20 November 2016

My student task for 1st years in coding class.

I am working on HTML and CSS with my first year students in coding class.  We hope to introduce coding next September and are now piloting it with our current first years.  I have mixed ability classes (some students who have SEN needs).  I started the coding specification by doing  HTML rather than scratch as I wanted to do something new and different and create curiosity in this short course.  HTML is a mark up american language, as well as learning the language, the students need to be able to save html documents correctly in a folder.

So this is a student task I have created and I believe most students will achieve the success criteria, and a few will surprise me by finding new code and adding it to their sites.

Students have being doing HMTL for a few weeks and have covered some theory.

Making connections:    Computers are communication devices

Student Task
Create a website with HTML and CSS.
SUCCESS CRITERIA

Students will be successful in their learning if they can:
1.     Create a website with at least 3 html pages, Homepage, how the internet works, and a hobbies page.
2.     Create a folder and save all pages in the folder.
3.     Put <!DOCTYPE html> at the start of each html page.
4.     Use at least five formatting tags, eg. <h1></H1>
<p></p>, <br>, <b></b>,<u></u>.
5.     Make sure the META tags are included on the homepage as they help to locate the website.
6.     Create a page called how the internet works, include at least 2 images, at least 2 paragraphs in your own words and one youtube video explaining how the internet works.
7.     Include an internal style or external style sheet.
8.     State where they sourced their information
9.     Present your website to a peer for peer assessment based on 2 stars and 1 wish.

Learning Outcomes:

2.1discuss the basic concepts underlying the internet
2.2 describe how data is transported on the internet and how computers communicate and cooperate through protocols
2.3 explain how search engines deliver results

2.4 build a website using HTML and CSS to showcase their learning

Students will be given: Teacher Theory Notes as follows:
2.1DISCUSS THE BASIC CONCEPTS UNDERLYING THE INTERNET
How the internet works??
The internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks.
When two or more computers/devices are connected so that they can communicate, they become part of a network.  The internet consists of a world-wide interconnection of such networks, belonging to companies, governments and individuals, allowing all of the devices connected to these networks to communicate with each other.
2.2 DESCRIBE HOW DATA IS TRANSPORTED ON THE INTERNET AND HOW COMPUTERS COMMUNICATE AND COOPERATE THROUGH PROTOCOLS
In order to communicate, computers need to understand each other.  So all devices use the same ‘language’ or protocol, called “internet Protocol”(IP).  Every  computer has its own (IP) address.  When sending any communication over the internet, it is sent from the senders IP address to the receivers IP address.
There are agreed type of formats for communicating on the internet:, eg:
·         SMTP for sending emails
·         HTTP for accessing websites
·         BitTorrent for peer-to-peer[p2p] file sharing.
An IP address is a numerical address that is assigned to every device connected to the Internet.
McNamee,Fiedler,Humeau. (2015)



Linking information on the internet:

The World-Wide Web is built on HTTP, a relatively young protocol (language) that is built on top of the Internet Protocol (IP). HTTP stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol, and was designed to download so-called hypertext documents (what are now known as “web pages”) and to send some basic information back to the web server.
Web pages are created using the formatting language HTML, (HyperText Markup Language). The rules of this language are set by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and specify special markers to indicate typography and layout properties. For example, text in bold will have before it and after it. While there are several versions of the specification (HTML5 being the most recent), the HTML development process is continuous and open to participation.
Once the standards have been set, there is no licence or fee for using HTML. The advantage is that all available computer systems understand the instructions in HTML in the same way – so anyone can use the language (for free) and be sure that every device will display the web page in the same way. The Web (and the world) would be far poorer if people had to pay to develop pages in the languages of different types of computer. Webpages are published on machines known as “web servers”.  McNamee,Fiedler,Humeau. (2015)
The website must have a domain name (web address) to go online.  Domain names can be bought online.
2.3 EXPLAIN HOW SEARCH ENGINES DELIVER RESULTS
Navigation on the World Wide Web works through hyperlinks (text or images which, when clicked on, will cause another website to be opened). Any Web author can link to any other online content. Through the practice of linking all Internet users help with organising the information online into a Web of interconnected resources.
Search engines are therefore the most important services to help meet the need of Internet users to navigate the Internet more effectively. There are different kinds of search engine services. The most important search engine model is the crawler-based search engine. This uses software (referred to as “crawlers” or “spiders”) to look for what is available online and systematically indexes this content.
In simple terms, the spider/crawler follows every link on every page, indexes the linked pages and then follows the links on those pages, indexes them, and so on.  The most important operation the search engine performs is making the match between a user’s search query and the information in the index.


