REfIT , Religious Education from Information Technology

REfIT (Religious Education from Information Technology) was formed in November 1997 to look at the future of RE and IT, and discuss how information and communications technology would affect the teaching of RE. The original idea for the REfIT came out of a series of discussions under the aegis of the RE Futures Project set up on the 10th anniversary of the PCfRE (Professional Council for Religious Education) in 1995. From the communications module of the Futures Project came the recommendation for an RE and IT project. It was agreed that Farmington would look for funding and that the PCfRE would run the project. The Dulverton Trust agreed to provide £20,000 over three years, and REfIT was born. The aim of the REfIT Project was to 'develop and encourage the effective use of IT'. The participants wished to establish a network of those involved in ICT for RE; encourage the dissemination of classroom teaching materials; monitor and disseminate new technical developments; explore the potential European dimension of IT in RE; and consider 'the ethics, morals and spirituality of IT as a part of the whole school curriculum'. Led by the Project Director Jeremy Taylor, the fifteen-strong Project Team consisted of primary and secondary teachers, lecturers, examiners and IT experts. The project set up a website which held a database of interested teachers; case studies of RE lessons taught using ICT; articles on the use of ICT in RE; and the 'RE Web', a mapping of RE resources on the Internet. A CDRom was produced containing teacher information, classroom resources, case studies and the 'Children Talking' database. REfIT also formed links with numerous national bodies, including the DfEE, QCA, Ofsted and the TTA. there were also strong links with BECTa (British Education and Communications Technology Agency). Its members made significant contributions to conference, wrote articles for relevant publications, and set up courses to diseminate its work and ideas. The Project was extended for an extra year, holding its final meeting in November 2002. The REfIT website is at http://refit.ucsm.ac.uk/start.html.