TeachNet Blog Feed

Clicker Comes to Tablets

John O' Mahony — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:58:46 GMT

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Many teachers of junior primary classes, learning support and resource teachers and indeed other SEN teachers will have familiarity with Clicker 5 and 6 on the PC and Mac platforms. The good news is that Clicker has come to tablets also with the Clicker Docs app for IOS - (€25.99) available for purchase on the iTunes app store.

Clicker Docs is a child friendly primary school wordprocessor for the iPad. It requires IOS 6, so an iPad 2 or better is required to run the app. It offers pupils a word prediction facility that will encourage pupils to be more adventurous in their use of vocabulary when writing. It also helps pupils in being more productive with their writing by reducing the effort and struggle with getting their ideas on paper. It features a lower case keyboard and provides speech feedback as they write which will help with correcting errors. Like the full Clicker 6 suite for the PC and Mac, the Clicker Docs app has a word bank facility which teachers can use for creating topic or subject based word banks to support writers. Word banks have full speech support so that pupils can hear a word before choosing it. Simply tapping on the relevant word in a word bank will insert it into the wordprocessor.

Crick realise that in may classrooms iPad tablets may be timetabled and not accessible to teachers and pupils at all times, so they have made sure that work started on the iPad app is transferable to Clicker 6 on your PC or Mac.

More information on Clicker Docs can be found on:

Youtube Video is available which demonstrates the app in action.

Screenr Screencast - by Brian S. Friedlander

The Publisher - Crick Software have a Clicker Apps home page where information on Clicker Docs and another app for younger pupils Clicker Sentences can be found on the Crick website.

Category: Primary; iPad

Published: 16/05/2013 21:14

Gooru: The Ultimate Educational Search Tool

Paul Monroe — Sun, 12 May 2013 18:10:59 GMT

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People are always recommending new online sites that are useful for classroom teaching and learning. However with so many available options I find myself gravitating towards resources that are easy to use as I don't have the time to learn the ins and outs of every resource. After someone recently recommended Gooru, I decided to check it out and having done so I definitely think it is one to watch out for and certainly is easy to use.

Gooru is a search engine designed for education. Simply type your query into the search bar and you will be presented with resources in the following forms:

- videos

- interactives

- exams

- textbooks

- handouts

- lessons

- slides

Gooru allows you to refine your search by categories. Then, once you've found fantastic resources, you can save them in your collections to keep safe for next time.
As a Gooru member you have access to hundreds of resources according to subject areas such as science maths social science and language arts. Within each subject area you can look for resources according to media type such as video, interactive display, slides, text, and lesson plans. When you find resources that you want to use, drag them to the resources folder within your account. Gooru also offers you the option to add resources to your folders even if you did not find them within Gooru.

All resources are vetted and organized by teachers or Gooru's content experts, so you don't have to sort through the mess of subpar educational resources available online yourself.

Gooru also makes it easy for you to connect with your worldwide peers to make learning a social experience. Post questions to an active community of students, teachers and experts, or find friends and peers to study with.

Best of all, Gooru adapts to you. Based on the topics you study and your performance on self-assessments, Gooru suggests resources and study guides that will help you master the concepts. You can track your study habits and monitor your performance on any of the topics you study.

Gooru harnesses the power of the web by organizing free, online education resources into searchable collections, accessible from any web or mobile platform. Gooru is developed by a non-profit organization with a mission to honour the human right to education and make high quality education free and accessible to the world's one billion students by 2014.
I recommend you give it a try... think of a topic, enter it in the search bar, and see what is available.

Published: 12/05/2013 19:09

Using ICT to create resources for history in the primary classroom

Kieran Kelly — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:30:17 GMT

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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 located.

Visualiser, Digital Camera & Interactive Whiteboard

We have a number of history books with fascinating pictures that we use visualisers to display on the Interactive Whiteboard within the classroom. Also, we have taken pictures of different historical photos in books and display them with child friendly text in PowerPoint presentations. Ensure that you email the publisher of the book to ask permission to reuse the photos for educational purposes.

The National Library of Ireland Catalogue also provides excellent quality photos from the past that you can compare and contrast with a recent photo taken in the area.