Joe McNamee, Kirsten Fiedler & Marie Humeau, (2015) How the Internet works. Available at: http://www.future-internet.eu/uploads/media/how_the_internet_works.pdf (Accessed 18/11/2016)  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

 Link to Theory Notes....(Creative Commons Licence)

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14 November 2016

My blog on creating student tasks for 1st year Business studies


I have been working with the NCCA to help with the development of annotated samples of student work for Junior Cycle Business Studies.   I work with another business teacher to plan and develop these samples.  To date we have 2 student tasks created.  It is a learning process for both students and teachers and involves training our students on new ways of assessing learning.

Our first task covered was created to assess learning of payslips and taxes paid by people.  The following are the success criteria for the task, but in hindsight, we were too ambitious. Students created a padlet first gathering relevant information and then created a screencast to explain the learning.  The used images from their copies etc to show learning on the padlet. But it was a lot of work for just on small student task, however students learned a lot of new skills in the process.

  1. ▪       We can give different examples of how pay is calculated
  2. ▪       We can fill out payslips accurately
  3. ▪       We can calculate percentages
  4. ▪       We can calculate Gross Pay and Net Pay
  5. ▪       We can explain what are voluntary and non-voluntary deductions that are taken from a payslip
  6. ▪       We can categorise types of taxes
  7. ▪       We can create a padlet
  8.       We can use screen-o-matic. 


https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzoOi1a8UpioTHNkMno5YUN2Wm8/view?usp=sharing


This is our second student task based on family income and expenditure.  This task is more focused and targeted learning is assessed.  We did find that students were not sure about how to create a good poster and lack knowledge of cited correctly.  All of which we can work on.
Students will be successful in their learning if they can:

1. Present your project in a poster form which can be

hand written, typed or a combination of both following

our guidelines for effective presentations, ensure font is readable.

2. Describe sources of household Income, using at least 2 examples.

3. Describe sources of household expenditure,

4. Illustrate a way to manage income and expenditure, using at least one example from each category.

5. Give advice on what to consider when preparing a budget, at least 2 pieces of information.

6. Include at least 2 appropriate images/visuals in your project.

7. State where they sourced their information

8. Present your poster to a peer for peer assessment based on 2 stars and 1 wish.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzoOi1a8UpioMGpJWnphdmt5Um8/view?usp=sharing


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2 October 2016

FÉILTE 2016- Panel Discussion on Digital Education

My reflection on participating in the panel discussion on "Digital Education", chaired by Tomás Ó Ruairc, participants included Harry McCann, Digital Youth Council; Myself, Post PrimaryTeacher; Mary Cleary, Irish Computer Society; Cormac Cahill, Primary Teacher.

I was a little nervous initially but soon relaxed.  All panel participants (included 17yr old Harry) shared a passion for using ICT to enhance learning and sharing of knowledge with others to help achieve tasks/activities that cannot be achieved without ICT. 

 I found that the structure of the panel discussion by its nature, is fluid and difficult to predict in what way the discussion will go, consequently, I spoke about some topics that I had not planned to talk of and omitted information that I wanted to say. So I wondered what could I do to address this issue.  
In addition, I thought of how the opportunity cost of attending the panel discussion is not attending a workshop. Workshops tend to incorporate getting a handout/resource or "takeaway" that can be useful in the classroom/school.  Let's be honest, teachers love handouts! So how could we add value to the panel discussion structure.
So my conclusion is to further develop a panel discussion for TEACHERS; I think if each participant could post a written version/summary of the main points they want to make/or useful resources and then publish it (after the discussion)on twitter, or teaching council Féilte website to facilitate a takeaway for teachers who attend.  

