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Assignment
Review the paper ‘Redesigning Education: Meeting the Challenges of the 21st Century’ (Hallissy, Butler, Marshall, Hurley, 2013) and consider what learning should look like in today’s classrooms so learners are ready and equipped for the workplaces of tomorrow and develop the necessary (21st Century) skills.
Choose one of the 21st century skills and create a Sway on some ideas for learning opportunities, to enhance that skill with your pupils.
Write a reflective piece (150 words minimum) as a reply to this post on how you are going to focus on developing the particular skill in your classroom. Include a sharing link to the Sway you have created above.
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https://sway.cloud.microsoft/Lul4xkougQkxph2q?ref=Link
Unfortunately, as a school we don’t have the technology or the knowledge for both students and teachers to roll out these fantastic tools. Here is what I have learnt to date.
Digital technology in the Home Economics room enhances learning by making practical lessons more interactive and engaging. Students can use tablets and apps for recipe demonstrations, nutritional analysis, and step-by-step guidance while cooking. Teachers can project videos, use smart boards, and give instant feedback to improve skills. It also supports budgeting tasks and healthy meal planning using digital tools in a practical learning environment. This improves understanding and independence overall.
Digital technology helps students in Home Economics check their own work and improve their skills. They can use apps or online folders to write short reflections after cooking or sewing tasks. They can also take photos or videos of their work to see what they did well and what they need to fix. Teachers can give simple online checklists or rubrics so students can tick off skills like safety, cleanliness, and following instructions. Students can also share work online and get feedback from classmates. Online forms and quizzes help them check what they have learned. Overall, it makes self-evaluation easier and clearer.
Using digital technology in Home Economics at school can improve students’ learning and skills. It helps them find information about food, nutrition, and budgeting more quickly and easily. Students can use apps and websites to plan meals, follow recipes, and manage money. It also makes lessons more interesting because learners can create presentations, videos, or digital projects. This improves creativity and computer skills at the same time. Teachers can assess work more easily when it is done digitally. However, students need to be careful to use reliable information and not all students may have equal access to devices at home or school.
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Hi Jillian,
This is a great example of how valuable ICT can be in the Home Economics classroom. It demonstrates how technology can be applied to real-life skills such as budgeting, researching recipes, and following step-by-step instructions to prepare different meals. These are practical skills that students will undoubtedly use in their everyday lives beyond the classroom, making ICT a meaningful and relevant tool for learning.
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https://sway.cloud.microsoft/snhGaNsV94Am068z?ref=Link&loc=play
Digital technology in the History class can bring history to life. The use of the internet for research, verifying facts, and working on timelines is eased by the push of a button. Students are aware of how to use the internet and as long as we are monitoring their use and progress, it makes a difference to the students’ work and keeps their interest in the topics they are studying. Students can share their work online with the Teacher and their peers, receiving feedback, which is an important element of the CBA’s. Teachers can assess assignments or projects when it is done digitally.
Students, when working online, need to be careful when accessing information; it needs to come from a reputable site so they are able to confirm correct data.
We need to realise that not all students would have access to a device at or in the school environment; some schools have limited availability in the technology dept. and would not have the budget to allow every student to develop their digital skills.
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Hi Carol,
I agree that digital technology can bring History to life particularly at post primary making it much easier for students and as you reference junior cycle to research and engage with historical topics particularly for CBAs. The ability to research information, build timelines and share work digitally can certainly help make learning more interactive and meaningful.
As you noted though it’s important to be mindful of the challenges involved. Digital literacy is about more than using technology, pupils also need to learn how to evaluate sources and identify reliable information online. This has always been a hugely important literacy to develop with students but even more so now with the ubiquitous presence of Generative AI.
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Hi Carol,
I enjoyed reading your reflections. I agree that digital technology can really bring subjects like History to life, but your point about equitable access is an important one.
We have similar challenges in our hospital school, so I’ve been thinking about how we can make the most of the technology we do have. I also like your point about sharing work digitally and receiving feedback—it ties in nicely with encouraging student voice and supporting ongoing reflection.
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HI Jillian, your use of technology in your Home Ec room can greatly improve a student’s knowledge. Using the internet to search for information about food and nutrition is a great learning curve and as long as you are monitoring and guiding the students’ use of tech, it can only benefit their learning.
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One of the 21st century skills I want to develop in my classroom is collaboration. In a special class, this can look different for every child. It might be taking turns, working with a partner, helping a classmate, or using an AAC device to communicate during an activity.
Technology can support this in many ways. We use iPads three times a week for 30 minutes. Some students love them and need clear limits to avoid becoming dysregulated, while others prefer more hands-on activities.
What I find most valuable is how technology gives students different ways to show their learning. Some pupils create detailed drawings to tell stories, while others who struggle with writing will happily type answers on a laptop, create folders, and save their work. One student even creates his own maths questions using emojis.
AAC devices are also a vital part of our classroom, helping students communicate their thoughts, needs, and ideas more independently.
Overall, digital technology, when used in a balanced way, supports collaboration, communication, creativity, and independence for students with complex needs.
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Hi Rose,
Thanks for this post and for your engagement throughout the course. Collaboration is such an important skill for our children, but it is so important to ensure that we have clear expectations around what success might look like. In a special class setting, you will have individual targets for each of the children which allows for tracking and monitoring and incremental improvement over longer periods of time. Children all have learning preferences, and being able to provide diverse learning experiences allows all children greater opportunity to thrive and demonstrate their learning in different ways, as you have alluded to.
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For this activity I chose to focus on communication and collaboration. In a hospital school, these skills can sometimes be more challenging to develop because our pupils are often away from their own classmates and school communities. That makes it even more important to find ways to help them stay connected while they are in hospital.
Creating this Sway made me think about how technology can do much more than simply deliver lessons. Tools like Sway and Microsoft Forms can give pupils opportunities to share their ideas, reflect on their learning and communicate with others. I also included the use of AV1 telepresence robots, which can help children stay involved with their own class when they are well enough. Even small opportunities to interact with classmates can make a big difference to a child’s confidence and sense of belonging.
Looking ahead, I would like to build more opportunities into my teaching where pupils are creating and sharing, rather than just completing activities. Even if a student is only with us for a short time, they can still communicate their learning and stay connected with their own school.
This also links well with our School Self-Evaluation work. I can use Microsoft Forms to gather pupil feedback and see which approaches they find most engaging. Hopefully, some of these ideas can also be shared with colleagues as we continue to develop digital learning across the school.
Unfortunately, my MS365 Ed account does not allow me to share outside of my organisation.
Screenshot of Sway overview:
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Hi Fergal,
Thank you for this post and for your participation throughout the course. Your work context is certainly unique, and it is brilliant that you have been able to discover some ways in which the 365 tools can assist you and your children with communication and collaboration. Children have such a strong longing for belonging and connection, and any small action that we can take to enhance this should be grabbed with both hands. I love the idea of the robotics being utilised to maintain this communication and connection when children are away from their home classrooms.
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