There have been a number of signifcant events that have taken place in the Harold's Cross area over recent years and two of these are documented on YouTube: the floods of 2011 and the carrying of the Olympic Torch over the Harold's Cross bridge in 2012. It is easy to show pupils these clips and to discuss their local area and create timelines using them. We also found using the archives of the national newspapers to be of benefit in relation to local history as they provided photos and interesting articles about the local area that may be used in the senior classes.

The National Arhcives website facility to search the 1901 & 1911 census is an invaluable resource for pupils to see who lived in their local area for those years.

An interesting site that I have come across also is Neil Jackman's Arabta Audio guides to Irish history. Neil an Irish archaeologist has created a number audio guides on different parts of Irish history. He has created an excellent one on Viking and Medieval Dublin. Other audio guides include:The 1916 Rising, The Rock of Cashel and The Hill of Tara.

Published: 08/05/2013 21:29

TeachNet Online Courses Summer 2013

h2\pbrennan — Fri, 03 May 2013 16:19:11 GMT

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For summer 2013, TeachNet are offering 12 EPV day approved online courses, to help you and your school achieve effective ICT integration into teaching and learning, including our first course to focus specifically on tablet computing and mobile learning entitled “Enhancing Literacy and Numeracy with the iPad or Tablet”.

TeachNet's online courses bring together the expertise of St. Patrick’s College and the practical approach of our course authors. All TeachNet courses are created “by teachers, for teachers” using the best interactive e-learning technology and provide practical ideas for using ICT creatively in the classroom. The feedback from participants, since first offering offering online courses in 2008 has been very positive and we are confident that the TeachNet courses provide a superior user experience.

2013 Online Courses

Getting Started with ICT

Getting Started - Computer Basics for Teachers

ICT in the Classroom

Getting the Most from your Projector and Laptop

Getting the Most from your Interactive Whiteboard

Getting the Most from your Smart Interactive Whiteboard

Getting the Most from your Promethean Interactive Whiteboard

Literacy and Numeracy

Enhancing Literacy and Numeracy with the iPad or Tablet

Enhancing Literacy with your Interactive Whiteboard

Enhancing Literacy through ICT

Enhancing Numeracy with your Interactive Whiteboard

Enhancing Numeracy through ICT

Special Education and ICT

ICT and Special Education Needs in the Primary School

ICT for Students with Special Education Needs in Special School & Units

Each course is approved for EPV days and costs €89. All courses are available online and can be completed anytime between July 1st and August 23rd 2012. Each of our courses provide for approximately 20 hours of study with downloadable course notes and online discussion forums moderated by TeachNet mentors. We also provide tailored support by email and on the phone when required.

For more specific course details and enrolment information please follow the Current Courses link. For information on our group and multiple course discounts please call 01-4806208.

Category: Primary; General; iPad; Web; Multigrade classroom; IWB; News

Published: 02/05/2013 17:22

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To the Top of the World and Beyond - Virtually!

John Rust — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 08:37:30 GMT

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Virtual field trips are a wonderful way of introducing a class of students to the world of Exploration and Discovery. Gone are the days when an SESE lesson on this topic focused on static images and copious pages of text. Instead, teachers can now give pupils the freedom to explore and research the Great Outdoors and beyond! I intend to focus on just three Virtual resources in this blog; the first takes pupils to the top of the Himalayas, the second journey’s to the surface of the Moon and the third one is a multimedia application from NASA that explorers lots of different parts of the world that resemble the surface of Mars.
At the time of this blog going live, Airpano had 140 Virtual Tours in their library. This is a non-commercial project by a group of Russian photographers focused on producing high resolution 3 D aerial panoramas. This is a fantastic resource for any SESE lesson and it brings the Great Outdoors right into the classroom.
The Himalayas virtual tour begins on a helicopter ride from Kathmandu to the Nepalese Himalayas where the climbers who produced the tour set up their base camp before the start of their two month journey to the mountain summit. The virtual tour interface is very easy to use; a series of helicopter icons tracks the journey and a secondary icon of a walker indicates the areas where ground level virtual tours are available.

