Last week (Tuesday 24th May) saw the launch of an online resource for international students travelling to Ireland at the Institute of Technology Tralee. The project entitled “Live and Learn in Ireland—Digital Supports for International Students” is funded by the National Forum for the Enhancement for Teaching and Learning (NFTL) and has produced a number of interactive online units that will assist international students in making the transition in to Ireland to live and study. This is a collaborative Southern Cluster project that brought together students, academics and professional staff from University College Cork, Cork IT, Waterford IT and Carlow IT led by the E-Learning Development and Support Unit (EDSU) at IT Tralee.

Commenting at the event Project Co-ordinator Tony Murphy said, “We launched four online units that cover the academic, social and practical challenges that international students may face on coming to Ireland. The development of these units was based on extensive primary research and consultation with industry and sector experts. These units, which reflect what international students told us they would have liked to have known more about before coming to Ireland, will be made available to all future international students through the Higher Education Institutes they are attending”.

In 2012, Education in Ireland estimated that there were around 32,000 international students studying in Ireland and that International education was estimated to contribute €1 billion to the Irish economy. 

During the event three international students studying at IT Tralee  Yun Peng, Pei Yu Loh, Xu Wang, who are from Malaysia and China spoke about their experiences of studying in Ireland, who spoke about the warm welcome they had received in Ireland and how much they will miss the people but that the weather could be better.