[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Ciara,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Khan Academy here. Using it as a home-school link is certainly a sensible and potentially very beneficial use of the tool. Enhancing our communication with home, and allowing children showcase their knowledge in different ways is something we are all trying to improve upon each year. Allowing children to develop independence in their learning is crucial for their progress as lifelong learners, and any opportunity we have to harness and foster this should be taken.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Megan,

Thank you for your post here and for sharing some of your reflections on the module content. I think you have hit on an interesting point regarding the limitations that can come from overtly focussing on formal rules and regulations when building a business. Much of this can be similar to how our work in the classroom transpires – the ‘soft’ skills around trust, relationship building and caring environment often matter more than the formal instruction, and a child is unlikely to thrive in the classroom without them.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Aideen,

Thank you for sharing this post and for outlining the ways in which you feel you could utilise Professor O’Mara’s video within the classroom. I agree with you in terms of how he makes the topic of aquaculture so accessible and relatable for children. Much of your post applies to general classroom practice around how we can create opportunities for children to learn in a fun. engaging and real-world manner. This is what we should strive for when possible to ensure learning is maximised as much as possible.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Ellen,

Thanks for sharing this experience. While the comments are made casually and often without any malice intended, it does speak toa  wider societal attitude towards gender roles and the areas in which men and women are seen to be successful. Thankfully, ladies sport has such a larger platform in recent years – the phrase of needing to see t before being it is so true. Our young girls now have so many role models to look up to who are achieving great things on the national and international stages.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Orla,

Thank you for your post here, particularly around how the Google Workspace tools can be used to boost inclusion in the classroom. So often, assessment is often dressed up as paper tests that are designed to see if a child can showcase their knowledge in one particular way. Getting a question wrong on a test does not always mean a child is deficient in that area – the use of a visual/multiple choice, etc. can often allow a child to decipher the purpose of the question and fully showcase the extent of their knowledge on a given topic.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Kelly,

Thank you for your post and for sharing some really useful and beneficial ways to utilise Google Forms in an inclusive classroom. I really like the incorporation of pictures and allowing children to work at their own pace. Shuffling the questions can also be really useful to ensure you are getting a clear picture of the child’s current level of attainment in a particular area, as you can be assured that no copying ahs taken place.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Martha,

Welcome to the course – AI can certainly make planning and preparation of classroom materials so much more efficient. I know you have mentioned your previous use of ChatGPT and Gemini. Throughout the course, you will be exposed to many more education-based AI tools that can take the information that ChatGPT may provide us with, and present it in ‘ready to use’ classroom formats. This may relate to classroom displays, lesson presentations, graphics for printing and many other resources also. You may also find these forums to be really useful, as many others have shared their current use of AI to enhance learning experiences.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi John,

Thank you for your post here and for sharing your thoughts on how the suite of Google resources can be used to streamline student learning on this topic. I like how you have included suggestions for enhancing collaboration between children through the Google tools. Google have recently discontinued the support and use of ‘Google Jamboard’, which is unfortunate as it was such a powerful collaborative tool. ‘Padlet Sandbox’ is a useful alternative based on the same premise, although it does like outside of the Workspace suite.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for sharing this post here and for raising your concerns about the potential of AI tools for taking children’s ability to analyse primary and secondary data and collect their own information. This is a very relevant and pertinent concern that we all share. The next module will go through some policy and this in relation to the use of AI, but I’m sure that you will likely find that in a primary school setting, AI tools will generally be used by the teacher in the preparation and dissemination of materials, rathe than being led by the children.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Arlene,

Thank you for this post. I like how you have reflected on how the main challenge will be on identifying the specific AI tools that will add value to your practice, rather than simply adding to your workload. This is essential, as AI should be allowing us to take more time and use it for non-mundane preparation and teaching activities. AI can provide us with so much information to wade through, but getting more adept at using specific tools and how we prompt can certainly ensure we are using it in the most time and labour-efficient manner.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Triona,

Thank you for your post and welcome to the course. You have certainly hit on some huge ‘big ticket’ items around SSE, and have some really good suggestions around how development education themes can be used to underpin this. SSE operates at both a whole-school and classroom level – we are constantly engaging in the cycle of gathering feedback, trying out new approaches and tailoring these based on their impact. Areas such as pupil voice and inclusive learning are ones which can certainly be incorporated into a cross curricular approach to development education.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Michelle,

Thank you for your post – I think you have raised an interesting point around school size and our capacity to provide a welcoming environment to different students from migrant backgrounds. While experience of this may vary, I definitely think it’s an interesting point. The Principles of Learning, Teaching and Assessment from the PCF Book, in my opinion, are often better developed in smaller schools. While there are undoubtedly many other challenges of working within smaller schools, I definitely think the ‘bigger picture’ items are often done better.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Margaret,

Thank you for sharing this with us and for your participation throughout. The level of detail in the AI-generated output demonstrates both the benefits and challenges of using AI in the classroom, many of which we have discussed throughout the course. The level of detail included here is huge, and having the wade through all of it could eb cumbersome – following up with a prompt that asks for more specifics on one aspect, or modifies the prompt based on something the original produced is an example of applying our pedagogical and content knowledge to the use of AI

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Darragh,

Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts around utilising the SSE cycle to enhance digital technology provision in your classroom and school. I think you have hit on a central point with your discussions around steps 2 and 3 – gather feedback from those who are specifically involved in this process in your school and developing realistic targets that aim to build on your starting point are essential to the success of the plan in both the short and long term.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Dolores,

Thank you for your post here and for sharing the ways in which the Immersive Reader tool have helped children on your caseload. It is great to hear such positive impacts coming from the use of assistive technologies in the classroom. I think you have raised a very interesting point around accessibility tools also – we are constantly learning and adapting in the classroom, and our application of assistive technology is no different. Trialling certain approaches can allow us to see the benefits and limitations, and this ‘on the ground’ knowledge can then be used to inform our decision making over subsequent years and classes.

[Author]

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