PDST Technology in Education

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May 2013

Welcome to the PDST Technology in Education email newsletter.

Our newsletter aims to provide ICT news and information to Principals, ICT coordinating teachers, teachers and all those involved in education.

Continuing Professional Development

Summer Courses for Primary Teachers

CPD image Over 200 instances of four face to face courses by PDST Technology in Education will be available through the education centre network this summer. Free to teachers, these are:

Creating and Using ICT Resources for Literacy
Using ICT for Literacy and Numeracy in Junior Classes
Using Scratch to Develop Numeracy (NCTE/Lero)
Using Tablets and Online Tools for Literacy and Numeracy NEW!

Fully approved for EPV days for primary teachers, details of these courses are available via the course schedule on our website.

Summer Online Course – Enrolment Closed

Enrolment for the summer online course, Using the Interactive Whiteboard to Support Literacy, is now closed as all 1300 places were taken on the day the course opened for enrolment. Why not check out some of the face to face courses (listed above) provided by PDST Technology in Education instead? Or you may want to sign up for an online course which is part funded by PDST Technology in Education and provided by our partners, if they still have places available. See either Beyond 2020: Using Technology in the Primary Classroom provided by INTO or Online tools for the primary classroom provided by MIC.

FÍS 2013 - Reminder!

FIS image The FÍS initiative is a wonderful example of a project that encourages creativity and imagination among children and their teachers in Irish schools. Organised jointly by PDST Technology in Education and Dun Laoghaire Institute for Art, Design & Technology (IADT), the FÍS initiative culminates each year in the annual FÍS Film Festival where 25 films are shortlisted for awards in what is essentially an "Oscars" ceremony for Irish schoolchildren. Why not get involved today! Competition deadline is June 27th.

FÍS also offer an online course designed in such a way that corresponds to the complete production cycle of making a film. It is also available as an app for iPad and iPhone.

Living Schools Lab

good practice image The Living Schools Lab project is a 2-year project (Oct 2012-Oct 2014) that aims to explore and disseminate good practice in terms of whole school approaches to ICT in teaching and learning through a living "network" of schools.

Seven Irish schools are taking part in Wave 1 of the project with more schools encouraged to join the network from November 2013.

New resources for Primary SPHE

scoilnet image One of the Scoilnet primary teachers has reviewed and linked to a number of new resources that are useful to SPHE. Here are a few:

Snakes and Hazzards - road safety game.
What a Waste - story to get pupils thinking about waste.
Wind Power Yes or No? - role play around wind farms.

New Post Primary Science resources

scoilnet image One New Science resources Reviews and links have been added across a number of subjects recently - here are three recent Science resources:

Science Hooks
Sound Science YouTube clip (15 mins)
Drag 'n' Drop Quiz on the Eye

Recommended by Scoilnet - European Quizzes in English and Irish

scoilnet image The Toporopa website has some very visual interactive quizzes on Europe that would be great for the interactive whiteboard - and many are available through Irish. Some examples include:

Flags of Europe / Bratacha na hEorpa
EU Countries / Tíortha an AE

Also remember to follow Scoilnet on Twitter!

Webwise - Internet Safety

Preschoolers and Tablets

Simple and intuitive touch-screen technologies are allowing younger and younger children to play games and access the internet. It's time to toddler proof your tablet!

Be Safe Be Webwise

webwise image Be Safe Be Webwise is a teaching resource which aims to promote key internet safety skills among young people. Developed to form part of the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum, Be Safe Be Webwise is designed to empower young people to be safe, effective and autonomous users of the internet for life.

How to turn off in-app purchases on my iPad or iPhone

webwise image Does your child whiz around your iPad with ease? Then you need to read on. In-app purchases are increasingly costing parents big, big money and it's very easy to turn them off.

Britannica via Scoilnet - Reminder!

scoilnet image The Britannica website is moving to a new look and feel in the coming months. The content of the website is not affected and all facts and data remain the same. A preview of the new site is available via the "Go to preview site" button on the main homepage.

Remember, you can access Britannica anytime, anywhere via Scoilnet. Britannica also provides online webinars for teachers.

Britannica via Scoilnet

Good Practice: Video

Story Writing using tablet devices

good practice image Class teacher, Brendan Curtin uses a story builder app on a tablet device and emphasises the process in story development prior to use of any device. The children demonstrate that a variety of media can be incorporated into their stories. The mutual learning that took place is a particularly salient point.

View Video

More News

ICT in Europe Schools report

news image The ICT in Europe Schools report was issued recently. Irish teachers ranked ‘highest in Europe’ as ‘Digitally Supportive Teachers’ when it came to integrating ICT (refer to Slides 23, 28 and 29). It is also reported that students in Ireland benefit from infrastructure and connectivity levels close to the EU average and above EU average in ‘connected’ schools. ICT use by teachers is considerably above other countries, remarkably twice the levels at grades 4 and 8.

EdTech2013 Opening Up Education – Content, Learning and Collaboration

news image The Irish Learning Technology Association (ILTA) is holding its 14th annual conference EdTech2013 Opening Up Education – Content, Learning and Collaboration. It will be hosted by University College Cork from May 30-31, 2013. EdTech2013 is presented in conjunction with Ireland’s EU Presidency of the European Council and is themed in line with this recently launched EU DG Education and Culture initiative by Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou.

ICT in Education Conference, "Student Voices" - Summary

The ninth ICT in Education Conference was hosted by LIT Tipperary on Saturday 11th of May 2013. Minister of State Ciaran Cannon addressed the conference and shared his thoughts on the potential for technology use in education. Keynote presentations were delivered by Gráinne Conole, Professor of Learning and Innovation at Leicester University, Catherine Cronin, Lecturer at NUI Galway and Martha Rotter, developer, technologist and founder of tech startup Woopie. The conference was preceded by a CESI meet on Friday 10th May.

Other News

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About Us

qr code PDST Technology in Education provides advice, support and information on the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in education.