The second virtual tour resource is included in the Google Earth package. By now, almost every teacher is familiar with Google Earth; however I’ve spoken to lots of teachers who were not aware of the amazing tools that this package has for exploring the Moon. These resources include high-resolution maps of the moon, archive photos from the various moon landings and 360 degree photos of the surface.
An icon on the tool bar allows the user to switch views from the Earth to the Sky and other planets. Clicking on the Moon selection brings up the Moon interface. From here the user is able to “Fly” to various parts of the moon’s surface to investigate the different artefacts left behind by our exploration of the Moon.

Virtual Field Trip from NASA is a whopping 1Gb download! Once download all that’s required is an unzip to a chosen folder; there’s no further installation needed. After clicking on a destination, a fly-to animation zooms from space to ground level. Here the user is presented with vivid 360 degree panoramas of the location as well as video files. Currently about half of the sites listed have content available for them with other sites due to come on stream in the future.

Before finishing up this post, I checked out the various links to make sure that the content was still “live”. After reviewing the AirPano site I was tempted to change my original choice of the Himalayas virtual tour as the focus of the paragraph. Every high resolution tour that I looked at was simply breath-taking; I can see endless possibilities for this site for every creative teacher!

Published: 29/04/2013 18:56

Timetabling of Equipment

Joelle Hendrick — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:38:28 GMT

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The old routine for using computers, was quite often a “Computer Room”. Each class was allocated a time, usually 1 hour a week/fortnight. In my own case when I was at school, it meant that every Wednesday afternoon, we dropped our pencils, stopped whatever we were doing and marched in an orderly fashion to the “Computer Room”. Once there, we opened up Mavis Beacon, or another similar game and played, in pairs (or threes if you were unlucky,) for about an hour. That was it really! In sixth class, we did a bit of Microsoft Word, opening documents, changing font size etc.. which culminated in everyone typing and printing a small paragraph about themselves. It was very exciting!

When I began my teaching career, there was no computer room in the school. Instead they had decided to give each classroom one or two computers to use in a more practical way. I suppose the idea is that computers can be used as needed, in project work etc… Often, there can be a rota associated with these computers and children can work on their work independently, complete specific programs and access websites. I have seen these computers used as an activity for early finishers, which has its own advantages and disadvantages.

We all know that things have changed! We are no longer using computers to purely teach computer skills. As we are aware, many children are coming into us from Junior Infants with a certain level of skills from home. They are already familiar with keyboards, laptops and now also tablets. As a result, our use of computers in the classroom has changed from a subject in itself, to a commonly used methodology.

Now, technology in schools is moving from exclusively PCs, to also include laptops, netbooks and tablets. In the school I teach in, the Senior end have been using a rota to share a trolley of laptops for a number of years. As an Infant teacher, I knew very little about this system and if it worked successfully and efficiently.

Recently, we purchased a set of iPads and I couldn’t wait for my 4/5 year olds to get their sticky little hands on them! There was a brief discussion on how to utilise them best, and it was decided to implement a similar timetable to the laptop trolleys, incorporating al the class groups from Junior Infants – Sixth Class. I was relatively dubious about this, as I did not want to have to interrupt the natural flow of my classroom to have an hour of “iPad time”. I wanted the iPads to be integrated naturally as a learning tool and I also thought that 15-20 minutes in a small group, would be more than enough for Junior Infants. However, I noted my allocated time, altered my own class timetable somewhat and as a result began to use just 4 of the iPads as a station during literacy teaching time.

After a few weeks, it began to become clear, that many teachers did not want to use the iPads at the same time every week and I became a little disheartened, as often as I passed the IT storage room, I saw the set of iPads sitting lonely in there.

After a quick IT meeting, we decided to try a different approach. We recognised that all of the teachers have different experience of iPads themselves and because of that, each class would have a different need for them. Despite this, we still wanted the iPads to be utilised as much as possible and to become a regular part of our school life. We decided to put up a blank fortnightly timetable, where teachers could select a time/times that suit them and their individual plans/themes for that fortnight. The system has been in place for a few months, and it is working well. Ideally, I would love 4/5 iPads in my classroom all day everyday, but Santa wasn’t that generous this year! I like this system though, as I can plan to integrate the iPads into my lessons or alternatively, if there is a natural need/use for them, there is often an opportunity to book them for that very same day. They are still not used for some portions of the day, but that it ok, because at least we know that they are being used when they are needed.

