director of the FÍS (Film in Schools) Project.
Ciaran's key role as Creative Director of the FIS "Family of projects" is to develop new innovative digital media projects for a pan European audience. His key task are to coordinate and design professional development courses for media professionals, academics, teachers and graduates in all areas using Digital Media as a Curriculum Integration Tool. Recently he has been responsible for devising and coordinating projects such as the FÍS Community Digital Media Centre, Digital Creator Eire and the newly internationally launched Online Digital Book Club and EuroCreator.
He is a certified Pro Apps Trainer, Certified Sales Trainer and an Apple Distinguished Educator. Ciaran has travelled Europe training CEO's and Educational Leaders on the importance of Digital Media integration. He is a highly experienced Keynote Speaker delivering in all areas of the Digital Media Cycle. Recent keynotes include the EU Digital Media Forum in Brussels – "Digital Creativity – Whats next?", at the ENIS conference in Copenhagen – "Eliminating the Digital Divide" and at "Podcasting and the Future" in Malmoe, Sweden.
In addition he has just recently MC'd the Apple's Education leadership Summit in London which was attended by 800 educators, principals, deans and CEOs from all over Europe, the MiddleEast, Africa and the US. He also presented the FÍS methodology to a UNESCO conference in Cairo.
His latest publication was about redefining book reviews for the digital era.
Butler, D.; Leahy, M. and C. McCormack (in press). Redefining Book Reviews for the Digital Era. Contemporary Issues in Technology Education, http://www.citejournal.org/
EXPERTISE:
Background to some of the recent projects he has worked on:
www.eurocreator.com
EuroCreator is an educational initiative designed to encourage students and teachers throughout Europe to create at least one piece of media. In essence it is an educational version of Youtube with some key differences. To support this initiative, the EuroCreator website has been developed to facilitate educators and recognise and reward the creativity of young people. EuroCreator offers a pan European platform for students and educators to get creative and share their work.The website is delivered in 13 European languages and offers certification from the EU Commissioner for Education, Youth & Culture.
www.digitalcreator.ie
Digital Creator Ireland - is the new and exciting way to learn how to create and share Digital Media, such as making and editing your own films and producing podcasts. Digital Creator encourages learners to create real life digital media projects that build into an innovative digital assessment e-portfolio. The award and certificate have been accredited in the UK for the British Computer Society and mapped to the National Qualification Authority of Ireland.
www.fis.ie (portal page for all sites)
FÍS - Film in Schools is resources, professional development for teachers and a film festival for young filmmakers in primary schools throughout Ireland. The programme encourages the teacher to incorporate and integrate film into the primary curriculum across all the subject areas. For example the application of FÍS in a classroom can explore aural and oral literacy, creative writing and teamwork development through group work and storyboarding. The annual National FÍS Festival brings together 1000 children to celebrate the achievements of the primary school films created.
www.fisbookclub.com
The Fís Book Club is a place where children create a video book review based on their independent reading. The collected video book reports form a password-protected child friendly and safe online Digital video Book Review Catalogue, which is accessible to the participating schools only. This catalogue provides a resource where teachers and children within the project can watch the videos of other children's book reviews and find books they too might like to read.
www.digitalmediacentre.ie
The Community Digital Media Centre (CDMC) serves the areas of Loughlinstown and Shanganagh/ Rathsallagh in south Dublin and is located in Holly Court Loughlinstown, at the heart of the community.
Young people can make films and animations at the CDMC and record music or create digital comic books. They can even program their own computer games. Their work is shared via the CDMC website.
The centre also trains teachers and youth workers in the area how to run digital media workshops themselves.
