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  • in reply to: Module 4 – Digital Learning and School Self Evaluation #59569
    Eoghan O’Neill
    TeachNet Moderator

      Hi Tomas,

      I fully agree around the importance of teachers being aware of the SSE guidelines and the elements of each stage. Too often, we are given a plan that has been created by school management and told we need to be doing x, y and z. It’s important for teachers to be involved and invested in the process. Doing this will ensure that they have a greater understanding of both the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of what is being done. This can also lead to greater investment and participation in the review and evaluation of the improvement plan.

      in reply to: Module 1 – Introduction to Microsoft 365 for Education #57709
      Eoghan O’Neill
      TeachNet Moderator

        Hi James,

        From the description you have provided, Sway and Forms would be the ideal tools to use in your setting. Sway has the potential to be used for both ‘content consumption’ and ‘content creation’. As you have said, it could be used as a teaching aid initially, and a Forms quiz could assess understanding of the content.

        Moving on from this, you could gradually release some independence and look at adding some of their own content to Sway templates, before working on building their own from scratch. It would serve as the idea tool for an ePortfolio within this setting also.

        in reply to: Module 1- Introduction To ICT & Assistive Technologies #57672
        Eoghan O’Neill
        TeachNet Moderator

          Hi Áine,

          Welcome to the course. You have touched on many of the issues around special education in Ireland in your post. Tight budgets make it essential that we make the ‘right’ decision when purchasing AT’s. However, there are so many different options out there and the needs of individual children are so unique. This is what makes it such a minefield.

          Having a knowledge of as many different options as possible will allow you to make more informed decisions, when presented with the individual needs of each child. This is extremely challenging in a special class setting, as needs are ever evolving and may required low/medium/high tech solutions in the one year.

          in reply to: Module 1 – Introduction to Microsoft 365 for Education #57614
          Eoghan O’Neill
          TeachNet Moderator

            Hi Tomás,

            Welcome to the course. Thank you for asking the question around the use of Kahoot! versus the use of Forms.

            While the children love Kahoot! I would always opt for either Forms or Socrative when designing an assessment. Forms allows you to add media files and images for each of the ‘answer options’, which is a paid feature within Kahoot! Furthermore, I feel the timed nature of Kahoot! and the fact they can only see four colours on their screen makes it unreliable in terms of assessment data. Children are concerned with answering quickly and getting their name on the leaderboard. In my opinion, there is a place for both, but Forms would be more of a ‘go-to’ in terms of assessment.

            Eoghan O’Neill
            TeachNet Moderator

              Hi Niamh,

              As a growing school, the use of an online platform such as Teams would be hugely beneficial. It will allow you to create a series of plans, schemes, policies, etc. and have them stored away as the school grows.

              We operate a similar system of uploading the Cuntas Míosúil as you have outlined. This is effective as it cuts out some work for the principal, but also produces a level of accountability for the teacher. Given that everyone has access to this, it’s unlikely that late Cuntas Míosúil’s would be a regular occurrence. Your suggestion for using it to keep teachers on leave / job-sharing in the loop is an excellent one.

              in reply to: Module 4 – Digital Learning and School Self Evaluation #56844
              Eoghan O’Neill
              TeachNet Moderator

                Hi Seán,

                Like many others, the pandemic highlighted the potential of digital technology to you. Creating daily digital content and resources is extremely challenging – thankfully, it can now be used as a resource to assist (rather than replace) our instruction. You have listed some of the many advantages to its use – one of these is the ease at which work can be differentiated. This is especially evident in school, where each child is using the same device, and the ‘differentiation’ is not noticeable. The children are unaware they are completing modified tasks, and it is great for the self-esteem of all in the class.

                SSE is a great opportunity for schools to select specific areas for improvement, if done right. As you have written, it is most often the formalisation of different projects and initiatives being done. The ‘review’ phases are so important, and it is key that all staff are supported in terms of implementing whatever the change is.

                in reply to: Module 3 – Using OneNote for Literacy #54887
                Eoghan O’Neill
                TeachNet Moderator

                  Hi Seán,

                  As you have said, very often accessibility apps can often be counter-intuitive and very difficult to use. There are a number of Chrome extensions like this, and it can be quite frustrating. However, the majority of the in-built Microsoft tools are very easy to use and designed specifically to meet the needs of struggling learners. Immersive Reader and OneNote are perfect examples of this. The ability to split OneNote work into folders and label/colour code everything can be hugely beneficial to visual learners and those who struggle with organisation.

                  in reply to: Module 5 – Developing 21st century skills #54886
                  Eoghan O’Neill
                  TeachNet Moderator

                    Hi Andreu,

                    Thanks for your post. Thanks for sharing your SESE activity with us and for bringing up the topic of ‘safe search engines’. Kiddle and Kidrex have long been the market leaders when it comes to child-friendly search engines. There is now a new search engine called ‘Swiggle’, which works in the same way.