I know that this system isn’t perfect so I’d love to hear solution from other schools for effectively managing equipment, ensuring that the children are getting the most opportunities to use the technology meaningfully in their classrooms.

Category: iPad; Primary; General

Published: 25/04/2013 18:54

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New Resources for Asperger Students

Margaret Keane — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 11:44:39 GMT

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At Giftedkids.ie we get enquiries from teachers wanting information on how best they can support their students with Aspergers. Often these students have the potential to excel academically but find everyday classroom encounters and playground scenarios incredibly challenging. Time and again the two issues that come up on our twice exceptional board is that of sensory processing and social skills development. For instance the sensory overload that children with Aspergers experience within the school environment, from the hum of the interactive whiteboard to the noise of children’s chatter, can potentially create a painfully disorientating and at times frightening experience. Even something as simple as a buzzing insect can present difficulties. This sensory hypersensitivity can have a significantly detrimental effect on learning as commonplace sights and sounds interrupt concentration, cause distress and create behavioural flashpoints. All of which serve to isolate the child with Aspergers if not handled with sensitivity and understanding. Poor sensory processing together with a difficulty in reading non-verbal cues during social interaction can make the average school day an endurance test for a child with Aspergers. Thankfully new developments in edtech are coming up all the time on how best to engage and support these students.

AUTI-SIM

It can be hard for teachers and other students to understand how a child with Aspergers sees the world around them and to truly grasp the difficulties encountered in everyday activities. After all how difficult can it be? A new virtual simulated playground produced on the UNITY platform called Auti-Sim seeks to help people understand these difficulties with a “playable simulation of sensory hypersensitivity”. Developed during Hacking Health Vancouver 2013 Hackathon, the player navigates through a playground as an autistic child with auditory hypersensitivity. Using a combination of the arrow keys, mouse or keyboard shortcuts to move around the space, the player encounters loud children causing sensory overload, impacting cognitive functions demonstrated by the screen blurring and increasing noise distortion. To be honest I had to turn it off after a couple of minutes such was the noise and sense of disorientation and as a player I automatically sought out the “quieter” areas of the playground. Very quickly you begin to understand why a child with sensory processing issues would choose to be alone in such a seemingly benign environment. From the comments posted on the simulation’s site there has been a mixed bag of response from the ASD community. Some say it represents this complex issue well whereas others say it doesn’t go far enough. This response I feel is indicative of the nature of ASD, it is a spectrum after all and sufferers’ experience of sensory overload will be individual to them. Overwhelmingly though the community welcomes the fact that it is helping to raise awareness about an often overlooked and certainly misunderstood issue. It could provide a useful tool for teachers in a CPD setting or be used as a discussion tool for students to bring about greater awareness and understanding of ASD. In my view anything that helps us to understand how these children negotiate the world is hugely beneficial to those of us who parent, teach or support them in some way. You will need to download UNITY web player to operate the simulation.

Secret Agent Society “Solving the Mystery of Social Encounters”

I’ve long since thought that virtual worlds and game based learning could be hugely beneficial in teaching social skills to children on the ASD spectrum. From my experience kids with Aspergers love video games; it seems a very natural fit. Online interaction, for instance, dispenses with the social skills minefield that real life social encounters entail. What better way then to teach social skills and improve emotional intelligence than through a game where they can learn to “read” other people and to respond appropriately within a psychologically safe virtual environment. The Secret Agent Society is just such a game based learning programme aimed at 8 to 12 year olds with high functioning autism including Aspergers. Developed in Australia it is now available in Ireland through Social Skills Ireland and an adapted programme is being offered to schools for use in small group settings. At the heart of the programme is a multi-level video game where the child as the protagonist has to solve the mystery of social interactions, helping them to “crack the codes of emotions and friendships, bullying and friendly joking, conversations and coping.” In addition to the video game there are also board games and social skills workbooks. According to the website the aim of the programme is to aid social skills development and teach children:

How to recognise simple and complex emotions in themselves and others.
How to express feelings in appropriate ways.
How to cope with feelings of anger and anxiety.
How to start, continue and end conversations and play activities with others.
How to tell the difference between friendly joking and mean teasing.
How to manage bullying.
How to cope with making mistakes.
How to handle new situations and ask for help when needed.
How to make friends.

