A recent TeachNet Blog post “Blended Learning – So what is all the fuss?” gave a very clear and informative understanding of Blended Learning. It really is well worth a second or even third read for any teacher so that they can come to terms with the new classroom reality.I think it is true to say that our current understanding of the traditional classroom has been consigned, for the moment…
Very early on in the “Working from Home” new normal, I realised that it was time to upgrade my Desktop PC. It’s an aging iCore 5 machine that has continued to cope with multiple software updates, successfully graduating from Windows 7 to Windows 10! However it really had slowed down considerably and I knew that it would be a struggle for it to cope with ICT tutorial and webinar, support…
During a Face-to-Face ICT course in the early days of July 2019 an engaging debate grew out of comments I had made in an earlier presentation. I had been speaking about how digital resources could support a wide range of curriculum subjects and individual lessons and had shown a resource that I had used to support a poetry lesson in a 5th & 6th class. This was a short, animated…
Microsoft recently released a series of video tutorials aimed at beginner coders who are interested in learning Python. There are 44 videos in this series and all of them are available through YouTube. The videos are co-presented by Christopher Harrison and Susan Ibach; Christopher is a senior programming manager at Microsoft, and Susan is from Microsoft’s AI gaming division. Christopher acknowledges that they don’t cover everything there is to know…
With the start of the new academic year I thought it would be beneficial to highlight a very effective resource for inclusion in the daily teaching and learning routine of the classroom. Microsoft Learning Tools is a free online resource to help pupils who are struggling with their reading and Immersive Reader is the feature that I will now take a look at. Our starting point is Office 365 online…
There’s a new resource coming soon for any teacher interested in STEM activities! Lego are introducing a new product, Lego Education Spike Prime to their already impressive education offerings. Each 523 piece kit includes, bricks, sensors, motors and a multi-port Hub that is programmable using a Spike app; this app is based on the very familiar Scratch coding tool. Spike Prime is aimed at 11 – 14 year old pupils,…
On March 4th 2019, the third installment under the Digital Strategy for Schools (2018-2019) was announced. This grant funding for the purchase of ICT infrastructure is intended to enable schools, both Primary and Post Primary, to embed the use of digital technology in teaching and learning. Since the 9th of January, 2019 the Department of Education has released 24 Whole School Evaluation (WSE) reports from Primary schools on its website.…
Recently I was preparing notes for a Continued Professional Development (CPD) session on Digital Storytelling and compiling as comprehensive a list as possible of tools that can be used in the classroom to create Digital Stories. PowerPoint was to close off my list and as I was running a final double check on the list I realised that I had completely overlooked Microsoft Sway and so it was added. During…
Scratch 3.0 is due for release on the 2nd of January 2019. There are many teachers who are looking forward to this significant update to a great Coding resource that is very popular in Irish Primary schools. Scratch 3.0 will certainly become even more popular as this release addresses a serious problem with Scratch 2.0 and the even earlier Scratch 1.4, the fact that these two versions could not be…
The LEGO brand is well known around the world and many schools in Ireland already use a number of LEGO Education products such as LEGO Mindstorms and LEGO WeDo. I previously wrote a piece about LEGO WeDo back in 2016 and with the growing emphasis on STEM activities at Primary School level it’s great to see a new product coming into the education market that will support these activities. Coding…
Recent Comments