                    The ‘Minecraft Education Edition’ is an excellent resource. Indeed, there are a number of excellent resources available for free on https://code.org/ These activities include a number of self-paced and self-directed units of work, which is an excellent guide for teachers new to coding.

                    Eoghan O’Neill
                    TeachNet Moderator

                      Hi Julie,

                      Welcome to the course. From reading your post, it’s fair to say that there is nothing for you to fear within Microsoft Teams. You are already using a large number of the available and relevant functions. It’s great that your SET team have such strong collaborative structures built already.

                      The issue of access to devices for all children is an important consideration. While laptops and tablets may not be available in every home, it’s likely that there is access to a smartphone. Therefore, while it might be more difficult to create content, it is possible for all children to access things you have shared to help their learning, e.g. tutorial videos, audio recordings, etc.

                      in reply to: Module 3 – Using OneNote for Literacy #53482
                      Eoghan O’Neill
                      TeachNet Moderator

                        Hi Laura,

                        As you have referred to, OneNote really can become your ‘hub’ of learning and school activity due to its functionality. The ability to divide work up helps both teachers and students from an organisational point of view. Immersive Reader is one of my favourite tools to use, and it makes learning so accessible to those who struggling with literacy.

                        The use of Office 365 / Google for email is almost always the first step schools take. Experiment a little with the O365 tools, and gradually attempt to bring them into your practice, both individually and as a school.

                        in reply to: Module 3 – The Inclusive Curriculum & The UDL Framework #52941
                        Eoghan O’Neill
                        TeachNet Moderator

                          Hi Diarmait,

                          Thank you for your post and for sharing so much valuable information with us all. Your use of Immersive Reader and Dictate showcases just how useful these accessibility tools can be for learners with a specific learning difficulty. Unfortunately, I don’t have a solution for the problem you have identified. I have ran into the same problem when recording digital videos and podcasts in my own class. The only workarounds are to ask the child/group to step into the corridor, record with a support teacher or ask the rest of the class to remain silent. While these are suitable for ‘one-off’ occasions, they are far from idea for a pupil using Dictate regularly, Potentially, some others on the course will have suggestions?

                          in reply to: Module 1 – Introduction to Microsoft 365 for Education #52329
                          Eoghan O’Neill
                          TeachNet Moderator

                            Hi Seán,

                            Welcome to the course. As you have suggested in your post, both Sway and Forms are powerful classroom tools for both teachers and students. They are user-friendly and easy to navigate once the central principles have been explained.

                            Sway offers huge potential for the publishing of genre writing, the design of persuasive posters, digital storytelling or recording the results of a science investigation. It allows the children to produce their work through another medium, one that offers huge accessibility features for struggling learners. Forms is my ‘go-to’ assessment tool. I can’t imagine returning to handing out tests and assessments with pen and paper. The ease at which Forms can collect the data and give you all the information you need is amazing. Furthermore, once it has been created once it can be re-used over and over again through the years.

                            Eoghan O’Neill
                            TeachNet Moderator

                              Hi Thomas,

                              Thank you for you post. I couldn’t agree more with the sentiment of it. I am trying  to roll out our online platform in the way you have outlined for Teams on a whole-school level. I think the days of printing out reams of paper and sending them home to learn, or students taking material off the board for homework are numbered. When you think about it, it is a waste of the precious time we have in school. This is especially the case now that we have a viable alternative that has been road tested over the past few years. While some students may not have access to a PC or laptop to complete assignments, almost all will have access to a parent’s phone at home for accessing or viewing content sent home. This could be as simple as the teacher giving an audio voiceover of the new Gaeilge vocabulary / reading and allowing the children to practice after listening to it. It also has huge potential for getting parents more involved and keeping them abreast of what is being covered in class.

                              in reply to: Module 5 – Looking Back and Planning Ahead #51745
                              Eoghan O’Neill
                              TeachNet Moderator

                                Hi Grace,

                                I think the key message you get across in your post is the importance of ‘ownership’ being taken as part of a whole-school approach. Strong leadership is essential for any school improvement plan and is key to effective SSE. I often feel that we can go ‘gung-ho’ when starting off with a new initiative but we lack the same intensity when we are reviewing the plans and making required amendments. Furthermore, we need to ensure there are regular meetings and review to keep everyone on task. This is of importance for all improvement plans, but particularly if you are looking to facilitate a blended or flipped approach.

                                in reply to: Module 5 – Developing 21st century skills #51438
                                Eoghan O’Neill
                                TeachNet Moderator

                                  Hi Claire,

                                  This is a great way to attempt to integration collaboration into your practice. It is clearly more challenging as an SET, given that some of your day may be spent with ‘one on one’ teaching.

                                  The idea of the baking task is very good. Depending on ability, you could go a step further and allocate a budget to the groups – this will certainly allow for discussion, dialogue, disagreements and substantive decision-making as they plan for what ingredients they will prioritise and what they will make.

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