Opinion

Technology in Schools in the Dark Ages?

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Great – another article damning schools and the Department of Education for failing the youth of today. The Irish Times recently published an article by Brian O’Connell who claims that since he was in school in 1985, nothing has changed in Irish schools when it comes to “teaching computers.” He claims that his son receives about the same amount of computer teaching time as he did almost 30 years ago and then argues that “computers” should be a stand alone subject in the curriculum.

Items that O’Connell believes should be in a computer curriculum would be typing, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Thankfully, he rescues his argument by proposing that programming also forms part of his curriculum and mentions the great work of CoderDojo who are plugging this hole.
As with almost all articles about technology in education today, O’Connell failed to pick up on the fantastic work being done in lots of schools around the country. This week alone saw Digital Art Week, a project that took place in over 100 schools around the country. Dozens of schools engaged in social media through a Twitter treasure hunt and there were hundreds of images uploaded to the National Children’s Gallery. A CESI Meet was held in Sligo last night where teachers from all over the country shared the fantastic work they are doing with ICT in schools from making apps to classroom management tools.
That was just this week.  There are schools using technology to help children learn every day of the school year these days through blogging, digital storytelling, podcasting, video and much more.
Some schools are teaching computer programming and, yes, I admit, probably not enough but we’re far from being in the same situation as O’Connell was in 1985. We’re even getting beyond the Interactive Whiteboard as a teaching tool and using it in more innovative ways.
The concept of teaching computers as a separate subject in primary schools is flawed. Children don’t see computers as separate – they are just another way to learn things. The Primary School curriculum got a few things right and one of those was not to allow ICT be a separate subject.  ICT is another methodology (or more accurately, a number of methodologies), and this is very important in its continued success.
Is technology in the dark ages now? I believe that lots of schools are emerging from the scenario that is outlined in this article. Sadly, another journalist has missed the opportunity to showcase the great work being done in schools today.

Games-based Learning

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Idea Magazine is an online journal around technology ideas and this month, they’re focusing on Gaming. I was asked by journalist and writer, JJ Worrall, to speak about my opinions on Games-based Learning in the Classroom. I felt it only fair to point out that it is individual teachers in Ireland who are driving this in schools rather than anything at government level. I also mentioned the growth of Scratch in schools, which I believe should be a central starting point in introducing programming skills into primary schools.  Worrall also talks to Patrick Felicia from WIT, who gives information on his own research into GBL. You can read the full article by clicking on the title of this article.

INTO uses Social Media during Congress

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It’s good to see leadership in education. An example of this is in the INTO’s use of social media to report on the happenings at their annual congress in Killarney. I have been following the updates from the congress on Twitter and Facebook and both have proved very valuable in keeping up with things. I … Read more

Death of Gaeilge?

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One of the official languages of Ireland is Irish and most children experience a compulsory 14 year cycle of Irish lessons on a daily basis in school but according to the article above, only 82,600 people in Ireland speak the language outside of school – approximately 2% of the population. In fact, Polish is now the second most spoken language in the country today.

Something is obviously very wrong when statistics like this come out. Reactions will inevitably range from denial to acceptance. For example, 1.77 million people marked that they could speak Irish – however, this is still only 41% of the population.
Another inevitability is that schools will be blamed for this; after all, how is it possible that after 14 years of instruction, many students leave school with a better knowledge of French, Spanish or some other “3rd language?” Different people will have their reasons.
I believe that we need to logically assess why Irish has been allowed to become the third language of Ireland. We need to cut out the denial, the blaming of others and any other excuses.  I say this not as a proponent of the language – one might suggest that Ireland’s greatest strength is in our ability to speak English fluently – but then there’s the adage of “Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam.” There’s a definite richness to the Irish language, which has shaped the Irish people in how we hold ourselves. However, Irish is simply not being spoken by Irish people and we need to fix it before it becomes extinct.

Do we need Teaching Council 2.0?

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It hasn’t been the best couple of months for the Teaching Council. Established six years ago “to promote teaching as a profession” and to “regulate standards” in teaching, the general perception amongst the teaching profession is that it hasn’t really achieved its aims. With the latest fiasco of errors in the latest election ballot forms, … Read more

Best Schools? Another missed opportunity.

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Sunday newspapers often feature supplements on different topics. This week the Sunday Business Post featured one called Best Schools. Last time they did this, unfortunately, it was more or less an advertising feature for lots of different companies involved in education with a couple of interesting articles amongst the litter. This time, it’s far worse. … Read more

Technology and Pedagogy – not a chicken and egg

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The IPPN conference is the biggest conference for primary school prinicpals in Europe with over 1,100 delegates.  The event, which goes on for 3 days draws in some of the biggest names in education and media, all discussing everything relating to primary schools.  This year the principals were addressed by the likes of Ben Walden … Read more

Something to think about Ruairi Quinn (Part 3)

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The final part of my letter to Ruairi Quinn… Has there been any mention of learning here? Of children? Of humans? Basic human rights to respect and consideration. This is a country we should not be following or looking to. In Ireland, we have a basis of trust, consideration and respect for teachers in Ireland. … Read more

Something to think about Ruairi Quinn (Part 2)

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Continuing from my letter from the last day, here is part 2… Instead, in the UK, schools are restricted by regulations, standards, targets and appraisals which are designed to give a uniform approach to learning, no matter the background of the school or child. Their Education Secretary is Michael Gove, as I am sure you … Read more

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