[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Rachel,

Thank you for this comprehensive outline and for your engagement throughout the course. I like how you have used your learning from the course to identify ways in which Magic School AI could be incorporated into this. Indeed, you are already thinking about the additional things you could do and how this outline could be further enhanced and developed in subsequent lessons, which highlights the importance of human engagement and knowledge of the importance of the pace of learning, when operating in a classroom setting.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Ciara,

Thanks for your post and your interest in the use of Immersive Reader. When likening assistive technologies to other more concrete assistive tools, the word adaptability, which you have used, is a great choice. The dyslexia rulers do a very similar job to the ‘line focus’ in Immersive Reader but lack the same flexibility and adaptability. The option to focus on 1, 3 or 5 lines is a perfect example of this and may be interchanged depending on the length or complexity of a text.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Karen,

It was great to hear that you found the module interesting and useful. There is amazing practice happening in classrooms all around the country, and it is great to be affirmed that we are on the right track with what we are doing. The low-, medium- and high-tech assistive options is a really nice way to show and outline this. As teachers, we are constantly trying to make small adaptions to give children to best chance to learn and participate in class. So many of these small actions can absolutely be categorised as an assistive technology. It is likely that so much of what we do could fall into the low-tech category without ever realising it.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Nieves,

Thanks for your post here. It is great that you have been able to match the content of this module to a specific cohort of children you believe it could have assisted. Immersive Reader is such a powerful tool and is certainly one which can open up learning to those learning English as an additional language. The picture dictionary is particularly useful in this regard as it can allow these children make connections between English and their native language, which will ultimately lead to the learning being embedded that bit more.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Rachel,

I agree that AI really does have the potential to open up that world of possibilities. There are so many tools which can now make learning accessible and interesting for children who may have found ‘traditional’ approaches or content either too difficult or not interesting enough. You are correct to point out that a certain level of skill is required to engineer prompts and use technology at even a basic level. However, all of these challenges can be overcome with a structured and cohesive plan to develop basic computer skills.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Don,

Welcome to the course. Thank you for outlining a very clear vision of how you see the role of AI playing out in schools and how it can be used to enhance your own practice. You have made a very interesting point around future classrooms being places of collaborative where human and artificial intelligence work together. This is a key point – AI cannot replace the human element of classroom life and interactions. You have outlined so many ways in which it can be used effectively, but its true usefulness will only come when married with the human knowledge present in the classroom also.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Felicity,

Thanks for your post here and for outlining a really pertinent challenge in terms of the use of AI, and technology in general, to support learning. Especially in an SET setting (where the time we have with individual children is so tight), we want to be making the best use of our time. It’s fair to say that so many assistive tools can help the children we work with, but the danger is that it may take some time to land upon the correct tool. As such, taking a small step such as incorporating one tool each year could be useful. As we become more familiar with what these tools do, we will be able to make more informed decisions about whether it would be a suitable for for a child’s particular needs. Over time, we will build up a repository of tools that we can confidently pick and choose from.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Shane,

Thanks for your post. It’s interesting to hear how things that can be spun as a positive for some people and sectors can have such negative effects on other aspects of society and the economy. Agriculture is certainly something that is feeling the effects of climate change here – from hotter summers to flooding in winter, there is such an impact on livelihoods. This will be felt particularly in certain parts of the country. The undertaking of upcycling projects sounds fascinating and an initiative which could really get children involved in thinking about how we can be more sustainable in all aspects of our lives.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi John,

Thanks for this post on how you would incorporate the use of Scratch in your classroom. I agree that it is very important that the children understand the language of Scratch and the different aspects of the platform before they are set to create their own stories, etc. Scratch Jr. can be a very nice introduction for younger children in this regard – there are a variety of manuals that go through a series of step-by-step lessons that will get the children looking at this and equipped with the knowledge and skills to use Scratch in more complex ways as they move through the year.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Lina,

Thanks for this. I think you have hit on something so important around raising awareness of the experience of refugees. Allowing our children to truly understand the meaning of the word and the type of conflict these people have had to flee from is so important in building the empathy you speak of. Often, we can take for granted what we have in this country and instead focus on many of its flaws. However, it is very difficult to comprehend what these people have been living through – building awareness of this through storytelling and the other means you have listed would be a really importnt first step.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Rachel,

Thank you for your post. I think you have raised some excellent points around Cosán and lifelong learning within this profession. It is essential that we continue to upskill and become aware of various approaches that may be emerging across different subject areas. This will be especially true with the onset of the new curriculum specifications in September. However, it is a pity that there is not more time allowed for this during the school day. There is exceptional CPD being offered by education centres and Oide, but it often falls in the evening time which can exclude those with other commitments from attending, even though they would love to do so.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Katie,

Thanks for your post here and for outlining the potential use of these tools in a Gaelscoil context. The Image Creator is an amazing tool and one which I am sure you will enjoy playing around with. The prompt is crucial for all aspects of AI in an education sense, but especially so when looking at image creation, regardless of the tool being used. Often,. I have had to provide multiple prompts to be specific enough to match it to look exactly as I wanted. However, once you use it a couple of times you are conscious of this and it becomes a much quicker and fluid process.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Anne Marie,

Welcome to the course and thank you for this contribution to the forum. It is great to hear that you have been able to explore a variety of additional AI tools, beyond Chat GPT. Personally I love using Chat GPT for general prompts and resource creation, but there are a number of education-specific tools that can create the exact material you may want for use in a classroom context. The ability to create posters, flow charts, comparison wheels, etc. can provide a much more visually appealing and effective layout for your resource creation. The remainder of the course will explore more of these tools, and hopefully you will find their use beneficial for your own practice.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Mary,

Thank you for your post and feedback here. I believe that it is so important that every ‘new’ tool can be used to enhance current practice and ties in with our curriculum. If this is not the case, it simply becomes an added extra we must ‘do’ on top of an already overpacked curriculum. Therefore, it is so important to see these tools being used in context – the Reading Coach is a really good tool to begin exploring and could prove transformational in allowing those with literacy difficulties to access material that would previously have not been attainable.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

HI Gabrielle,

hanks for sharing your experience here. It is shocking to hear of the devastating impact of the winter storms on your school grounds. While this is an awful event to happen, it certainly provides a real-life context for the children when they are exploring these issues. It is often not until something directly affects us that we begin to feel the need to tack action seriously – this is certainly the case in your school. The ideas you have shared are all great in terms of the children in the school being able to make small, but tangible steps to say they are doing something to help the situation.

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