 After the discussion, I had questions to ask Cormac about the book his students produced, questions to ask Mary about her ideas on coding being integrated rather than an isolated Senior cycle subject, and Harry I am not sure what I would ask Harry but know if he posted his ideas I would learn from him too!

 So the following is what I would post about my ideas on Digital Education....my ideas are based on practice/pedagogies from Coláiste Mhuire Co Ed, and  MOOCS:

 1. Team teaching with English teachers to find the best way to integrate ICT in the English Classroom via ePortfolios.

 Main findings:
Students had to be taught basic ICT skills to create content using google apps for education, to collaborate to by creating padlets and develop oral skills by creating screencasts.  www.padlet.com   https://screencast-o-matic.com/

 To evaluate the use of ICT based on pedagogical needs/learning outcomes we used the SAMR model developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura.  "SAMR” is an acronym that stands for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition.  It is based on the premise that deeper learning takes place at the Modification and Redefinition levels.  At redefinition level, the teacher should be achieving something with ICT that is impossible to do without it.
An example of Substitution would be typing a task as opposed to writing it, and Augmentation could be using a Thesaurus or read,write gold to enhance creativity. Both stages enable enhancement.  But transforming learning takes place at the modification stage eg facilitating collaboration via google drive/blogger/eportfolio as homework so students are collaborating at home on a task/activity.  The redefinition stage is about making content public, eg. either students produce work and publish it publicly via ePortfolio/blog and potentially put a creative licence on it and/or perhaps skype an expert and bring outside knowledge into the classroom.  When students create online content and share it, they are creating their online academic presence. 
So when deciding what apps to use we considered the SAMR model and pedagogy needs.  We found some students lacked confidence when recording the screencast and video recording, even students who are high attainers.  In fact, some students who may not have been strong academically excelled in the oral and communication skills and helped higher attainers to create screencasts.  So mixed ability classes worked well, as students saw how each student had a valuable contribution.

 To conclude subject teachers do not have class time to teach the ICT skills so they must be taught in a computer class.  We found as we were only using padlet and screenomatic in English class, students did not become proficient in it use due to lack of repetition in other subjects.  However, we are working on this currently....

 2.Study Hub:
Open Access to ICT facilities in Coláiste Mhuire Co-Ed to reduce the digital divide, promote student autonomy  of learning and enable teachers to give ICT based homework. To create a learning space that encourages collaboration, the study hub was very busy during classroom based assessment period.
 (70% of junior cycle students have iPads)
The study hub comprises of 5 computers in the main assembly area, the latter is always supervised at break times and is in close proximity to the principal/deputy principal offices'.  Students can use it before school and during break times, in addition, it is used during class time by some teachers, and is valuable for SEN classes with a few students.  

  
3.Sharing: We need to share resources both within and between schools.  Could schools be twinned from different towns???  Where can be share more effectively??

 4.While investment is required in ICT hardware, it must be married with relevant CPD, as Investment alone does not mean teachers will use ICT effectively.

 Why Ed Tech in Not Transforming how Teachers Teach 
Published Online: June 10,2015 
Student-centered, technology-driven instruction remains elusive for most 
By Benjamin Herold   Public schools now provide at least one computer for every five students. They spend more than $3 billion per year on digital content. And nearly three-fourths of high school students now say they regularly use a smartphone or tablet in the classroom. 
But a mountain of evidence indicates that teachers have been painfully slow to transform the ways they teach, despite that massive influx of new technology into their classrooms. The student-centered, hands-on, personalized instruction envisioned by ed-tech proponents remains the exception to the rule. 
"The introduction of computers into schools was supposed to improve academic achievement and alter how teachers taught," said Stanford University education professor Larry Cuban. "Neither has occurred." 
Indeed, a host of national and regional surveys suggest that teachers are far more likely to use technology to make their own jobs easier and to supplement traditional instructional strategies than to put students in control of their own learning. Case study after case study describe a common pattern inside schools: A handful of "early adopters" embrace innovative uses of new technology, while their colleagues make incremental or no changes to what they already do. 
Researchers have identified numerous culprits, including teachers' beliefs about what constitutes effective instruction, their lack of technology expertise, erratic training and support from administrators, and federal, state, and local policies that offer teachers neither the time nor the incentive to explore and experiment. 
"There's nothing transformative about every kid having an iPad unless you're able to reach higher-order teaching and learning," Ms. Wilson said. "If schools take all this technology, and use it like a textbook, or just have teachers show PowerPoint [presentations] or use drill-and-kill software, they might as well not even have it." 
In the digital age, the ISTE standards say, teachers should be expected, among other strategies, to "engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources." They should also "develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress." 
REF:Benjamin Herold. (10/06/2015) Education Week. Available at : http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/06/11/why-ed-tech-is-not-transforming-how.html?cmp=eml-eb-popyear15+122915 [Accessed:12/12/2015] 