I haven’t seen this programme in action but a randomised controlled trial in 2008 has shown that children with Asperger Syndrome who participated in the early pilot programme showed greater improvements in social and emotion management skills than children who received treatment as usual for the two month intervention period. This was reported by both parent and teacher respondents. Research has also shown that these improvements in social functioning were maintained five months after the programme ended. Impressive results. However, it must be stated that one of the researchers involved was the original programme developer. That said, it shouldn’t detract from a fantastically innovative solution to social skills development for children with Aspergers. On a side note the programme has also been endorsed by the respected Asperger expert Tony Attwood who many practitioners and parents would be very familiar with.

Additional Reading:

Beaumont, R., & Sofronoff, K. (2008). A multi-component social skills intervention for children with Asperger Syndrome: The Junior Detective Training Program. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 743-753.

70 Tips & Tricks for Educating Students with Aspergers/High-Functioning Autism

Video Clip from children's’ laminated TV series Arthur explaining Aspergers to children.

Dual Exceptionality Recorded Webinar – Margaret Keane & Anna Giblin, Giftedkids.ie

Dual Exceptionality Presentation – Margaret Keane & Anna Giblin, Giftedkids.ie

Published: 21/04/2013 12:44

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Tablets: Is the future Microsoft?

h2\slewis — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 12:12:54 GMT

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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 to a textbook, tablets offer interesting discussion points.
Hot off the blocks to hit the education market were Apple with their iPad. Early adopters of tablets had only one realistic choice and the iPad was it. However, with the rise of Android and now the entry of Microsoft (and to a much lesser extent, Blackberry), we now have a number of major companies vying for a slice of the education market.

For me, a tablet has a couple of advantages over a laptop or desktop. The main one, for me, is the fact that they are instantly on. That is, you press a button and you can be online in less than 5 seconds. A Windows laptop or desktop takes about 1-2 minutes to get warmed up. Aside from that, tablets have a decent battery life and they are generally easy to use.

The problems with some tablets are the lack of a keyboard, the lack of easy connectivity to a projector and the lack of Flash.

Most of the problems above are easily rectified with a dongle or plug or some sort of other device.

However, with regards to Flash, Apple (and, now, Android) say Flash is dead.

I would argue that Flash is certainly not dead in the education sector. Almost all decent online educational content is written in Flash. I find it bizarre to hear people saying that there is no need for Flash or that one can download an app to watch Flash videos. I don’t want to watch Flash videos, I want to play games; and almost all educational games on the web are written in Flash.

If Microsoft’s Surface does allow full Flash access, I think that they could be the victors in the war of the tablets at education level. I also think that if they sell the familiarity argument – i.e. all your PCs and laptops are Microsoft – this could be another feather in their cap.

It’s a while since Microsoft have been the underdog in a technology fight but I think given the above weapons, it could be enough to bring them back to being the kings of the education sector.

Category: Primary; Second Level; News; General

Published: 19/04/2013 11:30

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Teaching Online

h2\mhallissy — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:39:14 GMT

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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 piece of technology that is playing an increasing important role in online teaching and learning is conferencing software or to give its correct term Computer-mediated Conferencing (cmc).

“Computer-mediated conferencing (CMC) is unique among distance education media because of its ability to support high levels of responsive, intelligent interaction between and among faculty and students while simultaneously providing high levels of freedom of time and place to engage in this interactivity.” (Rourke et al., 1999; 50)

Today CMC has advanced even further and now allows us to connect in real-time to give us Synchronous Computer-mediated Conferencing. This family of software includes products such as Adobe Connect, AT&T Connect, Elluminate, Lync and Wimba. The list is growing and many educational institutions are excited by their potential to connect learners at a distance. There is currently great excitement around how such technologies can help students learn at a distance and there is a search for the best software tool. However, Dr. Diana Laurillard in the London Knowledge Lab has a word of warning about that

“the properties of a medium do not determine the quality of learning that takes place” (2002; 147).

So if you are thinking of using such tools in your school or in your learning organisation it is important to consider how you are going to use the software and what role you expect you and your learners to play. Finkelstein (2006) has some really nice suggestions about how teachers can use the analogy of a dinner party to draw their learners in and make the feel welcome and at ease, while ensuring that meaningful learning takes place.

