Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
With so many amazing applications of AI into teaching outlines across this entire course, I am excited to start using it, but I think I will be taking the suggestion of Kate up above and choosing a smaller selection to incorporate into my teaching, and add more as I become more familiar with them expanding the ones I use. One I know I will begin to use immediately is Microsoft reading coach, I will be introducing it in our ICT time straight away, with the intention of it becoming something the children can use in many ways. I also will be using co-pilot – having explored it throughout the course, I find it easy to use and the results are usually very accurate for their intentions. I will be using it as an image creator, quiz generator, to draft lesson plans, and to take some admin tasks – such as creating timetables, something I hate doing, off my hands and save me time. I will use quizizz alongside it to make quick and easy assessments – children will enjoy the online versions of assessment too.
I also hope to make use of Diffit and Gamma to help in preparing my resources, I’ve created a couple of powerpoints on Gamma just to see how it works and its so quick and easy, and I think the variety Diffit will lend to my teaching will be very beneficial and time saving.
When I am comfortable with these I hope to expand to using any of the other applications I’ve learned about – Magic school is one I am interested in but is so broad it will take time to explore and find what I will use most. I’d also like to make use of One note for students using ICT, teachable machine and Twee. I think students would really enjoy exploring and learning to use scratch too.
For my lesson integrating AI I will use an idea from module 4 that I thought was very clever and that the children would respond well to.
Objectives:
Become familiar with the concept of AI and recognize its presence in everyday technology, and understand that it can learn and make decisions.
Learn what prompts are and how specific and detailed prompts impact the outcome.
Actively participate in generating AI images and explore the importance of clear detailed prompts.
Introduction
Use the interactive whiteboard to introduce the concept of AI to the students, using simple language and relatable examples. Talk about types of AI the children have encountered.
Discuss internet safety and recap on information that should not be shared online.
Introduce the children to the concept of prompts. I will explain that prompts are the instructions we give the AI. Give examples such as ‘draw a cat’.
Show how clear and detailed prompts give more specific prompts. Divide the class into groups to allow them to make the prompt more specific and compare results together.
Show the class a picture created earlier by AI, using a detailed prompt.
Set the class an individual challenge to write the prompt they think describes the image.
Hold a ‘contest’ to see who can generate the most similar image. Offer a prize for the winner.
Conclusion
Discuss what the class have learned about writing prompts, and what they found made their prompts more/less effective.
Recap on internet safety and remind the class of what information they should not give to an AI app, such as personal information or names.
The Application from this module that I would like to introduce to my class this year is scratch programming. It encourages the children to us problem solving skills, emphasises the importance of steps in procedural writing, encourages creativity and of course introduces coding as a concept to young children.
I would use my interactive whiteboard to introduce the children to scratch, during our classes ICT time when each child will have access to a device. I will begin by showing the children how to choose their ‘sprite’ then allowing them a few minutes to experiment with it.
Next I would demonstrate how to add blocks to the script area to give the sprite directions, such as moving left or right. I would show them how to add control blocks, such as ‘when space bar is pressed’. I would show the class how to add a repeat block, and a final block to stop the sprite disappearing off the screen. I would allow them time to experiment with this again, while moving around the room, giving assistance and observing.
Finally I would issue a challenge, such as a series of instructions using new sprites, and give them time to see if they can adapt what they have learned to the new sprites and new instructions.
Depending on the class and their ability levels, I would most likely assign pairs for this challenge, to allow collaboration.
This lesson could be following up with a task to create an animation of their choosing, to be presented to classmates, where children are free to explore different backgrounds, sprites, instructions and steps.There was so much useful information on AI applications in this module, I will be using many of them this year.
One I could immediately see being very useful is the Microsoft reading coach – I teach in a large and diverse school, and we often have several children in the class who do not participate in religion lessons. I can see Microsoft reading coach being a fantastic tool for this time, it will be so easy to set children work that is productive, and easily differentiated, many of the children are EAL students and this would set work at an appropriate level and allow them to advance their fluency. I love how Microsoft reader will also allow the children a sense of independence over their learning, as they choose topics, see their own progress, and how words they struggle with are seamlessly included in the next passage, so they can revisit them without it denting their confidence. It is something I will be able to begin using immediately in September.
