[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Eimear,

It is certainly true to speak about some increased heat in summers of the recent past, with the next week looking like exceeding that in some parts. This, coupled with extreme floods and drought-like conditions across different parts of the US shows just how pertinent this issue is in our lives. Small, collective actions that are taken on a large scale can have a huge impact in arresting these changes – this is reflected in your 3 suggestions which all focus on making changes at a local level, which can hopefully be replicated on a larger scale.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Aisling,

Thank you for your post. You are very welcome to this course. It’s great that you can see much of your practice reflected in the ‘formality’ of the SSE Process and Digital Learning Framework. Seeing these as an affirmation of the great practice going on in our classrooms is so important for furthering our engagement with digital technologies, and AT in particular. The SETT model is an excellent framework for allowing us to think about the tool in question and consider how it meets the needs of the specific learners we are targeting in our class. Using this, through both formal recording and informal prompt questions, can enhance our use of AT.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Mel,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences with us here. I’m sure there are many of us on this course who can attest to have experienced similar things relating to gender stereotyping. Despite children not being explicitly taught that something is ‘girly’ or ‘manly’, the way in which they experience society leads to them forming these opinions and thoughts at a remarkably young age. The ‘new baby’ packs sold by many businesses will be categorised as pink and blue, with dolls potentially included in the ‘baby girl’ pack, etc. It takes us time to challenge these and looking at development education themes in school can be a great way of achieving this.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi James,

It’s right to say that there was a huge amount of content to take in during this module, with the same being true of many courses in this field. It is certainly one to save as a PDF and refer back to at different points in the year. I always find that there is only ever one or two things you can immediately take from any CPD session and implement – however, going back a few months later can jog my memory. With regards to Google, Gemini is the competitor and equivalent of CoPilot. Your school admin is likely to need to approve its use for school email address but this can be done by one click in the admin console.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Caitriona,

Thank you for your post and for sharing with us your experience of welcoming such a large group of IPAS children to your school in one go last year. You have hit on a very important point regarding the publicity associated with organisations doing so much to help those in such need – it is almost non-existent. There is so much good in society and it is important that this work is also highlighted. It is heartening to see so many groups and organisations mentioned on this forum who are carrying out that work all across the country.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Audrey,

Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing some of the wonderful work you are doing in your school to promote inclusion and social justice, The incorporation of project-based work gives the children real ownership over the course of their learning, and it is clear that the learning experiences they are offered through these are rich and engaging – I love the sound of the work you completed around human rights. last year. The forging of close home-school links and developing these through regular interactions and events with parents provides the perfect opportunity for extending the learning into the home and community.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Adrienne,

Thank you for your post and contribution here. Gradebook has been a staple of mine in the classroom over the past number of years and I couldn’t speak highly enough of the information it has provided me on student achievement over the course of a term/year. There are just so many Google tools that integrate seamlessly with Classroom to create an engaging learning environment that promotes child-led learning. Newer tools, such as Notebook LM, are only adding to this and with the rate of change in AI tools, we can expect more tools over the coming years.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Vera,

Thanks for your post here. I like how you have explicitly linked to SDG with goals and targets that can be achieved within the school and would be specifically related to benefiting the school in terms of sustainable practices. Whilst engaging with this, you have also noted the possibility for expanding the learning through projects – learning around supply chains could be particularly interesting and enlightening for older children.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Emma,

Thank you for this contribution. Scratch Junior is a really excellent option to introduce the basics to younger children. It works very well on iPad – there are a number of short books available that take you through sequences of lessons that will enable the children to operate it independently and create more complex stories by themselves. In terms of accessibility you have raised an excellent point around multi-sensory approaches being beneficial for all children. It is rare that only one children will benefit from particular accommodations which means we shouldn’t shy away from introducing these to all children in a class.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Mary,

Thanks for your post here. It is so valuable to have specific groups of children to be thinking of when exploring an AI tool. Having a purpose in mind is key to exploring the effectiveness of these tools, as often aimless exploration can leave us with more questions than answers. Involving the children themselves in this learning and creating problems that are embedded in a real-life context and relevant to the children is actually listed under the ‘applying and problem solving’ element of the PMC. Sometimes a small switch in the wording of a problem can be all it takes to see it in a different light and aid exploration.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Brian,

Welcome to the course and thank you for your contribution here. The phrase ‘today’s expert is tomorrow’s novice’ is one that rings so true when talking about the evolution of AI in recent years. This is what makes professional development in this field so challenging. We need to be developing transferable skills, thinking about ethical issues and other matters when looking at upskiling in this field. You have referred to a number of huge positives around the use of AI by teachers in this post and the subsequent modules will explore how various AI tools can be utilized for this purpose.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Bianca,

Thank you for your post here. It’s great that you have been able to see the benefits of using Magic School and the specific areas where it can help you as a special class teacher. The sheer variety of resource available and the different layouts available in Magic School makes it a real ‘one stop shop’ when it comes to creating classroom resources and learning materials. Indeed, you have also pointed to other uses of AI within the special class setting, particularly around the creation of assessments. The sheer time this can save us as teachers is something we need to embrace.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Fiona,

Thank you for your post here and for your engagement throughout the course. I think the content of your post speaks to this – the acknowledgment that a variety of AI-tools can be used in combination to create the resources required for the ideal lesson is an important recognition. In much the same way as a number of textbooks on the same subject from different publishers will have different takes on certain topics, AI tools will be the same. Dipping in and out of your repository of AI tools is something that will benefit you going forward and allow you to create the most effective learning experiences possible for your classes.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Barbara,

Thank you for your post and your contribution to the discussion here. The use of SDG13 is particularly pertinent as children have a number of reference points in their own locality to point to when it comes to the impact of climate change, and the extreme weather events brought by this. The interconnected nature of global citizens was referred to in Module 1, and it becomes really important here. Small actions at a local level, as you have pointed out, can have a significant impact if they are undertaken by global citizens all around the world.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Caitriona,

Whilst Shane’s post below focused on the importance of developing responsible global citizens,. you have highlighted another key point around global interconnectedness. Acknowledging and understanding the interconnected nature of the world is essential when looking at these development education themes. Global inequalities might be less apparent in Ireland than other countries in the world, but this does not mean that we don’t or can’t have a role to play in tackling these. Creating those links as responsible global citizens is a key aim of development education.

[Author]

Posts