Just to say thank you to Tomás Ó Ruairc who asked me to participate in this discussion.

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19 September 2016

Reflection on the AHEAD MOOC


I am currently doing an AHEAD course: Supporting students with disabilities at third level.  
The first assignment was due last Monday, I submitted it on Friday evening thinking I was the last but then realised a few people submitted it over that weekend!  When I submitted it, I saw the check box to tick if I wanted to see other teachers submission, if only I had noticed that before I submitted mine!!
But what I liked was that after my submission I saw and learned from other teachers work/submission.  

Assignment 1: Legislation Reflection M.Bergin
Both the CPD day and this MOOC have emphasized  the legal  responsibilities and duties we have as a service provider of education.  The onus of responsibility on individual teachers to  perhaps change their pedagogies to meet the individual needs of  students and to make every effort to accommodate students with disabilities.  However, the overall responsibility rests with the principal to ensure the service provider follows the legal requirements as set out in a number of laws.
“Under the provisions of the Data Protection Acts 1988-2003: Statutory provision to protect individuals personal data which is processed.” “Consititution: Article 40.3 right to privacy”
  As the disability co-ordinator I ensure that any data I store is put in a secure location in schools management offices.  I also ensure any communication with other teachers in relation to students is treated confidentially and with permission of the students involved.  Any communication with a teacher  should have a purpose and result in an improvement/benefit for the student.
“Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014-Section 42-of the Act introduced a new public sector equality and human rights duty.  The S42 duty requires that public bodies have regard to (a) eliminate discrimination, (b)promote equality of opportunity and treatment of its staff and the persons to whom it provides services, (c)protect the human rights of its members, staff and the persons to whom it provides services.”
Our school promote access to disability services subject to providing the correct documentation.  The  school  ethos is to promote equality and foster a caring open environment.
The main legislation is the Equal status act 2015, which aims to prevent direct and indirect discrimination.  The latter defined as the treatment of one person less favourably than another.  Direct discrimination can occur based on nine grounds, including disability.  Indirect discrimination is
Indirect discrimination is a provision that can be in the form of a requirement or practice that applies equally to all prospective or existing students but which operates t the disadvantage of one group such as a student with disabilities.  Our school is very conscious to proactively prevent any discrimination; we are aware of our legal duties with regard to preventing any possible discrimination.  We are aware that failure by my school to do all that is reasonable to accommodate the needs of a person with a disability by providing special treatment or facilities  if without such special treatment or facilities it would be impossible for the person to avail of the service/course.
The other key Act is The Disability Act of 2005, it defines disability and ensures that people with disabilities have access to a  public building .   Have individual service statements drawn up.  Our school has one floor and we have wheelchair access toilets.  
This act also recognises Mental health as a disability which is beneficial as more and more students are presenting with such a disability. We provided assistive technology, academic/learning support, access to a study hub, separate exam centres, extra time and continued support from teachers, notes in advance via google apps and moodle.
To conclude, as the disability co-ordinator I am aware of the legal responsibilities and duties we must adhere to.  By proactively following data protection guidelines and respecting students with disabilities we can ensure we meet their needs effectively and create a conducive learning environment.


