[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Sarah,

Thank you for your post and for sharing this experience. I am sure many of us will relate to this. It can be easy to identify that these stereotypes exist and that we can feed into it with our own practices. However, it can be difficult to break away from this as many of these are so deeply ingrained societally. Like an earlier poster has said, seeing these being broken down, (such as through footballers wearing pink boots) is so powerful and can transform the way societal norms are created/re-created.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Linda,

Thanks you your post in which you have outlined many societal realities. The reality points to commercial interests driving many of these gender stereotypes and pigeon-holing children into certain interests, activities, etc. You have made an interesting point in relation to colour and how football jerseys, boots, etc. are now made in many ‘non-traditional’ colours. When children see major football teams and individual players wearing theses colours, it can have a powerful impact in breaking down any stigma associated with these.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Cora,

Welcome to the course and thank you for your thoughtful post here. It is really clear that the Ehigie piece has really resonated with you and you have highlighted many relevant and pertinent points from the article. Your comment around ‘every little helps’ is such a powerful little nugget from your piece – if we all can do that ‘little’ bit, it doesn’t be long until it becomes quite large.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Christine,

Thank you for your post. From reading this forum at such an early stage it is clear that many others have shared similar experiences to you. It is such a shame that infant children come to school with these ideas around what is appropriate for each gender, in terms of toys, games, professions, etc. At such an early age, it should matter little what toys they choose to play with. Very often, children will often deviate away from something they wish to pursue because of the fear that it does not align with societal norms.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Orlaih,

The SDG related to climate action is certainly one which carries much relevance at this present time. Children are witnessing examples of extreme weather and climate change locally in may areas in recent years. The content of module 5 will allow you to explore this topic in more detail. Knowing that fellow student sin the school have created the posters you have mentioned can also have a greater impact than commercially produced posters/flyers from my experience.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Orla,

Thank you for your post here. You have raised several great points. Its great that you will be able to incorporate some of this into your unit of work on the Aboriginal people. I fully agree with the point you have made regarding the prompt and the output. Making the children aware that the text they are analysing was AI generated and to ask them to identify what the prompt was has huge implications for developing and deepening their critical thinking skills.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Rachel,

Thank you for your post and your engagement throughout the course. As I mentioned earlier, Immersive Reader is such as excellent assistive resource for children with literacy difficulties. In terms of numeracy, I would also recommend Amplify/Mathigon as a virtual manipulative tool to assist children. https://polypad.amplify.com/

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Barbara,

Thank you for your post. I can only imagine the devastation that this would have caused to the local area, as I can recall seeing some of the images from the time. Such devastation and description can elicit a sense of duty among locals to ensure events like these are not repeated. You have provided a number of potential steps that could be taken in schools, all of which are managable and can be actioned with appropriate leadership and vision.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Anna Lucia,

I fully agree with you in terms of children often being pigeon-holed within gender stereotypes from birth. The whole concept of pink and blue being dedicated to the different genders is a prime example of this. I feel Aistear may be a key place to challenge some of these misconceptions and opinions, as they will invariably occur during this time.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Siobhan,

Thank you for your post and for raising awareness around this particular SDG. Deforestation is clearly a global issue, but you have also managed to tie a local aspect into your suggestions around how you would use this in your classroom. Very often, when children can see the impacts of certain practices in their locality, it can heighten their receptiveness to campaigning and fighting for issues on a more global scale.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Conor,

Thank you for your post and for raising awareness of this particular SDG. In Ireland, we are in the lucky position to often take the provision of ‘quality education’ as a given. However, the reality is very different for many millions of children around the world. Like you have mentioned, the investigation of a ‘case study’ type country could be a very useful way of creating a drive in Irish children to wish to make a difference, and you have provided many examples of how this could be achieved.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi David,

Welcome to the course. Thank you for your overview of both Sway and Forms. Both Microsoft tools are extremely useful in an educational setting, for both students and teachers. I like how you have recognised this point within your description of Sway. The opportunities for collaboration within Sway have also been identifies and this is a key selling point for technology enhanced learning.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Orla,

It is great to hear that you found such a practical and useful use of AI within your own practice. Thinking about the amount of time and effort that such a task would require makes the advent of GenA-AI seem all the more remarkable. From your post it is also clear that you are viewing AI in a wider context, and looking at societal benefits and implications as well as educational.

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Kate,

Welcome to the course and thank you for your contribution here. You have offered many practical and useful examples of how AI can enhance our teaching and reduce our workload as educators. While many are worried about AI being used to plagiarize, you have shared how it can actually be used to check and guard against this (particularly relevant at second level).

[Eoghan O’Neill]

Hi Orla,

Thank you for your contribution here and you are very welcome to the course. It is absolutely true to point out the changes that have occurred in Irish society and Irish education over the past 40 years. Development education can provide a pathway to children becoming more informed about local and global issues, and the plight of people in other countries. The new draft Wellbeing & SEE curricula may be a useful reference point for you to consider as you progress through the course.

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