[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Laura,

Thanks for sharing your science lesson based around the digestive system. From reading the post, I am struck by the sheer breadth of 21st century skills present, as well as the rich learning experiences afforded to your students. You have incorporated digital technologies into all stages of the lesson. I love your use of Nearpod to assess prior knowledge – other platforms such as Menti and Padlet could be used in a similar fashion. There is deep collaboration evident at each stage of the lesson – skilled communication is another 21st century skill that is very prominent here. Using tablets to explore an animation really helps to bring the content to life and this is something we all aspire to do.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Laura,

Like many other teachers you have significantly increased your repertoire of digital tools over the past 2 years. This can only benefit both you and your students going forward. The tools you have mentioned allow students to learn (and showcase their learning) in ways they couldn’t previously. The use of audio recordings on apps like Seesaw, Vocaroo, 123Apps, etc. allows children to voiceover written pieces and record their reading. Being able to listen back multiple times allows you to pick up on small things and give them specific advise that can improve them going forward. I find using these apps to record and listen to reading ‘as Gaeilge’ very beneficial. Very quickly, you can pick up on specific sounds that require attention with the whole class/specific individuals.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Deirdre,

I love how you have referenced the importance of ‘trial and error’ as part of the SSE process. The whole notion of improving oneself at anything requires trial and error – we must attempt some form of improvement, evaluate the progress we’ve made and make any tweaks we feel are required. The beauty of the SSE process is that it allows for this – the document should be viewed by schools as a ‘working document’. There should be regular opportunities for review and self-reflection to assess where we are and the steps we need to take to get to the next phase of our improvement journey. Incorporating these into Croke Park hours and staff meetings would be a prudent move by school management – as well as maintaining games, it keeps SSE high on the agenda of staff and ensures a level of accountability.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Kathleen,

You raise a very pertinent point regarding the importance of keeping the child at the centre of all decisions around assistive technology – what works for one child may not work for the one in your class.

Immersive Reader generally provides excellent support to pupils with the dyslexia. Changing the background colour of the page to yellow, increasing the size and the font and creating larger spaces between lines of text are some things that often work well.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Deirdre,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts here. ‘Teams’ is such a fantastic resource to use in schools and workplaces, but it is important to acknowledge that the majority of people will struggle to get to grips with it (as with any new digital tool) initially. However, the functionality of the platform is worth the ‘trial and error’, and it really is a ‘one stop shop’ when it comes to delivering lessons, sharing feedback and collaborating. I’m delighted this module on the content from the MEC has helped – stick with it and you’ll learn something small every time you interact with it.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Catherine,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on these applications, which can assist those with SEN. The ‘Immersive Reader’ programme is something that all teachers would benefit from using. The functionality allows for so much differentiation to occur and can be used to feed into UDL principles. My school uses ‘Google Workspace’ and as such the Immersive Reader was not available until recently. A new Chrome extension called ‘Helperbird’ now offers this within the browser. The picture dictionary and translate tool have been great in developing the language of our new Ukrainian students and helping them to build vocabulary, whilst also enhancing their understanding of class content and instructions.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Laura,

It’s clear that you value the use of Forms in your school. I am a huge advocate of using Forms / other digital assessment tools (both formatively and summatively). There is scope to gather a huge amount of data in a very short period – it immediately points out the students who require extra attention or the topics that the whole class require extra work on.

The use of Forms for ‘exit tickets’ is something I also enjoy using. t gives the children to opportunity to self-reflect and self-assess at the end of lessons. The data gathered helps me to plan future learning then. Perhaps you may enjoy trying this out in the coming year?

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

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Kathleen,

You are very welcome to this course. You have correctly pointed out that digital technologies and the DLF should be used to accommodate and further develop the learning of pupils with SEN. Whilst it is difficult for children and their parents to secure the granting of assistive technology in the classroom, it can have a transformative impact when approved. However, I have often witnessed the misuse of AT in the classroom – I have often felt it would hugely benefit teacher if there was training provided by the NCSE in maximizing the use and the benefit of AT for particular children.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Margaret,

You are vey welcome to the course. You have pointed out a number of benefits to using Microsoft Forms for assessment. A quiz can be assigned so quickly and you can gather a huge amount of data in a short period. The analytics allow you to analyse particular students that may require intervention, or particular questions that may need to be revised with the whole class.

You will be able to offer an interesting perspective as a post-primary teacher throughout the course. I like your idea for using Sway to formulate your improvement plan – some of the graphics you generate could be used to create posters to be placed in prominent locations around the school. This would serve to remind staff and students of what your priorities for improvement are.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Elaine,

You are very welcome to this course. You have chosen a very interesting resource from the Google Teacher Centre. The ‘Applied Digital Skills’ section of the resource centre is a fantastic resource – there are so many fully-created activities and units of work that we can use with our classes.

The resource you have chosen is a useful one for SESE, but I can also see the benefits of using it to introduce narrative writing. The concept of breaking the story down into characters, setting, problem and solution could be explored here. There are numerous skills such as brainstorming and group decision-making that can be developed through activities such as these.

Thanks for your contribution and I look forward to engaging further in the coming modules.

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