Ciarán Mc Cormack
Ciaran McCormack holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Degree in Film and Television from the National Film School at the Institute of Art, Design and Technology Ireland. He also has a Masters in Education from Dublin City University, graduating with honours, specialising in Digital Learning. For the past 15 years he has been a member of the Society of Irish Magicians and has performed at over 800 shows. In 2000 he launched Magic Inc Productions; a digital media company. As Creative Director for Magic Inc. he was responsible for the design, creation and broadcast of corporate digital media content for leading Irish companies.
His unique combination of knowledge in the areas of education, film and magic has allowed him to develop a distinctive approach to developing Digital Media programmes for adults and children alike. His distinctive style and approach allows him to draw inspiration from what could be described as the most unlikely sources – which he refers to as “The Art of Misdirection of Learning”.
Since 2003 he has been the Creative Director of the FÍS (Film in Schools) Project. Over the years his remit has extended to development of a ‘family of inter-related projects’ under the umbrella of the FÍS Community. Key tasks have been to develop new innovative digital media projects for a pan european audience, to co-ordinate and design professional development courses for media professionals, academics, teachers and graduates in all areas using digital media as a curriculum integration tool. In particular, he has been responsible for devising and co-ordinating projects such as the Community Digital Media Centre ( www.cdmc.ie ), the FIS Bookclub, an online digital bookclub for primary schools ( www.FÍSbookclub.ie ), Eurocreator, a european platform for secondary schools to ‘create and share digital media’ ( www.eurocreator.com ) and he has also secured the Irish agency for the national rollout of Digital Creator courses from the British Computer Society ( www.digitalcreator.ie ).
Ciaran has travelled extensively training CEO's and educational leaders on the importance of digital media integration. A highly experienced keynote speaker whose recent appearances include the EU Digital Media Forum in Brussels – "Digital Creativity – Whats next?”, the ENIS conference in Copenhagen – "Eliminating the Digital Divide", "Podcasting and the Future" in Malmoe, Sweden and the 19th annual conference in Valencia of the European Distance and e-Learning Network (EDEN). He also presented the FÍS methodology to a UNESCO conference in Cairo.
In addition, Ciaran is a certified Pro Apps Trainer, Certified Sales Trainer and qualified as an Apple Professional Development in Education expert. He has been Master of Ceremonies at several international educational conferences and education leadership summits attended by educators, principals, deans and CEOs from all over Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the USA.
In collaboration with Butler, D. & Leahy, M., Ciaran published “Redefining Book Reviews for the Digital Era. Contemporary Issues in Technololgy Education.” http://www.citejournal.org/