[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Deirdre,

Welcome to the course and thank you for your detailed post here. You have pointed out so many benefits that assistive technologies can bring to a child, and how they can be transformative in helping him/her overcome their learning difficulties. I always find it quit frustrating that a child is granted assistive technology and then it is the responsibility of the school and class/SET teacher to decipher how it should be best used. I think this leads to too many children missing out on the full benefits of assistive technologies – there should be a centralised support service (potentially within the NCSE) offering support in this area, and schools should have a policy in place about the steps that must be taken when a child is granted AT.  These measures would help ensure more equity among those whose AT applications were approved.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Aoife,

Welcome to the course and thank you for your comprehensive response here. I am unfamiliar with the A.R.R.O.W programme, but it certainly sounds like it is worth researching. The Spellings for Me programme has so many positive elements to it – it is particularly useful in senior classes when children have been exposed to a good base of phonological awareness and phonics instruction.

The SETT model is really effective for a teacher, as it identifies particular areas of focus and allows you to keep your interventions focused to the specific need of a child or group of children.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Catherine,

Welcome to the course. While the DES may get some criticism (sometimes warranted), I think that recent documentation has certainly shown some ‘joined up thinking’ Looking at Our Schools, the Digital Learning Framework, the new SSE Guidelines and the Guidance on Preparation for Teaching and Learning all ‘sing from the same hymn sheet’.

It’s great that you have had the chance to take some early steps towards the development of your digital learning plan. The DL Planning website contains a huge repository of good practice videos and resources which you may find useful. In terms of finding specific AT’s for particular students, this link may be useful.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Caroline,

Welcome to the course! Your experience of working in a special class will be invaluable to you throughout the course, and I’m sure we’ll all learn and take so much from your forum postings. Technologies can be powerful for students with additional needs – I know of one pupil in our special class who uses the picture cards on the iPad as their primary means of communication. It’s that ‘sense of ownership’, as you put it, that we must strive to create when integrating technologies in these settings. You have given an excellent (and very practical) example of how the SETT model could be used. Collaborating with families, professionals, etc. is so crucial if we are to create an approach that meets an individual child’s needs in the most specific ay possible.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Kevin,

I agree with you about the new Curriculum Framework and how it is moving us towards a more competency- and skill-based curriculum that focuses on the development of 21st century skills that are necessary for lifelong learning. While many see the revised time allocation as a negative (less time for literacy), I feel it may alter the methods we use and lead to more thematic-based learning across subjects and disciplines. Disciplinary literacy, as explored in PLC webinar 7, could be a powerful tool in this regard.

Jamboard is a tool I used heavily in the senior classes last year. Once clear boundaries and expectations are set for its use, it can be very powerful. Students can brainstorm and very often will take inspiration from what others have written. This is particularly true with writing ‘as Gaeilge’, where sentence structure can be repetitive.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Jen,

Welcome to the course. Thank you so much for sharing this activity with us. I wouldn’t like to admit how long I have just spent messing around with it. It turns out my online playing of musical instruments is very similar to my offline playing! There is plenty of interactivity in the link, and major ties can be made to the music curriculum. ‘Arts and Culture’ is an amazing resource – I often spend hours moving from one collection to another, totally mesmerised by the available content.

• This reply was modified 3 years ago by Eoghan O'Neill.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Ellen,

Thank you for sharing your practice with us – of all the learning difficulties, dyslexia is the one with the greatest suite of assistive resources available. There are a myriad of apps and tools that can assist children with these difficulties. Microsoft and Google Lens are a perfect example of this. In terms of Google Lens (and I’m sure Microsoft Lens is the same) you can simply take a picture of the textbook/novel and have it read aloud/translated. This saves the work of copying the text onto a Word document.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Siobhan,

