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 Last Wednesday (February 3rd 2010) over 250 second level students all over Ireland took part in the first round paper of the CNGL All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad (AILO) in their own schools .
Following the success of last year’s inaugural AILO competition, CNGL invited transition-year, 5th- and 6th-year students in Ireland and Northern Ireland with an interest in languages and good analytical skills to put them together, learn about linguistics, and participate in this fun competition. The winners of the overall AILO individual competition will represent Ireland at the International Linguistics Olympiad in Sweden in July 2010.
Many disciplines such as science, maths, creative writing, and music run competitions to find the most promising young students. A Linguistics Olympiad involves face-to-face competition where teams or individuals have to use their ingenuity, creativity and skill to solve language-related problems. No specialist linguistics knowledge is assumed.
23 schools from the republic and north signed up to take part in this year’s competition. The first individual round consists of six questions of varying difficulty, to be answered in 2½-hours. Individuals who score above a threshold will be invited to participate in the AILO final (individual and team competitions) to be held on March 24th in the Hub at Dublin City University (DCU). A CNGL researcher will provide a training session on solving the linguistics problems in their own school prior to the final in DCU.
The All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad is organised by the Centre for Next Generation Localisation (CNGL), an Science Foundation Ireland (SFI)-funded research centre based in Dublin City University, involving three other universities (UCD, TCD and UL) and nine industry partners (Alchemy, IBM, Microsoft, SDL, SpeechStorm, Symantec ,Traslán, VistaTEC, and DNP Japan).
Find out more>>
About
TeachNet Ireland is now inviting project proposals from primary and post-primary teachers. Grants will be awarded to innovative teachers throughout Ireland to assist them publish curriculum units on www.teachnet.ie to demonstrate the integration of ICT into classroom practices in meaningful and practical ways. Teachers are supported in the development of their online curriculum units, via the Web.
Focus for 2009-10 School Year (21st Century Teaching & Learning)
This year TeachNet’s focus is on developing online curriculum related modules that promote a technology rich project-based learning approach. There is growing evidence to suggest learners benefit enormously when ICT is combined with a project-based approach. i.e. www.edutopia.org
We want to hear from creative teachers who are using ICT to create classrooms where students are actively learning and creating knowledge alongside their teachers. We are keen to share your ideas and approaches with other teachers on topics such as – how do you use your Interactive Whiteboard to engage your pupils in literacy activities or how you and your students use data-logging tools in your Maths or Science lessons? We are always looking to promote how teachers are using newer technologies in their classrooms – tools such as blogs, podcasts, wikis or twitter, to name but a few.
We want to know how you organise your classroom to facilitate such project-based learning approaches and we want to share this with teachers in Ireland and globally. We want to know how you organise your learners – are they in groups, what do they do and how do you manage the setting? We want to know what software tools you use and we are most interested in seeing what pupils produce. It might be a PowerPoint presentation, a PhotoStory, a movie, a blog, a podcast or a data file. The list is endless! All the time we want to see how it links back to the curriculum and the NCCA ICT Framework (www.action.ncca.ie/en/ict-framework/intro).
This year we want to hear from teachers who are using ICT creatively with their pupils and we want to share this good practice with others.
So if you have an idea or you know a teacher who does, please apply today. We have a limited number of grants available and we are keen to publish good practice using ICT so others can learn from your experiences.
What do I Need To Do?
To qualify for a TeachNet grant you need to complete the online application form, which is available here.
- Deadline for submissions Friday, February 19th, 2010.
- Proposal feedback Friday, March 5th, 2010.
- Publication of completed projects by Friday, April 30th, 2010.
Disseminator Grants
TeachNet will award disseminator grants to 20 teachers who develop innovative, creative inquiry based projects that integrate technology into their classroom teaching. Successful applicants will receive a grant of €600 to develop this online curriculum resource.