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16 June 2016

Reflection on PBL MOOC via http://academy.schooleducationgateway.eu/


Online Tools for PBL  http://bit.ly/1tsGWNC
This is my way of recording CPD my for future use and I am just sharing it as it is useful.
I decided to do a Project Based Learning project via http://academy.schooleducationgateway.eu/ as I think it will be beneficial when I start teaching the new Business Studies curriculum in September.  As part of this course, we are asked to keep a diary to record learning.  So below is a padlet with a reflection on my current teaching and what I hope to get from the course.  We had to come up with a learning question (What do I need to know about banking so I can manage my money?) The latter cannot be googleable!  So we were asked to use the following tools throughout the course:
http://learningdesigner.org/

http://www.mywejit.com/

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php

Using http://learningdesigner.org/ 10 out of 10
I found the learning designer software excellent, it is free at the moment but not sure if it will stay that way.  I based the lesson on banking and the Learning design website made me aware of timing, varying activities, using co-operative learning and basically a project based learning classroom.  A pie chart indicated the variety of learning activities used.  So it enticed me to incorporate as much as possible to ensure learning outcomes are achieved in a memorable way for the students.

Using http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php    9 out of 10.
I create a rubric using this site, to assess a brochure.  This was  convenient and quick and prompted me to use valuable criteria for assessment.  The site is brilliant just a lot of information together to decipher but I imagine after using it a few times I would become more efficient.

I am only on module 2 of 4 so far.  I was a few days late starting so found starting demanding as a lot of guidelines to follow.  They use twitter and facebook to communicate, I have assessed others work and they mine.  But the feedback is varied in quality, there are language barriers and primary/postprimary/pre school teachers from different countries.  But in saying that I have learned from others.  With other commitments I am not sure how much effort I can put into last 2 modules but even what I have learned so far is invaluable.

I used copied this from the MOOC as it is useful

2 - Copyright

The Internet is a space for sharing and exchanging. But when and how can you use material found on the Internet? Can you use copyrighted music when creating a video/presentation? Can you use a nice picture found on a Flickr album on the web without second thoughts? If you are lost with copyright issues or find hard to understand complicated law statements related to terms and conditions of use of certain materials, take a look at the following website by Childnet International.
And what happens when you create your own material? Would you like to share it with other fellow colleagues but protect it from any misuse? Take a look at Creative Commons which can help you answer these questions. It is a nonprofit organization that enables the sharing and use of materials and resources through free legal tools. Learn more about the different licenses and what they mean. On their website, they have a simple tool that will help you choose the type of license you need. Once you have picked the one you need, you can download it in high quality and different formats here.

3 - eSafety


Your online reputation is the “perception, estimation and opinion that is formed when you are encountered 
online". Learn more about online reputation here. What can you do to protect your personal data and online 
reputation? The golden rule is “think before you post”. Is the content you are about to share online going to affect your or someone else’s privacy? Can you be friends with pupils on social networking services? What should you do if other people post inappropriate images of you online? And if you are victim of cyberbullying? Take a look at this guide which includes advice and interesting question to reflect on regarding your online reputation.
For more information about eSafety as well as lots of resources to use with your students check out the following links:
  1. eTwinning Featured Group: Bringing eSafety into eTwinning projects (you need to be a member of eTwinning to join the group)
  2. Better Internet for Kids
  3. Web We Want
  4. eSafety Label
  5. Safer Internet Day
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24 May 2016

Reflection on Lesson plan - Entrepreneurial Skills and characteristics


As part of the ENTELS pilot, my task is to use group work, co-operative learning and/or differentiation.  I have tested this lesson plan with my 5th year business studies class.

THe following lesson plan focuses on group work and the reflection is included...


http://tinyurl.com/goo-glassess

My reflection: students worked well in groups but needed to be trained and clearly given rolls.
Incorporating ICT is a challenge as students lacked skills and we learned as we progressed.  Students were engaged and liked  the discovery learning aspect.  They had a sense of autonomy on how they covered this topic.  The learning outcomes were Entrepreneurial Skills and Characteristic, they achieved this in a meaningful way.



