[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Aisling,

Welcome to the course. It is certain fair to say that the increased use in digital technologies has led to an increased use of assistive technologies for some students. As you have said, our pupils are going to be living and working within a digital world. As such, they should have experience using tools that may allow them to overcome some challenges (e.g. literacy difficulties) to achieve their full potential. I fully agree that the sheer volume of AT’s out there can be extremely daunting for teachers (and children). I think we should try one tool at a time for a prolonged period, before evaluating its effectiveness and choosing to continue using it or to move onto something new.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Rioghnach,

Thanks for your post. In my opinion, Seesaw ism a superior tool to use in the junior end of the school, for its ease of access and sign-in and the ability to create shorter, snappier activities. However, from 3rd Class up Google Classroom offers you the opportunity to do so much more. I have always found that children will rise to the challenge put in front of them, and that sometimes it is okay to be very optimistic with your lesson ideas. The use of a LMS like Google Classroom means that children can be extended at their own level, and that appropriate challenge is provided for all. Given your setting, Google is a very suitable platform to use at all ages and can really improve home-school links. Video recordings and audio files can be attached to assist parents in helping their children with reading/homework, etc.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Grace,

Thank you for your post and for sharing your SETT plan with us. It is a great idea (especially when starting out) to begin with some basic AI applications, before moving onto more complex and powerful interventions. This provides you and the pupil with the time and space to experiment and become comfortable with the use of AT, and also allows you both to identify elements of AT that are helping the student, and elements that have no impact. Your use of low tech, medium tech and high tech interventions in your SETT plan shows an awareness of the importance of utilising a range of different interventions and tools to assist the child.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Melissa,

Thanks for sharing your notebook with us. You are very right to point out the versatility of OneNote – this is one of its most impressive features. Your maths notebook has incorporated many different modes of consuming information – you have included audio recording links, video, text and written examples. All of these are underpinned by a UDL approach that offers some way for all pupils to access the content. You have also listed many effective ways that it can be used within the classroom – the colour coding suggestion can be very effective for children that do have organisational difficulties, and could mirror the colours used on various textbooks/copies for the same subject, etc.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Maria,

Thank your for your contribution her. Unfortunately, the permissions on the attached document are set to private and access is denied for us. However, you have given a clear overview of the content of the plan in your post. I am drawn to how you have focussed on how challenges with certain activities can cause frustration and erode confidence. This is something we need to avoid at all costs – maintaining positive dispositions and feelings towards particular activities will have a huge bearing on success into the future. The AT’s you have listed are all generally well suited to pupils with specific learning difficulties in literacy, such as dyslexia.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Melissa,

Thanks for your post and for sharing your recording with us. The design is excellent and it clearly is an engaging introduction to the number 5 for younger children. As you have said, Teams is an excellent collaboration tool and can be used by a variety of different teams within a school for sharing resources and planning. School leadership can really prioritise this, and include the use of OneNote to create a series of resources on different themes and topics for each class level. This would make it really easy for new teachers to the school (in terms of working on school plans), and also allow for easier transitions when teachers move between class levels.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Diarmuid,

Welcome to the course. It is certainly fair to say that a high percentage of children really love discussing their own lives and their own interests. Being able to integrate digital skill with this passion is a really good idea, and allows them to showcase creativity in the process. From my experience, Slides and Drawings are the two Google tools that the children enjoy working with the most. They can spend excessive time on the aesthetics of the presentation rather than the content. If this is the case, some limits could be set, e.g. lesson 1 and lesson 2 is for content only, and lesson 3 and 4 could be used for adding backgrounds, themes, animations, etc.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Sharon,

Thank you for your post and for sharing your sample SETT plan with us. The pupil you have identified has some complex communication needs, and both the low tech and high tech interventions you have identified are very suitable. It is important to note that a range of interventions will be required to achieve the desired results, and that we should not simply rely on one form of assistive technology. Identifying strengths and needs within the SETT plan is really useful as it allows you to ‘map’ different interventions to the child, when his/her specific needs and targets are fresh in your head.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Colin,

Thank you for your post and sharing your Forms quiz with us – unfortunately the permissions are set to private. However, your commentary has hit on a number of really excellent features within Forms for assessment. The ability to create different styles of questions and integrate different forms of multimedia means that these assessments can be accessed by a greater number of pupils. Using the assessment quiz to identify areas that classes across a year group are struggling with is great – when analysing the results teachers can work collaboratively to identify any potential solutions to gaps in the learning across the board.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Catherine,

Thank you for your post and contribution here. Congratulations on your recent appointment as principal. I’m sure there are so many elements of the job that are difficult to tackle at first. The adoption of digital technologies (for both teaching and learning, and leadership and management) is something that can really help save you time in the long run. Having a central school database where records, assessments, schemes of work, classroom resources, etc. are kept can really help to promote a culture of collegiality and collaboration. It is certainly a project that will take a number of years, but small steps in the beginning to ensure buy-in will really pay off.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Tara,

Thank you for sharing your notebook with us. You have utilised many of the features of One Note, such as embedding PDF files. The inclusion of a series of worksheets also shows how this could form a core school plan for junior infants that could be shared and passed from teacher to teacher. Each page could be based on a topic, with the required resources enclosed. In terms of student use, it is certainly more suitable for older primary children, and then onto second level. Its use can greatly reduce the need for textbooks and is assured to bring down the school’s photocopying bill.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Noirin,

Thank you for your post and for your comprehensive overview of using the Immersive Reader to assist a child with maths word problems. When we think of the Immersive Reader, we automatically think it is best suited to a reading or SESE lesson. However, you have clearly outlined its usefulness in attacking word problems. Often, children who may struggle with literacy (but are quite competent in numeracy), start to find maths difficult in senior classes. The inclusion of particularly ‘wordy’ problems can cause anxiety and cause a loss of confidence on the subject area. An assistive tool like this could be transformative in maintaining positive dispositions towards the subject.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Leanne,

Welcome to the course! I suppose we hit somewhat of a perfect storm in relation to the integration of digital technologies in primary education in recent years. The funding from the 2015 Digital Strategy, the adoption of the Digital Learning Framework and the arrival of Covid all sent us in the direction of digital. There is huge scope for the use of digital technologies in SET settings – the SETT Framework is really effective at getting you to focus on the learning and map the tool that will best suit them and their environment. It should feed into the Student Support Plan, and reflect actions towards a particular target.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Seán,

Complex problem-solving skill development certainly requires a mixture between online and offline tools. It is quite relevant to all curricular areas, and is a key skill in modern workplaces. I love how you have linked this skill to the assignment of open-ended task where children would have the autonomy to respond using the Workspace tool that they feel is the most appropriate. This is a great way of empowering children, and allowing them to use their strengths to tackle the task or problem at hand.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Colin,

Welcome to the course. Thank you for your detailed contribution here. I really like how you have focus on ‘personal learning experiences’. The use of online platforms such as Google Workspace enables us to create these learning experiences that bit easier. There is more scope for students to take ownership of their own learning, and elements of it could be categorised as self-directed. Your choice of Google Expeditions is anther excellent one. It is amazing to get that first hand experience of landmark locations around the world – there is only a small selection at present but we can only hope that more locations are added over time.

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