Find Out More
Additional information is available here or by emailing Pat Brennan at pbrennan@teachnet.ie
 Dublin City University’s Learning Innovation and Knowledge Research Centre is coordinating a series of FREE online seminars on using digital content for education. The seminars are delivered by leading international experts on digital content in education. Starting with "An Introduction to Open Educational Resources and Where to Find Them Online" by Neil Butcher (OER AFRICA) on 4 February 2010, seminars will be delivered online every Tuesday and Thursday at 1500 GMT.
Other seminars include:
• Finding Open Educational Resources on Google
• Evaluating & Downloading Learning Objects, Images, Audio, Video, Reference Content & Lesson Plans (1 session per topic)
• Open Source Software for Education
• Using Interactive Whiteboards in the Classroom
• Using Learning Objects, Images, Audio, Video, Reference Content & Lesson Plans in the Classroom (1 session per topic)
These free online seminars are part of the 4C Initiative (www.4cinitiative.com) and through funding provided by The Nominet Trust and Cambridge University Press. Anyone can participate, simply go to the ‘register’ section of the 4C Initiative website – http://4cinitiative.com/?page_id=206
You can view a full schedule of all online seminars at http://4cinitiative.com/?page_id=37.
What is it?
Safeshare.tv makes it possible to view YouTube videos without displaying the related videos and associated comments, making it a handy tool for the classroom.  YouTube is blocked in most primary schools through filtered Internet access.
Safe share is useful if you want students to watch the selected video and nothing else.
YouTube has some excellent interactive and engaging educational videos that teachers might like to use in their classrooms. The problem is that YouTube can share too much with your students. Links to related videos may be inappropriate.
Safe share allows you to remove distracting and offensive elements that may surround a YouTube video. You can avoid having links to ‘related videos’ and ‘featured videos’ on the screen, decreasing the chance of children viewing offensive videos. It also allows you to crop and edit videos in order to use the exact section of video you want the students to view.
How to use it:
- Copy the url of the YouTube video you want to us
- Go to www.safeshare.tv
- Enter the YouTube link into the safe share window as above
- Click to generate a safe link
- Copy and paste this link into the URL bar
- View the video without links to ‘related videos’ etc.
This ‘safe link’ omits distracting elements and dispenses with offensive videos that have a risk of cropping up in the “related” section if your students are watching the video on YouTube.
This link can be saved for later use, can be placed in PowerPoints for presentation purposes etc.
Visit http://www.safeshare.tv to try it out for yourself.
http://studentresponsenetwork.com/
During the extended Christmas holiday due to the bad weather, while browsing I came across an interesting ICT initiative in New South Wales. The federal government is investing in putting a compact lightweight laptop in the hands of every Year 9 school pupil in 571 schools over the next four years. Installed on each of the laptops are industry standard applications such as Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, One Note, Publisher and Access); Adobe software (Photoshop Elements, Dreamweaver, Flash, Contribute and Fireworks); Apple iTunes, Interactive Whiteboard applications such as Smart Notebook and Active Studio Viewer; open source applications such as Audacity and a local Australian application Student Response Network which can be used for group polling and gathering responses. More details on the Digital Education Revolution in New South Wales can be found at http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/gotoschool/highschool/dernsw/thelaptop.php
The Student Response Network  is a simple “Virtual Clicker” software application designed for use in school computer labs or with wireless laptops and netbooks for collecting student responses to questions posed by the teacher. For a school that has a 1:1 computer lab, laptop or netbook classroom computer access it offers a very cost effective audience response system, costing only a fraction of the price of a full set of conventional hardware clickers which all of the interactive whiteboard manufacturers are marketing today.