Learning Story Name: My New Business/Product
Age range of students: 15-16
Number of students in my class: 20
Subject: Business (M. Bergin)
http://www.europeanschoolnetacademy.eu/
http://tinyurl.com/goo-glvideo
http://tinyurl.com/goo-glassess
Brief background on your school and classroom:
My school is a secondary DEIS school located in Thurles a small town in County Tipperary, Ireland.   The school has 320 students, just over half our students are aged between 13-17 and remainder are Adults doing PLC courses. (Post Leaving Certificate) students are not allowed smart phones during school time. I share a class room but have access to a computer room and can book use of mini ipads. While the business curriculum is still very content heavy, there are ongoing discussions of shifting the focus from content to skills.  
  
Key challenges, trends impacting your work at the school and how they link to the Learning Story:
Students have limited ICT skills.
Duration (could range from a couple of minutes to a couple of lessons)
2 lessons (1 hour 10 minutes)
Homework: 20 minutes
2 Lessons (1 Hour 10 minutes)
1 class
Learning Activity
Dream
Explore
Map
Make
Ask and Collaborate
Show
Goals (learning objectives, try to match them to your curriculum and 21st Century Skills)
To learn about Entrepreneurs
To develop communication skills
To develop planning skills
To develop collaborative skills
To develop research skills
To develop critical evaluation skills
To reflect on their own design
To develop media production skills
To develop information organization skills
To develop collaboration (feedback) skills
To highlight positive use of digital media
To develop editing skills
To effectively use feedback and criticism to improve their work
To learn about the process of television production
To engage with real-world professionals
To understand copyright and other online production requirements
To develop communication (feedback) skills
To engage with a real-world audience
To reflect on their own learning
Description of each learning activity in the context of the learning story
I am a business studies and ICT teacher, I am challenging my students to create engaging short video stories about Entrepreneurs.
I will give them the design brief (following the syllabus) and suggest they think of their peers and Leaving cert students as the target audience

We used  google sites  to collaborate information.
Students will work in Pairs or groups of 3 with each person have an individual role but also having an interdependency for overall achievement of the task.

I told students one person is the pilot and the other the co-pilot, so one person typed while the other provided information and they rotated these roles.  Look up youtube for videos on Entrepreneurs.
Task: Research 3 entrepreneurs and choose one to research in more detail. 
Research 1 entrepreneur and Paste relevant information into the google sites so all students can see information being gathered.

We created a summary of the entrepreneurs each group  researched using padlet.


Flipped Classroom-  (Homework)
Read page 43 Enterprise Characteristics and Enterprise Skills Page 44.  Discussion tomorrow.






 




Students were given Tasks to do while planning this I was following Learning Design Rubrics
and an activity sheet

Students created revision notes and mindmaps of Enterprise Skills and Enterprise Characteristics using the google drive.

Peer Assessment:
They shared these notes with other students, we read through them and students were told to add to the notes if they could improve them.  As this is a  shared document if a student add to the document, all students will have the update.

Decide on one entrepreneur to study in more detail, Create a form (using sticky moose) asking all students to vote for one entrepreneur to research.

One group typed up the questions for Mr Stapletons interview.

.The students start their video production by using Pauls mobile to record the interview with Mr Stapleton.



To edit their stories, they are using free software.
                                        
Students use google docs to type up questions to ask a local entrepreneur. 

We decide to interview the PE teacher Mr Stapleton, who plays on the Tipp team and runs summer camps.

Students were allowed BYOD and Paul recorded the interview, Tobias typed up the questions & shared.
Milena interviewed Mr Stapleton.
The students upload their video stories to an online video sharing platform, such as YouTube.


We ask our students to go into junior business classes and show the video and teach them about Entrepreneurs

On the open night for our school when potential students visit, we would ask some groups to present their work to parents and new students..


I am using the accumulation of comments, , their documentation as well as the feedback I recorded throughout the Learning Story to assess their work. We discuss my assessment in the following lesson. Throughout the discussion, students get the chance to argue for or against my assessment.
Digital technologies and tools
Google Sites, Internet, Gmail to share information. Youtube
Future Classroom Handout
Youtube, Paddlet, google sites
Other resources
Google drive, Mindmeister,
sticky moose
 flip-cams, tablets, Movie Maker, Youtube Editor, Vimeo,
Pauls smart phone, google drive/docs
Youtube, google apps for education. Windows media player


                       








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