28 December 2015
Study Hub -Open access to ICT for an inclusive educational environment.
All schools need a study hub to create an open plan learning environment, based on 3 MOOCs and CPD I have done....click on link below....love to share....
http://bit.ly/1OuUWzN
25 November 2015
Our study hub...open access to ICT in our school
We installed our study hub at the end of April, but it is only this academic year we see the impact it is having on our students. The study hub is located in the main assembly area which is always supervised at break/lunch time. Its primary aim is to encourage independent learning for both second level and PLC students. This open access study hub is primarily focused on equality, as 60% of our first and second year students have iPads, we are conscious of providing access to ICT to all students.
The key aims of the study hub
Enable students who do not have ICT access or iPads to do homework on PC and save to google drive.
Evaluation
Evaluation
This is slowly working, students must have a few days to do the homework. They also have ICT classes to complete work but we want to see the students working independently on the study hub.
2.Students using the study hub for extra curricular work and projects. This creates a learning environment whereby other students see work being done at the study hub.
Evaluation
To date students have used study hub to complete the Formula 1 project and the Student enterprise business plan.
3.The hub is used for learning support for PLC and second level support.
Evaluation
When classes are on, this area is quiet and spacious, students like working there. Some students may be on PCs while others can sit at nearby desks if necessary.
4.PLC students use the hub during free classes.
Evaluation
This is working well and while so many people seem to use the hub it is never over crowded as it is being used at different times. We have night classes, PLC students have access to the hub on those two nights.
Teachers also use the hub, mind you we would like a hub in the staff room!!
Overall, the study hub is a success, having read, write gold software and inspiration mindmaps for student use. I want to further develop the study hub so am thinking about how to do that....I welcome any suggestions in this regard.
14 November 2015
POWER UP 2015 THURLES CPD via PDST
#PowerUp2015
My review of "Power up Thurles".
It was a comprehensive inservice with a short duration from 10am to 1pm with just a short break. All of which appealed to me as I hate wasting my valuable time. What I liked was that when apps were demonstrated David compared the pros and cons of each app which enabled me to decide which one would suit my needs best. eg. Edpuzzle is good for primary schools while Blendspace best for post primary as allows for more integration with other apps.
If I was to do an exit card, these are 3 sites/appsI will use again. Ok well maybe 4!
Blendspace
http://www.socrative.com/
http://www.neok12.com/
https://www.symbaloo.com/home/mix/13eOcJZ7TO
mentimeter free and easy to use.
webwise.ie/category/teachers/school-policy/ … AUP in school.
Power Up Thurles - Assessment...
To gather, interpret and use information from students...
Work on Any device
Socrative free and can take any amount of responses http://www.socrative.com/
Start a quiz
quick question
space race and exit tickets
when you sign in you get login number that stays the same....
explaineverything app
Show me app
KAHOOT.IT
CREATE A TEACHER PAGE . will work on any browser
library in kahoot so you can share..
VIdeo
Edpuzzle good for primary school
Blendspace best for post primary as allows for more integration.
neok12
Create free teacher account and set up what websites you use regularly....symbaloo
to share and manage tasks with other people
4 November 2015
ePortfolio course via PDST
I highly recommend this ePortfolio course for teachers in Ireland, there are 5 modules and it estimates 5 hours duration at your own pace. There are videos of best practice and text to work through, periodically a padlet with a question allows for teacher interaction.
I am only on module 2 but as I was eager to progress I never saved some videos and content from module 1 and now that I have completed it, I can’t seem to get back into it. So save as you go! Definitely worth doing.
ePortfolios: Using digital tools for content creation, collaboration and assessment (Post Primary)
ePortfolios: Using digital tools for content creation, collaboration and assessment (Post Primary)
http://teachercpd.ie/
Duration: 5 hours
Course start and end dates: 5-10-15 to 18-12-15.
29 September 2015
Extract from Future Learn- Computer Science (CS) MOOC
I wondered what/how ICT is taught in the UK so I am doing this MOOC.....at the end of week 2 I had to do an assignment.
The task involved using the following website and choosing a game/application to create/plan a lesson from.....
The lesson must state the target student, I choose KS3 (12-14Yrs old)
state the objective from the UK syllabus and state where peer learning will occur.
This is my lesson http://bit.ly/1MBUcEo I can use this lesson with my TY students. I submitted my assignment and then received one to correct. But I did not learn much from the first one so I corrected 5, I learned something from 3 of them. So the learning process is dependent on other teachers, I found the forum is a valuable source of information and a good way to make new contacts.
Lesson 2 included a video from a secondary school, showing a ICT class where the teacher had students working on minecraft to demonstrate logic gates, Makey Makey kits and Kinect, and scripting in a virtual world (scratch like interface). Much of this technology is unavailable in my school but also think managing such diverse programs simultaneously would be a challenge for me! But what is noticeable, are students in Ireland being exposed to such technology and/or are we falling behind our neighbours.
