Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a lunch time Visiting Scholars seminar in the National Institute for Digital Learning (NIDL) in DCU. The NIDL consists of three units– the Open Education Unit, the Teaching Enhancement Unit and the National Digital Research Network. Their website is a very interesting place and you can sign up […]
End of Year – A Time for Reflection Read More »
Most teachers in Ireland have been there! We all know the scenario! A typical miserable, wet winter’s Friday afternoon and the pupils haven’t been to the yard at lunch time. The classroom is gloomy, the pupils are restless and the going home bell is still a good two hours away! An ideal opportunity to take the
Virtually Anywhere Read More »
The need for joined up thinking in relation to the use of digital technology in our education system In late October the High Level Group on the Modernisation of Higher Education published their latest report to the European Commission on New modes of learning and teaching in higher education. This is the second report from
Joining the Dots…Digital Technology in our Education System Read More »
Supporting Teenage Digital Creativity Young people today are often referred to as Digital Natives or having grown up digital. However all too often many Irish teenagers don’t have sufficient opportunities to develop their digital media skills in school. Yet teenagers today use digital technology regularly outside of school mainly to consume media and to communicate
At the moment in some Primary schools and Coder Dojo clubs there is raised interest in the new version of Scratch; this version can be accessed online at scratch.mit.edu. The new version has lots of wonderful features however the one major fault with is is that it is extremely difficult to use it on an
Anyone for Hopscotch? Read More »
The Internet is all-pervasive in today’s world and it is increasingly becoming an essential element of all our lives. There is now a real need to educate all in society on how to use this powerful technology in meaningful ways. All too often people only use it to navigate and consume other people’s ideas and
Web Literacy Classes from Mozilla Read More »
CoSN (the Consortium for School Networking) has a mission to help North American education leaders understand the power of educational technology to improve teaching and learning in first and second level schools in the United States and Canada. CoSN sent a delegation to visit Portugal last October (18 to 26 October 2013) to learn at first
CoSN – Reinventing Learning in Portugal: An Ecosystem Approach Read More »
I recently came across a free online course from HP! It’s a 5 module / 5 hour course with some interesting content. Ok! Up front! It’s definitely aimed at the American education sector as it constantly refers to the new US Common Core State Standards (CCSS), especially in module 2; however as I mentioned in
Teaching with Technology Read More »
Last month Google unveiled a new development for Google Drive (Google’s web-based office suite) called Add-ons. Essentially this introduces an app store for Google Drive, although it is only in place for Google Docs and Google Sheets at this time. Add-ons are tools created by third-party developers that greatly expand the capabilities of Docs and
Docs and Sheets Add-ons Read More »
Thanks to the massive upsurge in MOOCs and VLEs in general, there are now hugely diverse learning options to challenge and engage students at every level and across a growing variety of subjects. Students, teachers and lifelong learners alike have immediate access to a cornucopia of online learning, available with or without certification. All students
Online Learning Communities for High Potential Learners Read More »
