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Hi Diarmuid,
Thanks for submitting this comprehensive data assessment. What strikes me immediately is the use of images within the quiz – for data, the visual representation is everything. It’s clear that this Form assesses a broad spectrum of the data strand for 5th/6th class, particularly student’s interpretation of data.
It’s a real hands-on topic that involves lots of active participation for the children. https://www.meta-chart.com/ is an excellent website that the children can use to create a range of graphs and charts after they have collected their data.
Hi Claire,
Welcome to the course. Google/Microsoft Forms are so useful for a number of reasons: quick surveys can be generated to get opinions from all in the school community/self-correcting assessments can be designed to be administered to your pupils.
When you are surveying your school community in September, there is a useful planning website designed by the PDST Technology in Education team (https://www.dlplanning.ie/). This website has a number of good practice videos for each domain and standard of the Digital Learning Framework. It also has sample surveys and questionnaires for some of these, which may be useful for you.
Hi Val,
I agree that it would be hugely beneficial if digital technologies were a core subject within the curriculum – if this were the case, we would also need much funding (which is never a bad thing). Given that it is not, we need to be inventive in our approaches. It goes without saying that technology ahs the potential to enhance learning experiences when used correctly. As a school, it is a useful exercise to sit down and discuss what curricular areas you wish to integrate technology with. Starting small and building gradually is key here. As such, you are developing digital skills and competencies, whilst also covering curricular content in a more comprehensive way.
The SSE process and DL Framework are great guides which allow your school to prioritise this area for improvement.
Hi Liz,
Welcome to the course! I really like the lesson you have picked from the Applied Digital Skills repository. This is a great lesson for children who are new to the Google apps – many of the skills they learn through this project can be applied when they are also using Docs, Drawings, Jamboard, etc.
One of the best things about the Applied Digital Skills lessons are the way in which they are broken down. It makes using the Google apps so much more accessible and much less daunting for teachers. There is nothing stopping a teacher from playing the tutorials on the IWB and ‘learning with’ the students. The fact they are self-paced and allow students to submit work ‘s they go’ is another major benefit.
Hi Val,
I’m certain that the Covid pandemic was the first educational experience of Microsoft Teams for many more also. The functionality of Teams makes it a powerful tool for both remote and blended instruction. I also find that there is a false narrative going around that the pandemic has left teachers highly competent in whatever online platform (Seesaw, Office 365, Google Workspace) that was used. In my own school, I can also see that this is not the case. I feel it would be a very prudent and forward-thinking move for schools to prioritise CPD in this area. It opens up so many avenues for supporting pupils, differentiating work, communicating with home, extending learning, etc.
Hi Orla,
I fully agree about the importance of collaboration, however it can often be used as somewhat of a ‘buzzword’. By using the collaboration rubric and ensuring that substantive decisions have to be made before and during the project, you are ensuring genuine collaboration is taking place.
It is a particularly effective skill to develop during STEM lessons. Both ‘predicting’ and ‘evaluating’ are skills of the science curriculum – often we can be guilty of placing too much focus on the content of the curriculum and negating the skills. I wish you the very best in trying out these approaches and using the collaboration rubric in your lessons next year!
Hi Orla,
Immersive Reader is a fabulous resource to support learners of all abilities. As you have said, it is an effective tool to support comprehension. However, it can also help with fluency for struggling or emergent readers, as they can hear a sentence/passage aloud and then read it.
In terms of a whole school approach, OneNote and OneDrive would be hugely beneficial. However, the caveat here is ensuring that there is buy-in and that all staff members are using it. From my own experience, monitoring what (if anything) is being shared is an important role to assign to somebody.
Hi Lauren,
Welcome to the course! Your year as an SET will stand to you in this course – you will be better placed to pick out some specific things that you can take with you. There are so many assistive technologies out there (too many, being honest). It would take a huge amount of time to delve into all of these – finding a core bank that you can use to meet different needs is a good place to start. You may have to research further if a new child with a different need comes onto your caseload, but at least it will be more manageable. Within the DLF, you would certainly be looking at standards from the ‘Teacher’s Individual Practice’ and ‘Teacher’s Collective Practice’ domains. Potentially, each member of the SET team could demo one piece of AT they are using each month at a meeting?
Hi Chloe,
Welcome to the course. I fully agree with your point around the use of Kahoot! I feel that it is a tool that is often overused and the fact there are ‘ready made’ quizzes within the platform is something that draws teachers in. However, how many of these fully assess what has actually been taught and how suitable are they in an Irish context?
The use of Google/Microsoft Forms or a platform like Socrative provides much more reliable assessment data. This data is presented in such a way that a teacher can make deductions ‘at a glance’.
Hi Diarmait,
You have brought up a very important point regarding choice of assistive technologies. Very often, you find that the grant money can be invested in a laptop/chromebook without any thought about the needs of the individual child. As you have stressed, a bad experience with the assistive technology could put the child off using it into the future. I really like how you have integrated the choice with Domain 3 of the ‘Teaching and Learning’ Dimension. Getting the views of all stakeholders is crucially important. Having the Principal and ISM team members on board could also link in with the ‘Managing the Organisation’ domain.
Hi Bernie,
Like you, I have been totally converted to Google Slides over PowerPoint in recent years. As a Google school, it makes sharing and collaborating with staff, and students, so much easier. You clearly have lots of experience using the Google tools, and your school has been making great strides. Hopefully, you will have picked up 1 or 2 fresh ideas to implement over the coming year. What works really well in one school, may not be as effective in another. The ability to incorporate images into the options for Google Form answers could be an effective way of designing assessments as a SET. I wish you the very best for the year ahead.
Hi Holly,
I have approved your post here. It went into the ‘pending’ folder, potentially due to the formatting.
When you are pasting a post that has been typed in Word you can right-click and select ‘paste as plain text’. This removes any of the font and formatting information that Word collects.
I hope this helps and that you’re enjoying the course.
Hi Bernie,
Thanks for submitting your quiz. You have mastered a number of different elements of Google Forms within it. I see that you have weighted the marks to include 2 points for some questions, and 1 point for others.
You have also split the quiz into 2 ‘sections’. These are really effective for differentiation and allowing all children to access the questions / provide a greater challenge for those who require it. The initial section can be ‘easier’ questions before moving onto more challenging ones as the quiz progresses.
There are so many options for how you can assess within Forms. You can go so much further than a simple correct/incorrect answer. You have alluded to this in your post. The ability to provide individualised feedback is one of my favourite features, and I have seen firsthand how it can help to bring children along with you. The feedback you provide can be quite targeted and really address their priority learning needs.
Hi Orla,
Welcome to the course and best of luck for your new role in September as a support teacher. I agree with both you and Kathleen regarding the need for the NCSE to provide supports for teachers and schools looking to upskill in this area.
From my own school, I know children with assistive technologies are not getting the full benefit from them. This could be down to a myriad of reasons, but teacher confidence is certainly an area we could start with. Instead of simply providing grants and money, suggestions should be provided for how the assistive technologies can meet the specific needs of the individual child. Assistive technology only has the power to be transformative for the child if it is deployed and used correctly.
Hi Celine,
I love the way you have managed to integrate the use of digital technologies and an online learning platform into your PE lessons. The FMS are so important, and the research that informed them about how poorly many children move is startling. The ‘Growing Up in Ireland’ study also paints this and childhood obesity as major issues.
Being able to refer back to videos of the key teaching points, and how they are progressing against these is so beneficial. In a PE setting, QR codes may also be provided outlining the particular teaching point you are focusing on at a particular station.
