Following on the success of the Internet and e-mail skills courses developed by MMID for Down Syndrome Ireland, the organisation has recently been awarded funding from the office of the Taoiseach under the BenefIT scheme to develop a further four e-learning courses as well as a web portal to serve as a repository for the modules.

MMID is currently developing Know your Computer, Mouse Skills, Keyboard Skills and Screen Skills. The four new courses are aimed at young people with Down Syndrome and focuses on basic IT skills for the less experienced. Club DSI, the new Down Syndrome Ireland youth portal, will not only give parent, tutors or students easy access to a total of 11 courses but will also provide a safe communication platform for young people with Down Syndrome to interact with each other. More on this exciting project in the next issue.

MMID has completed its first project for Cork's Lifetime lab. The visitor attraction boasts two large educational interactive installations. Over 40,000 children have already used the facility to-date. The first installation focuses on Waste whilst the second one focuses on Water. Multimedia Instructional Design was commissioned to repair and enhance the current exhibits in making them more robust and user-friendly. This is further evidence of the broad range of skills at MMID. More about Lifetime Lab at www.lifetimelab.ie

John Treacy was born in Villierstown, County Waterford, and went on to win a silver medal in the men's marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Waterford County Council is organising a 10 mile run with the support of the athlete. MMID was asked to develop an identity for the event for use across a variety of media including T-Shirts, Signage, Print and the web. Waterford County Council has also officially launched the Waterford Tourism Website (also designed by MMID) this month. More about the John Treacy 10 Mile Classic and Waterford Tourism at www.waterfordtourism.ie

MMID has developed five new courses for this year's series of on-line summer courses for primary teachers delivered through CPD College, an MMID subsidiary. The existing range of courses has also been updated with many new resources bringing this summer's range to 12 engaging courses to choose from. More on CPD for Primary Teachers on the newly re-designed CPD College website.

MMID is also delighted to announce that following the outstanding success of the CPD College Jolly Phonics course for Irish Primary Teachers, Chris Jolly, Sue Lloyd and the team at Jolly Phonics are working with MMID to further develop this course for international delivery.