Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
For this module I have chosen to work on the 21st Century skill of Communication.
The aim is for students in 5th/6th class to create their own eBook suitable for children in 1st class using the Book Creator app.
To develop interest in the project we will begin with a class discussion focusing on the value of reading and to determine the types of stories and genres they like to read themselves. This can be done using the Menti app.Next the students work with the first class teacher to get advice on how to pitch the books at an appropriate level. The students will create a google forms document to gather this information.
The next stage would involve a survey of first class students to determine the types of stories they like to read using Kahoot.
As a class the students will collaborate with their teacher to create a rubric in order to guide their work.
Each student will be paired with a first class student to gather information which will guide their planning of the story when it comes to characters and setting.Students will also communicate with their peers, class teacher and LS teacher to get feedback on their eBook throughout the process.
The students will use Book Creator to develop their own story as it allows for multi model communication – develop text, voice record over the text, upload their own artwork or find/create suitable artwork on the app. This project allows students to develop an eBook with a particular audience in mind. The students will develop their story having carried out research at the beginning and during the process with other experts and with the target audience.
We have access to iPads on a shared basis to support our implementation of the DLF to support students learning. We had a DL day where every teacher got training on Book Creator and Canva. School wide we have endeavoured to become familiar with both and trial them within our school from Junior Infants to second class. Book Creator has proved very popular as it offers so much scope for use across the streams and is accessible to the majority of students and is also very user friendly for teachers which is key to getting a new initiative off the ground. Of course the potential for DL to support student learning is endless, the challenge is making a conscious effort to get all stakeholders on board, to realise the potential. As someone said earlier, a key aspect is to be one step ahead with regards to technology. Start small and build a strong foundation.
The key to SSE is that it is a collaborative process, in terms of applying it to my teaching and learning it is important that I am aware of the actions pertaining to my level and carry them out. I must also be willing to honestly reflect and evaluate on my practices to determine if they are effective or highly effective.
Developing my own use of digital technology with regards to SSE goes hand in hand. Using DT makes the process more collaborative, accessible and makes record keeping more efficient. It also promotes the use of DT school wide for all stake holders which in turn ensures using DT becomes ingrained in school culture.
I never really understood One Note until this module. I have to say I really like it now. As I work in a special class I love the immersive reader tool. It offers so much flexibility to one piece of text, making it accessible for diverse student abilities. And it is so easy to do. I will be using this tool in the future. I see so many possibilities for using one note in my setting. We collaborate among year groups for planning and preparation. Using one note for planning means all plans can be streamlined and each contributor can access and work on the same document. I also think the layout with chapters and sections is so clear and easy to navigate both for students and staff. In terms of preparation of lessons, the exemplars demonstrate the value of creating a template using the same colour codes for Learning objectives etc and then using the template across the school. I think this makes total sense and is only going to benefit students when the same layout and system
is used school wide. It will also save on needless printing!
In our school we use Microsoft teams for staff communication, we have weekly virtual assembles, we share and collaborate on plans and documents. Our access to Microsoft teams was set up about 3 or 4 years ago now (I think). It has taken a number of years for the majority of the staff to become familiar and confident with using it. This year was probably the first year we used it fully. So it takes time to become familiar with it. As I said we use it for staff communication mostly so there is still a lot more we could use if for. I think the majority of the staff find it useful and have become confident with using it now. We had a Croke Park training initially to learn the basics. This was definitely needed. In our school I think we need to explore the potential of using it with the students. We are a junior school so I see this as a more challenging task for us but hopefully in the coming year we can use it as part of our digital literacy framework.
We use office 365 in our school. I signed up for the course to see how I can fully use it for education purposes. At present we use outlook and teams for staff communication mainly. I haven’t use Sway before. I used it today to create a school newsletter which I think is something I would use it for in the future. I work in a special class so communication with parents plays a big part. Previously I would have printed off newsletters and pictures to send home with the students. Using Sway would save time, money and allow me to share videos. I think more parents would engage with it as we all use our phones so much nowadays. Forms makes gathering information so easy – as you demonstrated through testing and with surveys. The fact that the results are collated and can be shared easily using excel makes it very user friendly. It would be a useful tool for school SSE to gather information from students, parents and staff.
