There is no doubting that Literacy and Numeracy in Education has been placed at centre stage in recent of months. This drive for improvement in standards is here to stay and yet I as a teacher am not sure where to begin. Circular 0056/2011 describes the initial steps to be taken by schools from January […]
Assessment for Learning using e-Portfolios Read More »
Teachers sharing good practice within their profession Last Monday evening, November 7th, I had the pleasure to attend the launch of, Enhancing Literacy and Numeracy with ICTs in Dublin West Education Centre by Junior Minister Mr. Brian Hayes. This publication, which was also supported by Navan Education Centre, contains a total of 18 chapters, all
Enhancing Literacy and Numeracy with ICTs Read More »
One of the costs that schools have to think about is printing costs. It used to be a simple affair in that one would buy an inkjet printer for every classroom. However, laser printers and networked photocopiers have come down in price to a huge extent so should schools move away from having individual printers
Centralised School Printing Read More »
Sometimes it is good to learn in class with something seasonal. For students who need to practice their keyboarding skills, the typing games at FreeTypingGames are simple, intuitive and fun. There is enough variety to satisfy every sort of learner, and they can continue the practice as homework. As this screen shot shows, the current
Seasonal fun developing keyboard skills – Happy Halloween to all! Read More »
I recently came across a class behaviour tool called “Class Dojo”. It is UK based and it is currently in beta testing. Any teacher participating in the beta testing will be allowed to use the product free of charge once it is fully up and running. I’ve tinkered about with Class Dojo and I’m impressed
Real-time Behaviour Management Web 2.0 tool Read More »
This week saw the publication of the Irish Times 50 Most Influential People in Education List. It got me thinking as to those individuals who may not necessarily have an immediate level of influence but whose work could impact significantly on the way in which our children learn in the future. Someone who would definitely
Kinect2Scratch – Teaching Programming using the Kinect & Scratch Read More »
During the summer I completed the INTO Digital Bootcamp in King’s College, Dublin. From the moment we walked in the door on the first morning we were bombarded with ideas on digital learning in our own classrooms. One in particular that appealed to me as a great starting point was the animation workshop. Having only
Animation in the Classroom Read More »
There are a number of software packages that I always install on a new computer when I’m first setting it up. One of these is a free application called SUPER, which stands for Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer. Basically SUPER is a free piece of software which can be used to convert a video
SUPER Conversion Software Read More »
The Tarsia programme is a free download that enables the user to make a kinaesthetic test in which students can match up correct pairs of facts or questions with answers. The maker has control of the difficulty of the test to be generated, and there is a choice of format – triangular or rectangular jigsaw,
Testing with a Tarsia Twist Read More »
In my last post I looked at some Web 2.0 resources and said I would continue with some others. But as it’s holiday time I abandoned that idea and instead decided to focus on something for the holidays! Whether you are travelling far afield or staying put in Ireland this little device will make your