Hosted by , contributed by Kyriaki_Vakkou on 15 September 2023
The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report (2016), stated that “65% of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that don’t yet exist”. Hence, the teachers wanted to evolve their teaching practices to meet this need, as all students, like teachers, are differently-abled but creativity in teaching and learning bridges many challenges. The goal was to purchase equipment and integrate relevant educational practices that can be seamlessly integrated with the existing curriculum and also future proof the school with the advent of the New Draft Curriculum. With the advent of the new curriculum, the purchase of the new equipment will help to prepare the students as the Primary Curriculum Framework ‘emphasizes the importance of curriculum integration, inclusive practice, inquiry-based learning and playful pedagogy’ all elements of a STEAM based endeavour.
In addition, the school members often observed a language communication barrier between parents coming to the school and the staff. Hence, they decided to buy or upgrade relevant software to facilitate this process.
The school purchased Blu Bots, Micro bits and Samsung Tablets after receiving the LfE funding. With regards to the Blu Bots and Microbits, the goal was to integrate these robotics and microcomputers to the school, to be used within station teaching.
Samsung Tablets have been incorporated into the Numeracy and Literacy station teaching. Each and every pupil has access to a tablet during these sessions and each tablet can be utilized by the pupils themselves in activities that integrate seamlessly with the other stations. Example – Station 1 Consonant vowel consonant CVC (Consonant vowel consonant) word building using magnet letters, Station 2 CVC dictation, Station 3 Tablets using the website Balloon Phonics: Three-Letter Words CVC Game (topmarks.co.uk), Station 4 CVC games Roll and read, bingo etc. The Samsung Tablets were also used for the Creative Arts and Technology BLAST artist initiative to film behind the scenes footage of the students as they create a film to enter the national Film making contest for primary school children which is entitled Fís. The Samsung tablets were an invaluable tool for the school.
The school is using QI codes for all admission forms (with the use of Class Dojo) that are created with the Samsung tablets. These admission forms are organized according to the language of the new entrant learners. Therefore, using the app SayHi and tools like QI codes they can effectively communicate with the school community.
The school will also upgrade its Aladdin account which is the administration software for enrolment, school documentation, paying of fees etc. With the upgrade they will be able to give parents an app that they can download and be able to pay fees, receive messages of key school dates and to schedule meetings with teachers.
Micro Bits and Blu bots have played an essential role in enhancing students’ creativity, computational thinking and problem-solving skills. Examples of this are when students are asked to program their Blu bots to get from one end of a maze to another or using Microbits in STEAM activities, such as playing music and performing other operations in the schools’ gardens and other open spaces. These activities not only relate to the curriculum but permeate a vast majority of subject disciplines, such as Geography (e.g., a sense of place and space, using directions), Maths (e.g., problem-solving), History (e.g., storytelling, sequencing), Science and Technology.
Also, a good working relationship with Transact Technological Solutions, the company who supplied the Samsung products was established.
Finally, the purchase and renewal of apps that facilitate the communication between parents and the school staff minimized language barriers and enabled school processes (e.g., enrolment procedures, schedule meetings).
School website: https://www.lanesboroughprimaryschool.ie/digital-technologies.html
SayHi app: https://www.sayhi.com/en/translate/
Class Dojo: https://www.classdojo.com/
Aladdin software: https://www.aladdin.ie/
Equipment purchased:
GALAXY TAB A8 DEFENDER SERIES CASE
Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 SM-X200 32 GB 26.7 cm (10.5") Tiger 3 GB Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) Android 11 Graphit
SanDisk G-DRIVE ArmorATD External Hard Drive 2000 GB Black
Samsung Galaxy A33 5G A336B 64GB
USB 3.0 Flash Memory Multi-Card Reader / Writer with USB-C - SD, microSD, CompactFlash
Blue Bot Bluetooth Programmable Robot Class Pack
MicroBits V2 Class Pack
Chromebooks
Lego Spike Prime
Already implemented by the following schools
KIlcooley National School
This practice was implemented by our school!