[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Colm,

Thank you for your post here and for sharing so many interesting and ‘doable’ activities with the children in our classes here. Having events in the local area and being able to see the impacts of flooding on agricultural land and livelihoods provides a clear context for the children to know that this is becoming a serious problem. The extreme weather events in recent years have provided children with first hand experience of the devastating impact of climate change. The gardening project within the school grounds is a particularly interesting suggestion and offers so many cross-curricular and home-school learning opportunities.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Claire,

Thank you for sharing this clear and comprehensive overview of how the collection of Microsoft accessibility tools can be used to allow all children in your class access the class novel. Whilst the AT tools are doing plenty, teacher knowledge of the child is huge and this has been demonstrated through the increased font size – similarly the font itself may be changed or the background colours on the document. AT tools open so many doors for children with additional needs, but are only truly transformational when they are used by a teacher with a clear understanding of the child’s needs and interests.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Claire,

Welcome to the course and thank you for your post here. Your post demonstrates an awareness of the benefits and usefulness of AI for both teaching and learning, and leadership and management, whilst also acknowledging the need for clear and robust discussions around when it should and should not be used. As both a ISLM team and wider staff, discussions could take place of scenarios where it would be inappropriate to use AI, and times when it can be used to reduce workload.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Orla,

Thanks for sharing this lesson outline with us. It’s clear that careful prompting can ensure that very little detail is left to chance when planning for a lesson. I really like the way clear, measurable objectives have been derived for this plan. Sharing these with the children in advance of the lesson, as well as the ways in which they will achieve them, is so important for allowing them a sense of ownership in their learning and promoting self-assessment. AI can be used to prompt further, by linking it to a specific curricular objective, providing more detail on how to record assessment, etc.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Inez,

Thank you for your post and insights here. Being able to ‘fact check’ information is an essential skill for children and adults in our present society. In the past we would have cautioned against believing everything that Google tells us and that has now shifted towards not believing everything AI tells us. AI tools themselves can be used ion such a way to create learning experiences that allow children to engage in this fact checking – like you have said popular topics like football players, pop stars, etc. may be really useful subjects for this.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Laura,

Thanks for your post and for sharing your thoughts here. I think it’s so important that the children themselves are invested in the work and can relate to the specific SDG chosen. As such, climate change is an obvious choice as it is something that we all see first hand experience of. Thinking back to the past year, we had a number of extreme storms in the early part of the year that caused significant school closures in many places. Even now, children may be holidaying in Europe and be experiencing extreme heat for this time of year – being able to bring these experiences to the classroom work will add a layer of richness and authenticity to the work, as it is not a topic that is abstract for them.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Elaine,

Welcome to the course and thank you for your post here. You have hit on a very important point regarding the role of the educator and the broad spectrum of influence we can have on young people’s development. As you move through this course, you will see topics such as global inequality and climate change covered, and will look at ways in which this activism and awareness can be fostered through classroom instruction. Ehigie’s article really gets to the core of this and is certainly a key reference point for educators seeking to develop this with their classes.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Colm,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Redesigning Education piece with us. I love the idea of redesigning the principal’s office. The criteria you have provided shows just how many cross-curricular links are available. I’m thinking of some of the pedagogical practices from the maths curriculum, with dialogue and playfulness clearly embedded in this suggested task. There is also a clear emphasis on how digital tools can be used to enhance the learning in this task – the use of spreadsheets for tracking and organising information is a clear skills that is used in so many jobs, and one which certainly could be considered important for lifelong learning.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Ciara,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us – I can say that I have had very similar experiences to the one you had with the Doodle STEAM programme. I was involved in a project this year where we asked senior infant children to draw what they felt an engineer looked like. All children in the class drew male engineers – the subtle influences society has on gender steroetypes from childhood cannot be underestimated. My own 18-month old daughter will often point to pink blankets and toys as being ‘Ma-Ma’s’, whilst noting grey toys to be ‘Da-Da’s’. Seeing this really makes you wonder how the human brain picks these things up from such an early stage without any prior experiences of things being for males or females.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Catherine,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us here. You have raised some great points around the availability of ‘built-in accessibility’ within so many digital tools. Immersive Reader is a real game changer in terms of making content accessible for EAL learners, or those with reading difficulties. Whilst initially a Microsoft feature, a number of Chrome extensions can offer similar functionality for those without a 365 license.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Luke,

Thank you for your post. From your learning outcomes you can really see that this is a truly integrated ‘SESE’ lesson. As well as working on mapping skills and spatial awareness (which also carries significant resonance in maths), children are linking their own locality with it in the past, tracking continuity and change in the process. Like an earlier poster, you have also included sufficient challenge and requirements in the build challenge to ensure that all children can get started on the project, but also that there are built-in extension opportunities for those capable of the extra challenge.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Sarah,

Thanks for your post. I really like the sounds of this unit outline, and the different skills and knowledge that can be developed through it. The idea of different groups being assigned a different system is great, as it also allows others to learn from their peers in a plenary session at the conclusion of the unit. This outline also aligns closely with some of the learning outcomes from the science section of the STE draft specification.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi David,

Thank you for your post. It can be very difficult to plan for pupils with SEN who are significantly below the level of their peers. Your post outlines a 6th class pupil who is only engaging with very basic work. In this case, the use of digital technologies can be an excellent tool to provide for a more accessible learning environment. The apps and websites you have provided all point to ways in which this pupil can achieve success at their level.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Emma,

Thank you for your post. You are right to pint out how things have changed since we were all in primary school, and how priorities have changed. We need to be flexible and adaptable to respond to societal changes and ensure our curriculum is up-to-date for the needs of the world at that time. We can only hope that the PCF and associated subject specifications are embraced and allow teachers and school leaders the space and support to embrace this and respond to the needs of the pupils in front of them.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Margaret,

Thank you for your post and your breakdown of the assignment across these key areas. In terms of using digital technologies, I feel like you have hit on a significant point in terms of how they can remove certain barriers for certain children. You have mentioned ‘motivation’ as one of your key points here and I have seen this first hand in my own classroom. Children who are reluctant to write, read for meaning, collaborate on projects can suddenly have an attitude transformation when a digital device is entered into the equation. Completing their work with the aid of this can be highly motivating and enable them to reach their potential in school.

[Author]

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