Here are his suggestions and they will work equally well if you are using tools such as Skype with your learners.

Analogy of a Dinner Party (Adapter from Finkelstein, 2006)

Prepare for their arrival	Have resources ready in advance When they arrive you can focus on these and on collaboration
Welcome them warmly	Welcome people by name Create a warm and secure environment
Frequently assess the mood of the room	Frequently check that people are alright Don’t wait till the end of the evening
Have more food (for thought) than you need	Prepare more activities that you need Don’t feel you need to use them all
Make everyone feel included	Give people opportunities to interact Refer to comments made by people by name
Facilitate Connections and conversation, but don’t dominate ever discussion	Your role is to facilitate an environment where learners are exchanging ideas with others, and seeing their peers as resources for ongoing learning
Offer guests something to take home with them	Provide a transcript or a recording of the event Access to slides, readings or continue the discussion on the forum
Know when to say good night; leave everyone wanting more	End on a high point. Don’t try to cover everything. Monitor the energy levels and go with the group.

Remember you want your learners to go away energised and wanting something more. So if you are a student yourself or a teacher and you have a chance to use SCMC in your teaching you might try some of these strategies out in your setting.

References

Finkelstein, J. (2006). Learning in Real Time: Synchronous Teaching and Learning Online. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Laurillard, D. (2002). Rethinking University Teaching: A conversational framework for the effective use of learning technologies. (Second Ed.). London and New York: Routledge Falmer.

Rourke, L., Anderson, T., Garrison, R. D. and Archer, W. (1999). 'Assessing Social Presence in Asynchronous Text-based Computer Conferencing'. Journal of Distance Education, 14 (2), 50-71.

Category: General; Second Level; Web

Published: 11/04/2013 09:57

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Forget QR Codes… What’s your aura?

Joanne Gilmartin — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 23:51:33 GMT

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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 television screen. We want content creation. We want autonomy. We want excitement.

Like many others, I too have been impressed with the wow factor of Mobile Apps such as AR String. Nonetheless, I failed to translate this into the educational context for authentic learning experiences. There is only so many times you can watch an alien climbing out of the classroom floor or a dragon flying through the door.

Aurasma is an app that allows the user to attach a picture, video or animation to any picture, poster or book cover. It takes us beyond advertising and gets the children thinking about what they would like to say when you scan a poster, book or their own picture.

My interest in this technology was reignited when I discovered the World Book Day 2013 books had their own AR app called ‘Books Alive’ available for iOS and Android devices. Many of the books for World Book Day were from authors that children already love. What a wonderful way for publishers and indeed authors to integrate technology and books to create a more authentic experience for their audience.

The following video is a very basic demonstration of Aurasma in Education. There is a wealth of instructional videos both from educators and from schools using AR technologies. Use of video to learn the workings of the Aurasma platform is more effective than following a list of instructions either through the app or online. There are a number of other AR apps currently available such as Layar. Other AR apps come with pre-loaded content such as AR Abacus, Morris Lessmore and his IMAG – N – O – TRON app and Lego Story Builder.

Aurasma is different to these because it does not require the user to make any purchases. The target image can be their own creation. The ‘aura’ they create is unique and they can then share their creation with another person if they too have downloaded the app.

This technology is just waiting to be used, it is not as difficult as it may seem to set up and the aura shown in the video clip below was created entirely on Aurasma on iPad. It is a very exciting technology with numerous potential uses in the classroom. So go on, check it out and show the world your aura!

Aurasma in the Classroom–Augmented Reality

Published: 15/04/2013 00:51

Technology and the Future–David Puttnam & Tim Hynes

h2\pbrennan — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 08:03:58 GMT

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The 7th Seamus Heaney Lecture Series is currently drawing to a close in St. Patrick’s College Drumcondra, Dublin. The 2013 series entitled 'Imagining the Future' has drawn on speakers across a range of disciplines – geographers, historians, writers, scientists, philosophers, media and educationalists – and examines key questions around the possibility of creating a sustainable future.