Anyway just finished week 2, have 4 more to go so I will keep on learning!!
Summary and key websites:
In September 2014, a new curriculum began in schools in England, with the aim of preparing pupils better for life after school in the 21st Century.
The new curriculum puts a clearer emphasis than before on three core areas.
- Computer science - how computers work and how to write algorithms and solve problems to eventually create a computer program.
- Information technology - how data is represented and managed on computers.
- Digital literacy - how to understand digital information and interact with it safely and appropriately.
Lesson plan for CS in secondary school
Learning objectives could be distinguish by:
All students: Debug simple program
Most Students: Write a program for a purpose
Some Students: To use repetition and if functions in programs
Worth looking a BBC bitesize:
I found the forum excellent and learned a lot from other teachers on what worked for them and they shared resources...
Another teacher recommended this course for explaining CS.
Another teacher recommended
Lesson 2
When introducing new concepts, focus on key words, with written explanations..could use worksheets
Model and demonstrate: debug a programme, find creative commons info on a website.
Encourage independence-problem solving
Facilitate pupil to pupil interaction.....'learning partners' or in some schools they have 'digital ambassadors' older kids teach younger kids.
Summarise learning outcomes at various stages during the lesson, to help student self assess.
from another teacher @UCCSEd
Jeremy Kubica’s Computational Fairy Tales, a quirky but interesting read. This is an optional reading for the course.
teachers comments
"When I was at school I was told that "computers don't think and don't solve problems." The only thing they can do is to recognize numbers "1" and "0." This premise helps us to develop computational thinking."
"part of computational thinking requires you to "think" like a computer. Here are a couple of aphorisms I like...
The question of whether computers can think is just like the question of whether submarines can swim. ~Edsger W. Dijkstra
The question of whether computers can think is just like the question of whether submarines can swim. ~Edsger W. Dijkstra
A computer will do what you tell it to do, but that may be much different from what you had in mind. ~Joseph Weizenbaum"
www.code.org
for coding and debugging elements of the curriculum.
However there are many coding environments which can be run from an iPad such as Scratch Jr, the Bee-Bot app, Hopscotch and the Code Academic app. The touch screen and drag and drop interfaces make accessing simple coding activities much easier.
Computational thinking for SEN
Logic Gates
Computing lessons that promote learning effectively are active and participatory. There are five key aspects of the lessons that promote learning in this way:
- They get off to a clear start. The teachers build on pupils’ existing learning and rehearse familiar concepts with the pupils before they move on to something new.
- The teachers set clear objectives using subject specific vocabulary. Computing has a subject-specific vocabulary just like other areas of the curriculum Some of these words will be totally new perhaps, like ‘debug’ and others might not be new, but have different meanings in the context of computing.
- Lessons include ‘off screen activities’ to support pupil learning. It is especially import for pupils to understand the relationship between the code and something happening on screen, and often the best way to get this across is to move away from the screen and into the physical world. In the early stages of computing in Primary schools, learning is often off screen, using programmable toys. As the curriculum progresses into the Secondary phase, concepts are applied in more abstract settings
- When pupils are debugging ready-made code blocks this is a powerful form of learning – it develops the crucial skill of problem solving. This is bit like taking apart a model to understand how it is made and it means that pupils can make changes to the code, like changing the distance a sprite travels or costumes, and see the effect immediately. Trial and error is a major way that pupils learn to program.
- Pupil to pupil learning is important, and successful teachers give lots of opportunities for this to happen. Teachers have also found that if they use freely available software, pupils can download it and practice their skills at home.
Digital Literacy
BBC Make it Digital resources
Digital Literacy
What will my digital job be in the future....
Small basic
23 September 2015
Using the PDST ePortfolio template(via google sites) to help integrate ICT
The link below shows our objectives regarding how we will integrate ICT in the English classroom for 1st and 2nd year students. We team teach for one of the English classes so our foremost aim is to teach English and our secondary aim is to use ICT skills to enhance learning. We have access to a computer room.
Additionally, we have a study hub of 5 computers in an open access area(lunch area) and we hope students will work on those if they do not have ipads or internet access at home. We want to be able to give homework and enable students to research outside of class. So far the study hub is being under utilised, the hub was installed at the end of May so we need to train students to use it.
This is the plan and we will evaluate it as the year progresses. We decided to use the PDST ePortfolio template this year as they know more than me so hope to learn something from them!
To access the template
13 September 2015
How to collate & share CPD via Google Sites
I believe that attending an inservice can be futile unless, I use the new information straight away in class or I record it so it can be referenced at a later stage. Last term I started compiling useful information omitting any verbosity. The purpose of this site is primarily for my benefit and to extend the lifecycle of the CPD.
It can be shared with other teachers so either they may use the information gathered or based on my summary they could decide to attend the inservice/teachmeet the following year.
My CPD site......
https://sites.google.com/a/cmco.ie/cpd/cpd
Handout explaining how to create the site..
http://bit.ly/1Q9pJy5
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