The International E-STEP conference took place in Athens on November 7th. It was hosted by the 8th International Conference in Open and Distance Learning 2015, “Innovation and Research in Open & Distance Learning and in Information Communications Technology.” Over the last couple of years, the E-STEP project set about helping teachers and school leaders acquire and reinforce […]
It is just about 17 months (back in September 2013} since I wrote about a Microsoft offer to Education whereby Microsoft were offering 32 Gb versions of their original Surface RT 10 inch tablets to their educational institution customers at a discounted price of just under €200. At the time I considered that they represented good value for
End of Road for Windows RT? Read More »
We have had the pleasure of updating our primary school history policy recently and we used ICT in a number of ways to create resources that may be used within the classroom. We found ICT particularly useful in creating a bank of resources on the local history of Harolds Cross, Dublin where the school is
Using ICT to create resources for history in the primary classroom Read More »
It’s probably best to be up front right from the start and admit to being a bit of a “lurker” on several online ICT forums! I spend some time observing threads and reading through discussions without noticeably participating to any great degree. It’s not that I have never posted a comment; I have posted on
The task of supporting teachers to integrate ICT into teaching, learning and assessment practices is as big an issue today as it ever was for Irish teachers at all levels of education. Though thousands of teachers have been “trained” many feel they are not sufficiently competent to use digital technology in their classrooms. They appear
Shared Professional Practice Read More »
For the first time in 35 years I didn’t join the morning commute to school on the opening day of the new academic year as I had taken “Early Retirement” a month before the summer holidays began! I now find myself on the outside of the school railings, no longer a participant in the educational
The Flipped Classroom Read More »
As you may know the Department of Edcucation launched the Active School Flag in 2009 to promote physical activity within schools and their communities. There are a number of steps that primary or secondary schools have to follow to recieve the flag and these can be found on their website. At the moment my own
Using ICT to gain an Active School Flag Read More »
Towards the end of March I had the pleasure of attending the Atlantic Corridor STEM (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics) 2012 Conference in Tullamore and was inspired by the speakers on the day. The speakers included: Carol Lynn Parente the producer of “Sesame Street”, Ward Van Duffel (managing director of Lego Education), Marc Watson, president
Atlantic Corridor Stem Conference Read More »
Last Thursday The Irish Times carried an opinion piece by Brian O’Connell entitled, “Technology in classroom still in the Dark Ages”. In this article Brian makes some interesting observations on the state of ICT in Irish primary and second level schools. Though these observations appear to be based on personal experiences it is good to
“Technology in classroom still in the Dark Ages” – Are we Really? Read More »
”In 2009, 8,420 students sat higher-level mathematics; in 2010, it dropped to 8,390 and then last year further to 8,237. In 2010, 4,877 sat higher-level physics; last year it dropped to 4,782. In 2010, 6,298 sat higher-level chemistry; last year it dropped to 6,272. While the numbers sitting the Leaving Certificate in the last two
Bridging the Skills Gap Read More »
