The recently published review of the Further Education section in Ireland highlighted the need for FE colleges to produce graduates with industry relevant skills. Cavan Institute is already on point, offering a wide range of courses which include both QQI and professional qualifications.
The Irish Consumer Games market, which was valued at almost 250 million in 2016, is a burgeoning sector which is as creative as it is dynamic. This sector offers myriad opportunities to students interested in creative technology and production.
Career opportunities in this sector include jobs in design, development, middleware support and software services. Highly successful production companies include Romero Games in Galway (Doom, Dangerous Dave, Wizardry) and Digit in Dublin (Kings of the Realm). Many large multinationals have also set up here, including, EA, Activision and Blizzard.
There is a very wide spectrum of skills required to work in this sector, and in the wider area of multimedia ranging from the very creative to purely technical, and spanning a wide variety of creative technology skills in between. Courses in Gaming, Multimedia, 3D Design have been developed in order to meet the needs of the sector. Courses in Sound Production and IT Support are constantly evolving to meet the changing needs of industry.
Gaming
Cavan Institute offers a suite of courses in Gaming: Games Design and Games Programming at QQI Level 5 and Games Development at QQI Level 6. These courses cover the full spectrum of games creation for 2D, 3D and Virtual Reality Gaming using Unreal Engine Software from Epic Games.
The Virtual Reality aspect is an exciting new addition to these courses made possible by a new suite of high spec computers and Oculus Rift Headsets and Touch Controllers. Investments like this keeps Cavan Institute at the forefront of games development education and allow students to learn their craft with industry standard hardware and software.
Games programming students are also given the opportunity to prepare for and achieve the much sought after Oracle certification.
Multimedia
Multimedia is also offered at Levels 5 and 6 at Cavan Institute. Areas of study at Level 5 include: web design, video editing, image editing, design, digital marketing and media analysis. Students are also offered the opportunity to acquire certification in the professional qualification ACA (Adobe Certified Associate).
The Level 6 course includes digital video/sound, animation, web technology, responsive web design and multimedia content generation and transmission. Students gain experience in software programs from the Adobe Creative Suite package, Cubase and web development platforms.
Sound Production
Multimedia sound and music technology feature on both gaming and multimedia courses providing opportunities for students interested in creating video game soundtracks and sound for TV, film and radio. These are also offered as part of the QQI Level 5 and 6 Music Production courses at Cavan Institute, during which students also complete the industry recognised BTEC HND in Music Production.
It is envisaged that from September 2018 Cavan Institute will also be a recognised training centre for industry-standard Avid Pro Tools certification.
Computing
Other industry certification offered at Cavan Institute in the broader field of IT includes Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Certification and Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) Certification. Both professional qualifications are offered as part of the IT Support Specialist and IT Support Professional courses.
Cavan Institute selected to present at prestigious eApril International Education Conference in Finland
Cavan Institute was one of just 100 educational practitioners selected from a field of 700 applicants to present at the prestigious eApril international conference which was hosted by the Häme University of Applied Sciences in Hämeenlinna, Finland recently.
The presentation titled “Building an Education Brand and Learning Community Using Social Media” was delivered by Cavan Institute teacher and social media expert Cara McDermott, who was accompanied by college director, Ann Marie Lacey. This topic proved very popular among delegates at the conference and drew attendees from universities and colleges from Germany, the UK, the USA, Finland, Sweden, Brazil and Spain.
Challenged annually with attracting, enrolling and retaining 1300+ new students, Cavan Institute has turned to social media, using platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, Google Tools, Instagram and LinkedIn to connect with current, future and past students, share information and best practice, build a learning community, communicate an education ethos and experience, and convey a quality brand to students, parents, higher education partners and employers.
The Institute was invited to deliver the presentation and share its expertise in this area at a one-day conference organised by the FET sub-committee of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) in January.
Social media was acknowledged by all present as an important method of engaging with and recruiting students to PLC and other FET courses.
Not only does Cavan Institute continue to improve educational practice and learning through its digital marketing and web development courses, it demonstrates best practice in using social media to attract and enrol students from all over the country.