Thanks for your post – the SETT plan works really well in conjunction with a student’s school support plan, and can often be included as an appendix. It can be useful to survey the child, class teacher and parents before designing your SETT plan, and allow them to have some input as to where they feel they need support. This can be very effective for pupils in senior classes. I think SETT plans are really good in that they focus you on the four key areas (student, environment, task and tools). Here, we can put very focussed interventions in place to assist the child’s priority needs. In reality, collaboration between both class teacher and SET is imperative to ensure the best results are achieved for the child.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Jennifer,

I think it’s very clear that the vast majority of our profession buy-in to being ‘lifelong learners’. The fact we have such large number engaging in summer courses and voluntary CPD through local education centres during the year is a testament to this. Cosán underpins this desire in teachers to upskill and develop professionally. It gives us the autonomy to select our own priority needs and undertake professional development in these areas. Building knowledge, skills and understanding can only benefit our pupils, as we return to the classroom with these new attributes.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Gina,

As you have said, Cosán recognises teachers as responsible learning professionals. The beauty of Cosán is that it allows teachers the autonomy to select their own priority learning needs and to pursue them with relevant professional development. In choosing to do this course, you have engaged in the reflective practice which underpins the Cosán framework. Hopefully, it will provide you with a number of ideas for enhancing your practice for the coming year.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Siobhan,

You are correct to say that poo reading fluency can often lead to poor reading comprehension. When a child is putting so much effort into decoding each individual word, it is almost impossible for them to be able to comprehend the content of the passage. Tools like Immersive Reader can greatly assist student’s with these difficulties. The read aloud function, and the option to alter the pace of the reading will really help students. Moreover, the integration of the Microsoft Lens app with Immersive Reader will allow students to do the same with a class novel or textbook. Simply taking a picture of the page in question with the Microsoft Lens will automatically send it to the Immersive Reader.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Helen,

Welcome to the course and thank you for your detailed contribution above. You have made many excellent points. The DL Planning website is a brilliant resource and has such a large repository of good-practice videos. I also like the sample surveys, focus group questionnaires, etc. that are available when the time comes to reviewing our digital learning plan. When it comes to assistive technologies, I feel the ‘one sized fits all’ approach is detrimental. Based on a professional report, we need to be provided with a specific device (e.g. iPad, C-Pen, etc.) that will meet that child’s needs and training should be provided to ensure the device is being used appropriately. The AT-Hive is a great place to learn more about assistive technologies for specific needs.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Deirdre,

You have really encapsulated the power of a digital learning platform in your post. I feel that it is essential that every school is using one of these (either Google Workspace or Microsoft 365). There is endless potential for ‘teaching and learning’ and ‘leadership and management’ to develop using these platforms. Every year you realise that you have only scratched the surface in terms of functionality. We are all constantly learning and the technologies are constantly allowing us to go further.  From a special school perspective, you may find some of the Chrome extensions listed here (https://www.ahead.ie/Discover-your-AT) useful. This link allows you to select the needs of your pupils, the devices they have access to and the learning platform being used. It will then generate a series of assistive technologies that may be useful in meeting the needs of that child.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Jennifer,

Thank you for your post. You have clearly outlined the complex needs on your caseload, and some of the strategies that you use to assist them. I’m sure you are likely aware of https://www.senteacher.org/printables/communication/ where you can customise and print PECS cards, as well as many other SEN resources. The website itself has templates and resources that are useful regardless of the setting people are teaching in. Hopefully, the remainder of this course will highlight some more assistive technologies, which you may find useful in your practice.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Deirdre,

Thanks for sharing your Forms quiz with us. From looking at it, it’s clear that you have managed to master so many elements, e.g. the assignment of point values, the use of images and the embedding of video. Forms offers such a great way of assessing pupils learning and progress, and takes so much work out of it on behalf of the teacher.

A new third party website called Quizalise (https://www.quizalize.com/) now offers an alternative to making assessments. It integrates with Chat GPT and automatically imports the questions into Google Forms. The only thing you have to do is assign the point values. You may wish to play around with it in your own time.

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