Diffit is another tool I am excited to explore and implement – in creating lessons on a topic I could never produce such variety and fun in my lessons as Diffit offers, my imagination cannot compete with AI! I feel it will make my teaching so much more engaging, not to mention leave me with more time and energy to dedicate to the children themselves, having saved it making the resources etc.
I feel like there are so many possible uses for AI in the classroom, in all aspects of teaching, learning and assessment but it is going to take time and a lot of exploration to find what works best for me, how best to use prompts, or edit the results, and to find ways to incorporate it into my teaching.
I have used social stories often in the past with students, but I always find writing them time consuming as I start and restart, the social story generator will be invaluable to my teaching in the future. Copilot image generator is a tool I have spent far too much time exploring today, it is really fascinating – I love the idea of using it for descriptive writing lessons, and I cannot wait to find more uses for it. And I’m sure the school debating team will get great use out of the speaker coach.
And I may never write a word problem again!
One way I feel AI could transform my teaching is by increasing my efficiency when it comes to administration tasks, I will certainly be using it going forward to help draft my lesson plans, however, I can see from the examples shown that it may take me some time and practice to make sure my prompts are worded properly and with sufficient detail before I can have AI generate lesson plans that don’t need significant tweaking from me!
I love the idea of using applications such as Microsoft or google forms to generate assessments, then have them corrected, returned and the data organised for me. I imagine that I can use it for IT time with my class as a very quick way to assess and inform learning, but again, it is something I will need to to work on and figure out how best to use it.
I think immersive reader is a fantastic app and would benefit students with reading difficulties or EAL students, particularly in subjects such as SESE or maths where reading might not be the focus of the lesson but may still be presenting a challenge – this would be a great way to give a sense of independence to these learners and allow them to engage in the lesson, boosting their confidence and self esteem. However many of my students might also find using immersive reader itself difficult, and I would need to spend significant time making sure each student using it is comfortable and competent – something the SET teacher may be able to help with.
In recent years I have had students with dyslexia and visual impairments use a laptop day to day in the classroom, and organisation is something that they have all found challenging – I think the use of an app such as OneNote would be a great way to counter this.
Of course access to IT equipment is always going to present another challenge, but in our school we have a great system of sharing the equipment which means every class gets regular ICT time.
The potential uses for AI in the classroom are innumerable.
Using generative AI can make a teacher more efficient, by cutting down the time spent on tasks such as drafting emails, make them more productive, by using them to create lesson plans, analyse documents and data, summarise large volumes of information, and creative – by using it to generate new ideas.
One of my favourite suggestion from this module is a way in which it can prompt learners with ‘blank page syndrome’, a learner who is struggling to get started on something can use AI to generate ideas and give themselves a jumping off point, something I would find invaluable myself.
It would also be a very useful tool in helping to prepare and deliver assessments – When trying out the various bots we were introduced to to see how they work, I found that assessment was easily and readily included in the lesson plans and ideas presented – and while I realise that I will need a lot of practise in correctly wording my prompts to get to what I need, I feel that this is something that will become a second nature part of teaching, just like internet use or interactive whiteboards have been throughout the years.
As long as teachers are careful to guard the privacy of students, and AI is used in a way that is ‘reliable, fair, safe and trustworthy’, it will become an integral part of teaching and learning going forward.
Consider how many Songs / Poems /Art can you think of to connect us with the Night Sky?
Thinking about this I could immediately name many poems I’ve read over the years referencing the night Sky, the stars or the moon;
John Keats – ‘Bright Star, Would I as Steadfast as thou Art’
Emily Dickensen – ‘AH, Moon and Star’
Sylvia Plath, ‘Stars over Dordogne’
Even when the moon and stars are not the topic of poems they are often used in metaphors or to set scenes, such as in Kavanaghs ‘In Memory of my Mother’, where he talks about the ‘ricks against the moonlight’, or in the famous Wordsworth poem ‘Daffodils’, he compares them to stars – ‘Continuous as the stars that shine, and twinkle on the Milky Way’.
