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Hi Michael,
Welcome to the course. MyMaps is something that I have started using over the past year and find brilliant in the classroom. I generally use it for history and tracking the location of journeys/events in history. It is effective for comparing events in Irish history, e.g. the fighting that took place in the Easter Rising v the War of Independence. They can them compare the areas of the fighting and make deductions/inferences based on this. There is huge opportunities for skill development across geography, history and maths within this tool.
Hi Clare,
Welcome to the course! This sounds like an excellent idea. As a junior infant teacher this sounds like it could be quite labour-intensive on you. Potentially the use of a tablet with the ‘Classroom’ app installed would make it an easier task. Using it to document learning in Aistear is a wonderful assessment tool and would promote language development around your themes both at home and in school. The Google Teacher’s Centre has so many short courses that can be greatly improve our work with Google products in the classroom.
Hi Laura,
Thanks for your post. I really like the way you have mentioned how digital technologies could be used to improve differentiation in your classroom. I find this to be one of the key benefits of their integration. I like the way in which the differentiation is ‘invisible’, in that every child is working off the same device. They are unaware that some groups of children have a modified task and this really helps to boost self-esteem. Extensions like ‘Immersive Reader’ are also a huge benefit for those who are struggling with literacy or in the ’emergent reader’ phase.
Hi Patrick,
It has been great to see that you have found the SSE and DLF guidelines useful for self-assessing your own practice. I find that ‘highly effective’ practice is a standard that is difficult to achieve, so it’s great you are touching on it in some areas.
Your description of the Mathletics program has really intrigued me. It sounds like a programme that would be very useful for teaching learners of all abilities. The provision of immediate feedback also sounds good. We use a programme called ‘Accelerated Reader’ for reading and based on your description, it seems like it works in a similar way for reading.
Hi Patrick,
Welcome to the course. It is clear that, from engaging with the module content, you have a good idea of how both Sway and Forms could be utilised within your classroom. You have highlighted the main advantages of Forms there – I often get told that ‘it must take a long time to make one of those’. However, when you take into account the time spent at a photocopier, stapling, collecting, correcting and inputting results into a book, I can guarantee that there is no difference in the amount of time taken.
The beauty of the Forms quiz is that it can be re-used each year and that the data is so much easier to interpret.
Hi Patricia,
Immersive Reader is a fantastic tool for any SEN (or mainstream) setting. Whilst the needs of the children in your ASD class will be so varied and unique, Immersive Reader really hits on all bases that are needed for emergent literacy. Reading the text aloud to the children may benefit auditory learners, while the varied backgrounds might provide a calming effect when reading for others. Being able to pick out parts of speech and represent them through colour could help those with developing literacy skills.
Hi Aisling,
I love your approach to this activity. It is clearly rooted in 21st century learning. The use of the ‘screen share’ function of the iPad is great for the Clevertouch boards. For those using Promethean, a similar function is available if the ‘MyPromethean’ app is downloaded onto the tablets. This is also available as a Chrome extension for chromebooks. In terms of using the internet to research information, the use of child-friend search engines such as Swiggle would be recommended. In ddition to this, reliable sites like ‘DK Findout!’ and ‘Encyclopedia Britannica’ are great for research. A handy (for teachers) feature of DK Findout! is that students cannot copy and paste information across to a PowerPoint.
Hi Maire,
Thanks for sharing your slideshow with us. Within it, you have been able to showcase a number of digital skills and use text, images and video as different modes of communication. Changing the background is something I find the children love to do, and you have incorporated one that matches the theme of the presentation. The use of embedded video is very effective if you are giving them this presentation to study at home as part of a ‘flipped’ approach.
Hi Therese,
Welcome to the course. My school also uses Google Workspace. From my experience, there is little difference within a school setting between the two platforms. There are some things such as Chrome and Sites that Google do better, while Teams and OneNote are certainly superior to their Google equivalent. The key is to ensure your school is consistent in the platform that you go with.
I think ‘Screencast-o-matic’ and ‘Screencastify’ had many expletives directed at them over the course of our periods of remote teaching. ‘Loom’ is another alternative that works well with the Chrome browser. Creating a staff ‘Team’ is an excellent way of sharing information and creating a sort of ‘digital staffroom’.
Hi Donnacha,
Welcome to the course. As you have said, we are in a constant battle to keep children engaged and to keep learning ‘fun’ in the classroom. I like the way you have acknowledged how these tools can ‘supplement’ the learning. It is not about replacing old pedagogy, but rather using the digital technologies to extend and deepen learning.
Multiple-choice quizzes are a great way to assess knowledge. Forms does also allow for longer responses to be provided for more open-ended questions if you wanted to vary to tasks over time.
Hi Patricia,
I have to agree with you in terms of your comparison between Seesaw and Teams. In the senior primary classes, Seesaw can be quite limited and the children can get so much more from either Google or Microsoft products.
The Teams functions you have listed in your post are all so beneficial for schools. Consistent use of Teams and the calendar function can really assist collaboration and communication within a school. However, it’s important that there is a consistent use of the platform across the board – this will ensure all staff are regularly checking it and prevents any form of miscommunication.
Hi Julie,
As someone who also teachers in a large school, I fully understand the infrastructural challenge that exists. It can be very challenging to ensure the children have access to the resources that will really extend their learning. It’s unfortunate that all of your staff were unable to engage in the Microsoft training. However, those who have could take on the role of ‘digital champion’ (or similar), and provide training/assistance to those starting out. This could form the basis of a school improvement plan within the domain of teacher’s collaborative and co-operative practice.
Hi Claremarie,
Both improvement plan topics mentioned are of a great importance. I’m sure they have made a significant impact around your school. The use of technology as an SET can take many forms and will be very much dictated by the needs of the individual child/group. In some cases, this will take the form of digital literacy, while in other cases the focus will be on how AT can be used to support this particular child. Part of their SEN time could be spent training them how to use their AT to support their learning within the mainstream setting. The mainstream class teacher could also be involved to ensure everyone is on the same page. Lego WeDo and Scratch are excellent apps for both the mainstream class and SEN setting. I am not familiar with the Kloog App but will be sure to look into it for September.
Hi Aisling,
Thanks for outlining your thoughts on how the O365 tools can be used to enhance collaboration. I like how you’ve broken it down into both administrative and classroom advantages. The beauty of the Microsoft tools is that they are effective in both domains. It’s good that you have been identify some challenges as this will help with a whole-school rollout. While there is merit in each of them, there is nothing that cannot be overcome with some practice and ‘trial and error’ within the classroom before using it in a more mainstream fashion.
Hi Michelle,
Thank your for your detailed contribution here. Often, the ‘right answer’ is something that both students and teachers get consumed by. In the last SSE cycle, we looked at developing problem-solving strategies in maths. We used some of the NRICH problems, and children often could be seen to get frustrated when asked to come up with different ways of solving the same problem, or having the try different approaches. This was done to move towards a class culture where mistakes and valued and struggle is seen as productive.
In terms of working towards skilled communication, the ‘jigsaw approach’ would be very suitable. Promoting multi-modal communication and the use of a rubric is highly effective in developing this 21st century skill. Providing criteria that you’re looking for or the ‘WILF’ is important in showing the children exactly what is expected of them.
