[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Betty,

Thank you for your post and welcome to this course. I like how you have referred to the old PDST site ‘dlplanning.ie’ – this is a wonderful resource for teachers and school leaders when creating their schools digital learning plans, or when looking at how digital technologies and assistive technologies can be interwoven into the culture of the school. The SETT model is a great tools to help us plan for tailoring the use of assistive technologies to best meet the needs of pupils, and will be explored further alter in the course.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Ruth,

Thank you for your post here and for breaking it down into the main areas outlined in the assessment prompt. I like how you have identified the potential for digital tools to promote collaboration in the classroom, as well as developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The removal of a book or a set procedure for debugging issues allows children to think creativity and engage in a spirit of ‘trial and error’, in which they can build on and learn from their earlier mistakes.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Sadhbh,

Thank you for your post and welcome to the online aspect of this course. I’m sure you will have experienced some sample ways of using digital technologies to create engaging learning experiences earlier in the week. You have raised a key point around the PCF. ‘Being a Digital Learner’ is a key competency that should be developed across all subject areas. Digital learning is not a single subject area, and rather is a lens or medium through which children can extend their learning in all subjects.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Desmond,

Thank you for your post and for outlining your journey with the use of digital technologies. One point you have made that I feel is really important centres on the ‘reflective’ use of digital technologies. It’s so important that we are continuing to evolve and develop our skillsets, but this must be based on the needs of the children in front of us. Developing generic skills that we cannot put to use in the classroom is not the best use of our time. Taking some time to reflect and decide what your priority areas of development should be is a really important step.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Paul,

Thank you for your post. It is undeniable that AI has the potential to cut teacher workload significantly, and writing genres is one area that it really lends itself too. Depending on the prompt, you could model a series of differentiated pieces on different genres and topics. For instance, if you changed you acrostic prompt to ask for a single word to describe Halloween in this form, that may be the most suitable piece of modelling for some children in your class. Whereas, others can use the detail acrostic you have copied here as a basis for creating their own. The potential to personalise and individualise learning really is endless with AI tools.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Claire,

Thank you for your post. As someone who also teaches in an all boys’ school, this is something that I can fully agree with. I find the same exists in some cases with subjects like music and drama also. However, I’d be interested if this also is the case in mixed gender schools. Would the presence of girls who they perceive to be ‘good’ at art exacerbate their feelings towards the subject. Regardless, it points to a wider unconscious gender stereotype around the school subjects that boys and girls should be ‘good’ at. This carries onto to second level, with subjects like home economics and metalwork heavily dominated by one sex.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Mairead,

Thanks for your post. I fully agree with you regarding the potential of digital technology to transform the learning experiences of children. It is constantly evolving, and unfortunately some changes require us to constantly develop and hone our skillset further. The creation of a school based repository is so important – it’s something that can take a few years to properly set up and get full buy-in, but the impact of having a range of bespoke, ready-made digital resources waiting for you when you switch class levels cannot be underestimated.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Declan,

Thank you for your post here and for sharing so much of the great work that is happening with organisations based in Tullamore and around the midlands. You have shared so many suggestions for how a school can help – the idea of student action’ is particularly important. Getting children involved in campaigning and raising awareness around these issues can have a profound effect on building empathy to the plight of others.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Declan,

Thank you for your post here on gender stereotypes. You have raised a key point around ‘unconscious’ bias. Many of the societal issues around gender inequalities are rooted in this. As you have said, boys generally will take on the more physically demanding and labour intensive roles. This then continues as the children grow older and become generational. You have suggested some very doable activities to try to break this cycle and bring gender equality to the fore within schools and classrooms.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Claire,

Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts here. Most teachers will see the value in exploring the themes of development education with their children, but the question of ‘time’ will always be brought up. In an already overpacked curriculum, adding something extra and expecting it to be done well is probably unrealistic. That’s why integration is so important and you’ve provided some simple but effective ways of integrating these themes with the traditional subjects of geography and English.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Pól,

Thanks for your post. Climate action is certainly a very topic area nationally and internationally in recent years, and it is an area that many young people have a significant interest in. Activists like Greta Thunberg have really resonated with young people. I like how your post has acknowledged the importance of teaching children how to cycle, rather than simply promoting cycling. Very often, this can be a barrier without us ever realising.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi James,

Thanks for your post here. I have also used PowerPoint in the past to create social stories for children. I have found it useful to have a master PowerPoint and make a copy each time deleting the slides not necessary for that child. I have found that over a number of years social stories around similar topics are required, with only minor changes needed for my ‘master’ copy, e.g. adding a particular child’s picture, etc. There’s no need to attach your presentation via email, as you have given a detailed description here and exceeded the required word count.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Roisin,

Thanks for your post and congratulations for reaching the end of the course. I think there’s nothing like a school closure day unexpectedly to relate global issues to the lives of individual children. However, despite the initial euphoria they may feel around an extra day off school, it’s important to dig deeper into the reasons for this. As well as making comparisons with other countries, they could take a look at the number of enforced school closure days due to weather in their own school over a significant period of time.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Emma,

Welcome to the course and thank you for your overview here on an introduction to development education. Schools have many priorities in developing children both socially and academically, and it can be very hard to pinpoint a focus for SSE, as there are so many competing areas. All of these have merit in their own right, However, I think your suggestion of a focus on development education could be very powerful. Putting it at the forefront of school life and culture would make a significant statement. With SSE comes accountability and documentation, and it would ensure it is being done throughout the school on a consistent basis.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Aoife,

Thanks for your post here and your participation and engagement throughout the course. You have highlighted what we are all seeing for ourselves in terms of the growing number of extreme weather events, both here and around the world, each year. It’s clear from your post that your school is already taking a number of small, but very effective steps to become more sustainable, and reduce ‘wasting’ electricity. The lights and whiteboards are a huge one in all schools – in many cases these may be on for hours each day needlessly. It’s great to hand control for things like this over to children in senior classes, who are often very willing to enforce such initiatives.

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