In music I could also immediately name many songs, from across many genres and times, that feature the night sky.
From more modern songs such as Coldplay’s ‘Sky full of Stars’, and ‘Yellow’, (‘Look at the stars, look how they shine for you,’), Or One Republic’s ‘Counting Stars’. To others across the last 50 or so years –
Lee Ann Rimes – ‘Can’t Fight the Moonlight’
Thin Lizzy – ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’
Frank Sinatra – ‘Fly Me to the Moon’
And even back as far as Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’, the night Sky has been a popular feature of many songs. When I asked my husband the same question he immediately thought of ‘Twinkle Twinkle,’ one I hadn’t even considered, but a popular one in my house with small children!
However, when I thought about Art featuring the night Sky, I found it much more difficult to think of examples beyond ‘Starry Night’ which was surprising. A small bit of internet research soon showed me that there was plenty to be found, Van Gogh had many other paintings of or featuring the night sky – ‘Road with Cypress and Star’, ‘Café terrace at Night’, and Starry Night over the Rhone’, were a few, along with
Winslow Homer – ‘Moonlight’
JMW Turner – ‘Fishermen at Sea’
James McNeill Whistler – ‘Nocturn, Blue and Gold’
All paintings made striking and effective with their depictions of the night sky.
I was also not surprised to see, with a quick search on Etsy, there are over 1000 paintings available to buy of the moon, stars or sky at night, proving that it is not a subject of the past, but one still heavily influencing artists today.
Consider how many Songs / Poems /Art can you think of to connect us with the Night Sky?
Thinking about this I could immediately name many poems I’ve read over the years referencing the night Sky, the stars or the moon;
John Keats – ‘Bright Star, Would I as Steadfast as thou Art’
Emily Dickensen – ‘AH, Moon and Star’
Sylvia Plath, ‘Stars over Dordogne’
Even when the moon and stars are not the topic of poems they are often used in metaphors or to set scenes, such as in Kavanaghs ‘In Memory of my Mother’, where he talks about the ‘ricks against the moonlight’, or in the famous Wordsworth poem ‘Daffodils’, he compares them to stars – ‘Continuous as the stars that shine, and twinkle on the Milky Way’.
In music I could also immediately name many songs, from across many genres and times, that feature the night sky.
From more modern songs such as Coldplay’s ‘Sky full of Stars’, and ‘Yellow’, (‘Look at the stars, look how they shine for you,’), Or One Republic’s ‘Counting Stars’. To others across the last 50 or so years –
Lee Ann Rimes – ‘Can’t Fight the Moonlight’
Thin Lizzy – ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’
Frank Sinatra – ‘Fly Me to the Moon’
And even back as far as Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’, the night Sky has been a popular feature of many songs. When I asked my husband the same question he immediately thought of ‘Twinkle Twinkle,’ one I hadn’t even considered, but a popular one in my house with small children!
However, when I thought about Art featuring the night Sky, I found it much more difficult to think of examples beyond ‘Starry Night’ which was surprising. A small bit of internet research soon showed me that there was plenty to be found, Van Gogh had many other paintings of or featuring the night sky – ‘Road with Cypress and Star’, ‘Café terrace at Night’, and Starry Night over the Rhone’, were a few, along with
Winslow Homer – ‘Moonlight’
JMW Turner – ‘Fishermen at Sea’
James McNeill Whistler – ‘Nocture, Blue and Gold’
All paintings made striking and effective with their depictions of the night sky.
I was also not surprised to see, with a quick search on Etsy, there are over 1000 paintings available to buy of the moon, stars or sky at night, proving that it is not a subject of the past, but one still heavily influencing artists today.
How would you engage your learners to explore biodiversity in the local area?