The concluding lecture entitled ‘Technology and the Future’ takes place this Monday April 15th @ 7PM, where renowned film maker and digital champion Lord David Puttnam is joined by Mr Tim Hynes, Senior Director at Microsoft to discuss how digital technologies are impacting our world and initiating change and what impact they will have on present and future generations. Are we preparing the next generation in a way that they will be able to tackle the complex global challenges they will inherit?

To book seats email heaneylectures@spd.dcu.ie or the visit the series’ Facebook page. For further details including podcast links to earlier series lectures visit http://www.spd.dcu.ie/site/heaney/index.shtml

Category: News; Primary; Second Level; General

Published: 08/04/2013 15:10

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Goodbye Google Reader

Enda Donlon — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:07:05 GMT

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Last week, Google announced the decision to close Google Reader as part of its ‘second spring of cleaning’:

We launched Google Reader in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites. While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader. Users and developers interested in RSS alternatives can export their data, including their subscriptions, with Google Takeout over the course of the next four months. (source: http://googleblog.blogspot.ie/2013/03/a-second-spring-of-cleaning.html)

While Google has given the date of July 1^st as the actual date of closure for reader, it seems they have already begun to quietly sever links to the Reader service. The Android app was quickly removed from the Play store soon after the announcement and just yesterday the link to Reader quietly disappeared from the black navigation bar that sits atop Gmail.

I count myself among the many people who are disappointed with the news of Reader’s discontinuation. Google Reader has been one of my core gateways to information over the past few years and I check it frequently. While some would argue that the functionality of RSS and its reader clients has largely been replaced by alternative technologies such as Twitter and social networking services, RSS aggregators such as Reader offer a number of advantages that I find really helpful. These include the ability to organise feeds into folders for better management of the incoming information, the ability to clearly see those posts that you have already read versus those that have not yet been viewed (particularly useful in my opinion) and how many new posts have been collated since you last checked, and the ability to take a feed from just about every blog (and many websites) which do not necessarily distribute updates via Twitter and Facebook.

In any case, if you are a fan of RSS then you will (like me) soon be on the hunt for an alternative aggregator for your RSS feeds. Luckily there are many alternatives out there. Here’s a few good posts to get you started...

The Verge: RSS isn't dead: the best GoogleReader alternatives
Life Hacker: Five Best Google ReaderAlternatives
Extreme Tech: 8 Google Reader Alternatives: (also contains details on how to export your data from Google Reader before it closes for good)

Category: General

Published: 21/03/2013 13:15

New Audio Series for Leaving Cert Irish Students

h2\pbrennan — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 16:22:01 GMT

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Scrúdú Béil na hArdteiste is a new 4 part radio & podcast series for Leaving Cert students preparing for their Oral Irish Leaving Cert exam which will be broadcast on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta 18 – 21 March and available on the RTÉ Radio Player or to download post broadcast.

Since 2012, the percentage of marks for the oral Irish exam has increased from 25% to 40%, and the exam itself has also changed significantly. This new series will focus specifically on the picture sequence element of the exam introduced in 2012, which accounts for 33% of the total marks.

Each programme in the series will focus on five of the picture sequences on this year’s course, with sample exam scenarios with pupils from Gaelcholáiste an Chláir in Ennis. The full set of twenty sequences will be covered over the four programmes in the series, and students will be able to download individual podcasts for each one at www.rte.ie/rnag/scrudubeilnahardteiste.html .

The series will help students to build on their vocabulary for the picture sequence, and give them ideas about questions they may be asked. The programmes will also include a commentary, indicating where students in the sample interviews could improve their answers, which should be very helpful.

The series has been made by Edgecast Media, and is presented and produced by Conn Ó Muíneacháin.

Scrúdú Béil na hArdteiste will be broadcast at 7 pm four evenings in a row from 18 March until 21 March on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, and will also be rebroadcast during Easter Week from 2–5 April. individual podcasts episodes can be downloaded here.

