[Pat Brennan]

Hi Hilary,

Thanks for sharing  Helperbird and your experience using it, an app I wasn’t aware of . From first impressions online, it’s looks an extremely powerful literacy tool with a myriad of uses in the SET classroom.

[Pat Brennan]

Hi Hilary,

I agree pin pointing which AT will be a right fit for a child is the difficult part and tight budgets make it essential that the correct choice is made when purchasing AT’s. However, as you point out there are so many different options out there and the needs of individual children are so unique. This is what makes it such a minefield so consulting the SSF, liaising with past teachers and using the recommendation in reports from educational phycologists, OTs etc, is the most effective and wholistic way to approach it. Having a knowledge of as many different options as possible will allow you to make more informed decisions.

[Pat Brennan]

Hi Julie,

Great to hear you are finding the course useful and that you are discovering new tools and functionality in MS365 that you hitherto weren’t aware of. personally I think where Teams really comes into its own is as a one-stop overarching collaboration and communication platform for staff, in my opinion it’s the best tool out there for such professional networks, providing all the tools required in one easy to access place. I do agree however that it can be tricky to navigate (Particularly for younger students) but it’s important to remember that Teams was primarily designed for communication and collaboration in the workplace. I also agree that the chat facility can be distracting but this can be switched off by the school admin.

[Pat Brennan]

Hi Tara,

I agree, the SETT framework is practical as it can be used as you’ve outlined, collectively to inform the choice of AT for the individual child, so the technology/learning environment is matched (as much as possible) to the needs of the student making interventions bespoke. As you point out with low-tech tools (and possibly some of the medium-tech tools), they will already be available so will just need to be put place where the more high-tech tools may need to be sourced and in some cases require a recommendation from a specialist so their acquisition is funded.

[Pat Brennan]

Hi Michelle,

Thanks for sharing both your Sway and Form and I agree both tools are powerful learning tools when used appropriately with a class.  Forms is an extremely powerful tool for assessment, both AfL and AoL and its reporting and tacking facilities make keeping tabs on progress easy and more efficient. As for Sway I see it as a powerful yet simple to use tool for digital storytelling, picture or photo stories but also great for illustrated narratives. Often teachers (particularly at the senior end of the school) think that when they’ve access to the full 365 suite, PowerPoint should be the tool of choice but particularly with storytelling, I believe, less is more and the simplicity of Sway lets students focus on their content instead of getting distracted by the advanced functionality/bells and whistles of PowerPoint.

[Pat Brennan]

Hi Jacqueline,

I agree, Immersive reader can be a very powerful literacy tool when used in SET. It enables all work to be accessible to all students and provides a scaffolding approach to learning. As you’ve mooted, functionality like the ability to adjust text size and spacing, break words into syllables and the talk to text features are the key parts of this scaffold. When working with students with SEN, MS365 can be used to tailor bespoke supports using these free tools. These are in constant development too and improving all the time. The addition of Learning Accelerators in recent years adds to the toolkit and demonstrates Microsoft commitment to developing and enhancing their suite of AT tools.

[Pat Brennan]

Hi Muirne,

Can you let me know what version of Microsoft 365 you are using, and we can troubleshoot the issue further? More on how to ascertain this at About Office: What version of Office am I using? – Microsoft Support 

Kind regards,
Pat

[Pat Brennan]

Hi Kate,

I agree, ongoing professional development is essential for educators. Gone are the days when graduation from college marked the conclusion of studies. As you’ve mooted the education is changing continually and we as professionals need to reflect and upskill to best be able to adapt to change. We are indeed all lifelong learners. However, just like our students as you mentioned in module two, there’s no one size fits all here, CPD needs to be relevant and meaningful to each teacher. If this is not the case, it becomes just a box ticking exercise.