Having explored the topic of biodiversity, what it is and why it is important, with nature walks in our local park, I would use some of the activities from the Laois County Council booklet – ‘Gardening for Biodiversity’, as they are all very simple and achievable, yet effective. I think actively engaging in encouraging biodiversity, especially with the aid of a book produced locally to the school, would really engage young learners. I especially liked the suggestions –planting pollinators, wildflower patch, plant native trees – grow willow from cuttings, and Bird feeders, as they are all ideas that could be easily implemented around the green areas of our school.
To then look at the possible impacts of light pollution of biodiversity, I would introduce the topic of nocturnal vs diurnal animals, using the Esero lesson 30 plan and resources. I would then encourage the children to engage in the ‘exploring’ section – leaving on a light at a window and observing what insects are attracted to it, or taking a walk after dark to observe if any bats/insects are attracted to streetlights they see, and take note of what type of lights they are, and what colour.
Based on any findings made, we would then have a class discussion on the effects of light pollution on insects we have observed, and from there we could discuss the possible effects on nocturnal birds and animals that can be found in our locality.
How is light pollution affecting my local area?
I am very fortunate to be living in a rural part of Ireland, we have no street lights or lit up buildings in the area, and so do not suffer from much glare, light trespass or clutter. At night we can general see the stars and moon quite clearly, something my family really appreciates. However, despite being a good distance from the nearest town or built up area, we do experience sky glow in certain areas, and it does intrude on the views of the sky – something that is increasing over the years as nearby areas become more built up and creep closer to where we live.
In contrast, I teach in a large town, where most of my learners experiences are very different – I’m sure many of them would not remember seeing a clear view of the stars from their garden or window, except perhaps during a powercut! This was really brought to my attention after the recent show of northern lights I watched from my bedroom window – but almost none of my students were as fortunate.
I think there are some great tools in this module to engage my learners to explore this – the Mayo dark skies video – Time to protect the night would be a fantastic starting point to introduce the topic of light pollution. I think the questions to prompt children to explore light pollution from their own home would drive home the relevance of the topic for them. And the design challenge – to think about light pollution in their school or home, and make a plan to reduce it – would encourage them to consider that they could have an impact on light pollution themselves.
Plan to observe the moon;
I would introduce the topic using Kwl chart, then watch the ESA Paxi video to introduce the topic in fun way. To then keep the fun and remembering a certain ad from my childhood I would pass out some jaffa cakes (or suitable alternative!) and see if we could recreate the different phases of the moon, and name them.
Using timeanddate.com I can see that the last quarter of the moon should be visible from the 24th September.
I would then Head outside with my class to make our observations – fingers crossed for a clear day! If the weather doesn’t cooperate I would use the stellarium app to show the class that night’s moon on the whiteboard.
If weather permits we would all draw and label the moon as we see outside, or if it doesn’t, do the same using the stellarium app, before playing a game where we work together to pin the correct names on pictures of the moon cut from paper, to make a nice display for our classroom.
The Stellarium app would also be a great resource to download onto our class chromebooks, as something the children could check and explore during free ICT time regularly – I have downloaded it to my phone already and am finding it so interesting!
Construct a sun dial;
I would choose a hopefully sunny week for this lesson. I would take the children to the yard and encourage them to study their shadows; explore what side they are on in relation to the sun and trace around them with chalk. I would then choose a place in our yard (we are fortunate to have lots of yard space that is unobstructed, and a second small yard space used for quieter activities) and use the stick and bucket shown in the video, and visit with the class every hour throughout the day to mark with chalk where the shadows are and the corresponding times. I think this lesson would then intergrate nicely with some construction for art, using lollipop sticks, a template for the times such as the one in the video, and some marla, where the children could create individual sundials to take home, to discuss what they have learned with their grown up.
I also love the idea of creating a more permanent sundial, using a broom handle and a piece of plywood that the children could design and decorate with paint. We have a lovely green space next to our school polytunnels that would be perfect to place it.