The Student Response Network offers four methods of collecting responses:
- Beat the Buzzer type questions – first person to buzz gets to answer
- True or False Questions – Yes/No
- Multiple Choice – up to four – A, B, C or D
- Text Entry – answer with a word, number, phrase or a sentence
To use the programme, the Student Response Network Server application is copied on to the teacher’s computer connected to a data projector or interactive whiteboard. There is no complicated installation involved. Only Administrator access required is to open Windows Firewall exceptions on the teacher’s pc so that Windows Firewall doesn’t block client pc’s accessing the server. This is very well documented on the site. The Student Response Network client application can be copied to any folder on the student pc’s. Again no complicated installation is required.
As pupils submit their answers, the server collects them instantly. When all pupils have answered, a bar chart is displayed on the teacher’s computer. Teacher can then click on the correct answer and the server application will record results. At the end of the lesson a log of all responses can be exported to an Excel spreadsheet. Free text answers are also recorded in Notepad.
I downloaded the trial version (up to 5 clients) of this software and gave it a go in a Mathematics lesson with my Fifth Class pupils last week. It went down a ball with the group.
Two licensing options for this software are offered –
Single Server licence option (with up to 50 clients) – 65 US$
Campus Wide licence option (unlimited servers with up to 50 clients each) – 129 US$
www.cesi.ie
In this podcast host Clifford Brown is joined by Adrienne Webb,Vice-Chair and Anne McMurrough, National Executive member of CESI (The Computer Education Society of Ireland), to talk about the voluntary organisation that has been championing the cause of ICT integration in education since 1973. The discussion focuses on CESI’s plans for 2010, including regional CESI Meets and the packed agenda for this year’s annual conference, which in a departure from previous conferences will be held outside Dublin, making it more accessible for interested teachers nationwide.
The CESI National Conference ‘Creative Technology in Challenging Times’ takes place this February 5th and 6th in Portlaoise. For more information visit www.cesi.ie/conference-2010 .
Duration: 00:13:48 File Size: 12.6 MB
Download | Subscribe | iTunes
We would be delighted to hear any comments or suggestions you have relating to our podcasts so please post your comments below or email blog@teachnet.ie.
 Just last week I had the pleasure of attending the annual BETT Show in London for the first time. Initially I was overwhelmed by the sheer scale of this exhibition but once I got my bearings I quickly started to understand why BETT is so popular with educators worldwide and why it really is a must-go event for any teacher interested in embedding technology in teaching and learning.
BETT (The British Education and Training Technology) exhibition has been promoting ICTs in schools since 1985 and it now encompasses a vast array of technologies ranging from what you might expect, computers and software, to diverse and emergent technologies like interactive whiteboards, eportfolios, electronic money, surveillance systems, biometric entry systems , virtual learning environments and more…
Needless to say that Interactive Whiteboards got blanket coverage at BETT 2010 and I counted over 20 different manufacturers promoting their solutions. Whilst the various IWBs in themselves were extremely impressive particularly, the exhibits of Smart, Promethean and Mimeo, however it was some of of the addons /associated technologies were what really caught my eye. Granted, IWBs key feature is the interactivity they afford in the classroom but factor in wireless slates and feedback systems and you get real whole class interactivity. Another interesting addition to an IWB setup is a visualiser (document camera) to digitise printed content and more. Up until last week I had been a tad dubious of visualisers, thinking of them as glorified overhead projectors but after seeing the latest models available from Smart, Elmo and AverVision, it’s clear their possibilities go way beyond this particularly for science experiments and classroom demonstrations (more here).
Other interesting things that caught my eye were the Intel Classmate tablet pc specifically designed for education (video demo here), Microsoft’s Kodu Game Lab and RM’s Learning Spaces exhibit. Of course I could go on and on! Technology in education on this evidence has a very bright future in the UK, lets hope on this side of the water we have the policy vision and funding to keep up.
It’s rarely that we get a chance to hear someone on these shores providing an enlightened insight into the role of education in a digital society. Lord Puttman, film director and now Chairman of Futurelab (an organisation we much admire), gave a talk to the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) in Dublin on the 19th January.