[Pat Brennan]

Hi Aine,

When starting digital learning integration into teaching, learning and assessment it’s so important to start small and build from there, evolution instead of revolution. Key too is to start with your learning outcomes and then choose the technology that can best support their realisation. Sometimes we put the cart before the horse, focusing on the technology and then trying to shoehorn the curricular objectives around. The focus should never be only on the technology in itself but instead how we can embed into into our practice/pedagogy…

[Pat Brennan]

Hi Orla,

I agree both Immersive Reader and Dictate and extremely powerful tools for use in the SEN classroom and particularly as you’ve mooted in EAL scenarios. In fact, these Microsoft’s Learning Tools in conjunction with the other 365 apps like Word, OneNote and Teams can be used to tailor bespoke supports that cater for a vast array of educational needs. Having such powerful assistive tools inbuilt into the tools our students use daily is invaluable and even better still is that Microsoft continue to develop new assistive tools. Reading Progress in Teams is one new addition that springs to mind…

 

[Pat Brennan]

Hi Róísin,

As you have identified, there’s a lot more to Teams than video calling. In fact, it is a powerful digital hub that centralises learning, work and collaboration in one place that can be deployed for free in schools. Of course, there’s a certain degree of upskilling required to ensure all staff are familiar and comfortable with the app prior to school deployment and I would start initially with a Staff Team to aid this familiarisation process before looking at creating class teams for senior classes as suggested and giving students access. Another suggestion would be to create a OneNote Staff Notebook from within the staff team integrating OneNote functionality seamlessly, including  a personal workspace for every teacher, a content library for shared information, and a collaboration space to work together.

[Pat Brennan]

Hi Donnacha,

OneNote’s versatility is what makes it such a powerful tool for teaching and learning and your example of using it to share school policies is one of a myriad of educational tasks it can be put to. If teacher and whole school planning is something you plan using OneNote for in your school I would strongly advise installing the free Class Notebook Add-in and use same to create a OneNote Staff Notebook which provides a personal workspace for every teacher, a content library for shared information, and a collaboration space. Alternatively, you can create the notebook within a Microsoft Team. For more information on OneNote and Class Notebook see onenoteforteachers.com

[Pat Brennan]

Hi Shirley,

Welcome to the course. As mooted previously on the forum, I’ve been using Microsoft’s productivity suite in the classroom for over 20 years but only up until relatively recently, focusing on the staple apps like Word, Excel and PowerPoint. However, there’s so many more tools we can use like Sway, Forms and my own personal favourite OneNote. I agree,  the Sway app is a powerful yet simple to use tool, ideal for digital storytelling and picture or photo stories. You’ve mentioned how you might use it instead of PowerPoint for project work and sometimes less is more. The simplicity of Sway lets students focus on their content instead of getting distracted by the bells and whistles of PowerPoint.

[Pat Brennan]

Hi Patrice,

You’ve outlined here some of the key features of OneNote in the classroom particularly for EAL students and Immersive Reader but also for paperless teacher planning. As I’ve alluded to many times on this forum, I see OneNote as the digital version of a Swiss Army knife, it can be put to so many different uses. However, you are right to point out that for it to work effectively, it’s use needs to be planned for on a whole-school basis and a certain degree of up-skilling will need to be provided in advance, so all teachers are familiar and comfortable with OneNote. This is something that you should raise with your Digital learning coordinator or DL team in school. I would suggest, a couple of Croke Park hours designated for same would be a good place to start…

[Pat Brennan]

Hi Therese,

I agree that there is much we can learn from the experience of remote learning during Covid and we need to take the practices that worked and move forward whilst being mindful of the problems experienced and that the experience was not a positive for every teacher. You refer to other colleagues who are less comfortable with digital one learning and bringing these along is mission critical to embedding digital learning in teaching, learning and assessment across the whole school. This is where the provision of regular and relevant CPD for all staff comes in and designating a Croke Park hour every month for this purpose is advisable. This too can be further supported by having a digital mentoring programme among staff where the more tech-savvy teachers support those who are less comfortable with the tools.

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