Category: Web; News; Second Level; gaeilge

Published: 14/03/2013 16:22

Attachments: http://www.teachnet.ie/Blog/Lists/Posts/Attachments/461/raidi_-na_gaeltachta_logo_3_7C768090.jpg

iPads in the Classroom

John O' Mahony — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 11:06:16 GMT

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The first generations of the Apple iPad are with us for less than three years since they first launched on the Irish market in July 2010. Educational institutions at primary, post-primary, third level and in special education settings in the USA, UK, Australia and indeed here at home in Ireland are all exploring and investigating the potential of tablet computers (Apple IOS, Windows 8 and Andrroid) for transforming learning and teaching in our schools. Principals, teachers, parents and school management have many questions that require answering before a school rolls out tablet computers throughout the school or in one class or grade level. I came acrooss this free e-book iPads in the Classroom by Annalisa Kelly recently on the iTunes bookstore which offers practical information and guidance for any school or college thinking about adopting tablet computers. This book can be viewed on an iPad with iBooks 3.0 and IOS 5.1 installed on the device which means that it can be viewed even on a first generation iPad with the latest version of IOS installed.

The book has been guided by research on the roll out of iPads in the USA, UK, Scotland and Australia and provides readers with a summary of the findings from the various studies together with links to the relevant research which open in Safari when clicked upon.

Section 7 of the book examines the use of the iPad with Special Needs and Gifted Pupils. Annalisa takes readers through the Accessibility features that Apple have built into their IOS operating system and how using many of these features can make the iPad more accessible for users with specific special needs such as hearing impairment, impaired vision, pupils with dyslexia and other reading and writing difficulties.

In Section 10, three main models for the deployment of tablet computers in schools are outlined - Personal Ownership, Institutional Ownership and Layered Ownership. She suggests for pupils aged over thirteen that the Personal or Layered ownership model is preferable as pupils will have a greater sense of ownership and are more likely to take a greater pride of owning and/or using the device. This section also gives some useful information about using the Apple Configurator for managing Apple mobile devices such as iPods, iPhones and iPads.

Section 9 and the Appendix which is cleverly named App-Endix give some information on using some apps to get you started. These two sections gives information on the standard apps such as Safari that are bundled with the iPad, apps that can be purchased from Apple themselves such as iMovie and Garageband and apps created by a range of other developers which can be purchased for free or paid for from the App Store.

Category: Primary; Second Level; iPad

Published: 11/03/2013 21:30

Scoilnet Maps

Paul Monroe — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 13:21:27 GMT

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Scoilnet Maps is now available in all primary and post-primary schools on the Schools Broadband Network and can also be accessed from home by means of a teacher scoilnet account. It now features a comprehensive range of Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) maps, world maps and lots of GIS data that can be viewed as "layers" over the maps.

This fantastic resource is available at http://maps.scoilnet.ie

Some restrictions apply to viewing the OSi maps outside of school. Teachers can use their Scoilnet Account to log-in and view those maps from non-school locations. The World mapping however has no restrictions and is openly accessible both within and outside of school.

The Scoilnet Maps website provides all primary and post-primary schools on the Schools Broadband Network with access to very high quality, digital Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) maps, World maps and aerial photographs. It is a highly interactive, visual and engaging tool that brings maps to life within the classroom. It is fast, responsive and has a simple interface that is suitable for students of all ages. It contains a suite of tools for use with the maps that support a wide variety of subjects, including Geography, History and Maths.

It contains historical mapping from 1829 through to 2010 and offers plenty of opportunities to look at change over time. It brings together a subset of curriculum-relevant, public sector data in a manner that is appropriate for teaching and learning. There are some fantastic screencast videos on the site that shows you how to use and manipulate the various tools.

Google maps facilitates cross-curricular teaching and learning within the primary classroom. Specifically, it can support students’ skills development in terms of a sense of place and space, the use of maps and geographical investigation skills (Geography), change and continuity, time and chronology (History) and the use of draw and measure tools to support mathematical activities with regard to area, length, shape and space.

For post-primary teachers and students, it features the highly detailed, 1:50,000 OSi Discovery mapping and aerial photography, both of which are directly relevant to the Junior and Leaving Certificate Geography curricula.

It directly supports the teaching and application of geographical skills as specified in the curriculum, i.e., map and aerial photograph interpretation, the use of satellite imagery in the examination of large areas of the physical and cultural landscape, census of population data and GIS.

It offers opportunities to support students undertaking GIS investigations, for example, the use of aerial photographs, census material and maps in the study of urban sprawl, or the use of maps, aerial photographs, and the record of monuments and places in the study of the destruction of archaeological sites.

Published: 07/03/2013 15:44