While the media have focussed on his comments about the state of our schools in Ireland (see Irish Times article: Poor state of schools shameful – Puttnam), we were more keen to hear his comments on the state of education in the context of the digital society. In a rapidly changing world, Lord Puttman has no doubt that proper investment in education is paramount to developing and improving society and to dealing with many of the global issues that pertain to living and working in the 21st Century.
Basically, we need to change the way we educate our young people and rethink our industral age model of schooling. This involves making sure that there is proper political commitment and investment in the physical and digital infrastruture to support teaching and learning in our schools. For those that fear technology can replace teachers, Puttman states” it is the school teacher, adept at handling the very best technology that’s become an asset truely beyond price.”
Furthermore, Puttman believes that teacher education in the digital age is a “non negotiable and continuing process”. The commitment of poliy makers and school principals to the “best possible quality of teacher training, along with regular, preferably annual timeout must be absolute”.
Please take 30 minutes to view the video. Let’s hope that David Puttman’s words don’t fall on deaf ears and that these same words will be seen as a call to action.
At the Learning and Technology World Forum (LATWF) in London last week, we were struck by how far ahead many western countries are moving when it comes to fully integrating ICT throughout their education systems. As an indication of how far things are moving regarding opening up access to technology in education, the UK Prime Minister announced a new scheme for less well off families.
The British Government will spend £300 million to provide free laptops and broadband access to 270,000 low income families so that they can follow their children’s progress at school. The aim is to get all families linked up to their children’s schools via the internet and access progress reports on attainment, behaviour and other needs.
Speaking at the LATWF, Gordon Brown stated: “We want every family to become a broadband family, and we want every home linked to a school. For those finding it difficult to afford this, today I can announce the nationwide rollout of our home access programme… it will mean all families can come together, learn together and reap rewards together.”
Parents can apply for the grant if they have children of school-going age and are registered for Free School Meals. In the meantime, all UK primary and second schools are working towards having a full VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) which will provide access to information on pupils’ progession through a secure individual login for parents. This is part of the £2.9bn being invested by the UK government in ICT in education every year. They clearly see this investment as a key part of their economic recovery programme.
LATWF keynote video of Gordon Brown
BTW, if you missed the BETT show in London, watch out for our BETT 2010 podcast discussion coming soon.
This year, the CESI Annual Conference will take place on Friday February 5th and Saturday February 6th in Portlaoise. The CESI conference has always been highly regarded for showcasing exciting and innovative technologies for teaching and learning, presented in practical and ‘real-life’ terms (many of the presentations are made by practicing teachers). This year’s conference promises to be no different, with topics on offer including: the use of the Nintendo DS and Wii in teaching, eTwinning, Google Wave for Education, using tablet PCs in the classroom, MOODLE, Virtual Worlds in education, and using ICT in SEN, to name but a few.
 The conference keynote address will be delivered by Joe Dale, a leading practitioner in the area of ICT and modern foreign languages whose blog (www.joedale.typepad.com) has been nominated for two Edublog Awards in the last three years. The Capstone Speaker is Dr. Conor Galvin, Lecturer and Researcher at UCD’s School of Education and Lifelong Learning, as well as recent chairperson of CESI and a member of the Minister’s Strategy Group on ICT in education.
 As with last year, the conference will be divided into two parts. On Friday night (Feb 5th), the CESI Meet will take place in the Heritage Hotel. Based on the popular ‘Teach Meet’ model, presentations take one of three formats: Mini-presentation (5 minutes), Soap Box (15 minutes – these run concurrently to smaller interest groups) and Nano-presentation: 2 minutes. You can view the highlights of the previous CESI Meet at http://www.cesi.ie/cesimeet-autumn09. On Saturday (Feb 6th) the action moves to Portlaoise College for a full day of presentations and hands-on workshops, and with over thirty to choose from there’s something for everyone who is interested in integrating technology into their teaching.
Further details on all aspects of this year’s conference (including booking form) are available at http://www.cesi.ie/conference-2010.
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