Hosted by , contributed by Kyriaki_Vakkou on 13 December 2022
Technology is improving rapidly and new technological features appear every day. Many schools own new educational hardware and software but teachers often do not have the appropriate knowledge on how to use them appropriately. Thus, further development of the digital competence of teachers is required, aiming to effectively integrate digital tools in teaching and learning.
Teachers of a Cypriot school, participated in different actions and events (i.e., staff meetings, exemplary teaching, co‐teaching, exchange of experiences related to the use of digital tools in teaching and learning) in an effort to incorporate new practices in their teaching. During these initiatives, the teachers presented digital tools to colleagues in staff meetings and also invited peers to their classroom to attend and reflect on each other’s teaching style and to provide support and guidance, so that they can utilize digital technologies in their own teaching. Some of the tools presented or used were the following: Kahoot, Wordwall, Google Forms, Plickers, Teams and Augmented Reality. Another action that was taken by the school was the arrangement of a training delivered from external partners on interactive whiteboards and on the use of robotics.
The main impact of the aforementioned actions was that teachers developed understanding on how to utilize the available equipment and began to integrate digital tools into their teaching practice. They were also able to guide their peers collaboratively develop materials and lessons. Students' interest in learning seemed to be enhanced through the integration of digital tools.
Kahoot: https://kahoot.com/
Wordwall: https://wordwall.net/
Google forms: https://www.google.com/forms/about/
Plickers: https://get.plickers.com/
MicrosoftTeams: https://www.microsoft.com/en/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software/
Already implemented by the following schools
KIlcooley National School
Suggested the use of NAT routers to other schools, in order to increase the numbers of IP addresses available to devices in the schools.
Other schools in Ireland have followed this suggested and purchased NAT routers. This has solved many network capacity issues for schools.