There has been a growing move towards the introduction of coding platforms and applications like Scratch and Hour of Code into our classrooms. Most teachers have by now, heard of and used these applications within their classes. In many schools there are students creating amazing projects during their school hours as well as in after […]
The BBC Micro:bit. A powerful tool for classroom coding Read More »
Today the Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton, T.D. today launched his Department’s STEM Education Policy Statement 2017-2026 and Implementation Plan 2017-2019. The Minister is taking a long-term view on developing STEM learning across the entire school system from Early Childhood to Leaving Cert. He stated at the launch event I have set the
STEM Education Policy Statement 2017-2026 Read More »
Towards a STEM Education Policy Statement and Implementation Plan for Schools The Department of Education and Skills are currently developing a STEM Education Policy Statement and Implementation Plan for Schools. The Department’s work in this area is being informed by the STEM Education in the Irish School System report. The report contains 47 suggested actions
STEM – New Plan on its way Read More »
Our school is the coordinating partner for this three year Erasmus+ project involving ten schools and three universities. The three Irish schools involved, Sacred Heart SNS, Killinarden, St Mark’s SNS, Springfield and Lissigiveen NS, Killarney all have gained Digital Schools of Distinction status. The three partners from Denmark Søhusskolen, Provstegårdskolen and Højby Skole are all based
A Digital Journey in Europe – Erasmus+ Project Read More »
Our tendency to over promise the impact of ICT … March 13th is Digital Learning Day in the United States where “all teachers, librarians, media specialists, principals, parents, community members, and administrators from public, private, charter, and home-school settings” are asked to “try something new on Digital Learning Day and share what they learned”. It
Minding Our Language Read More »
My class have been given a great opportunity to participate in the re-launched Mission V project. Mission V was previously run during the 2011-2012 school year. Mission V provides the opportunity for primary pupils to learn through a game based environment. The pupils will be empowered to learn programming skills in a highly creative environment.
Roughly 80-90% of Irish primary classrooms have an Interactive Whiteboard, (IWB). However, now that they are part of the furniture in most Irish classrooms, what have we learned? When IWBs came out, I spent a lot of time reviewing them and finding out which board offered the best value and service. I was convinced that
IWBs – Time to dismantle the Trojan Horse? Read More »
Everyone in education is talking about tablet computing. The days of comparing the various quirks of Interactive Whiteboards has ended and teachers are looking at the next big thing. At second level, tablets are an ideal technology resource, even if they simply just replace the textbook. However, at primary level, where we’re not so stuck
Tablets: Is the future Microsoft? Read More »
Augmented Reality (AR) has increased in popularity in recent years and indeed months. The infographic shown here gives an explanation of what AR is, it shows a timeline for the evolution of AR technologies and finally it illustrates the future of AR. In brief this technology makes QR codes look like a black and white
Forget QR Codes… What’s your aura? Read More »
Those involved in distance education struggled for many years to interact in live settings with their learners. Distance education is with us since the 1890s while the Open University (OU) created its first online course in 1988. The Internet has done a great deal to transform how learners can now learn at a distance. One
