Rozz interviewed Andy Hopkins from Purple Mash, the online creativity suite by the people behind 2Simple Software. Andy demonstrated some of the new features of Purple Mash, including the ability to self assess and create great looking models and writing templates. Andy is looking for Irish speaking partners so if you’re interested, have a listen to his call for action and get in touch!
Read more on Interview with Andy Hopkins…
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. Perhaps, some of the media do not show this but parents know it isn’t an easy job. Children learn from an holistic and child centred curriculum. They enjoy their time in primary school. They learn how to learn and they want to learn for the rest of their lives. That’s what schooling should be about.
Read more on Something to think about Ruairi Quinn (Part 3)…
Rozz met up with the CEO of Sherston software, a company very familiar to Irish teachers. Sherston have provided software to Irish schools for many years, many of which have had a great resurrection thanks to the Interactive Whiteboard. Andrew has some great plans for Sherston. They have already released a number of their titles as apps on Smartphone and tablet devices. Andrew told us about how Sherston’s new products will track a pupil’s work for assessment on their web site Planet Sherston.
Read more on Podcast: Interview with Andrew Foyle…
World Nutella day is every year on 5th Feb. Check out the website
www.nutelladay.com I’ve made some resources, activities and pictures for your staff or students!
Here we go, enjoy the choc fest!nutella day
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.
Read more on Something to think about Ruairi Quinn (Part 2)…
At the BETT Breakfast in London, we bumped into Liz Russell, a former teacher who set up an educational consultancy company, 21CLN. We spoke with her just as the news broke that Michael Gove, the education secretary in the UK, had made it easier for schools to fire teachers. Liz spoke to us about the pressures on teachers in the UK as well as about education consultancy in the UK and why schools need it.
Read more on Podcast: Interview Liz Russell…
I got an email today from the Teaching Council and I almost deleted it straightaway! I was glad I didn’t. Last year at the Irish Primary Principals Conference, Harold Hislop played panto bad guy with the principals. He told us that we would probate newly qualified teachers. We told him we wouldn’t. He told us we would…it just went on and on.
Read more on It’s oh so quiet..New draft document on Inspectorate handing probation to Principals…
Apple has unleashed iBooks Textbooks today, where they claim that they have “reinvented the school textbook.” Apparently, these books will be “an entirely new kind of textbook that’s dynamic, engaging and truly interactive.” I am somewhat sceptical.
Before the Irish Primary Principal’s Conference, I like to browse through the exhibition list and see what catches my eye. Every year there’s a few exhibits that warrant a visit or look interesting. This year, it looks like it’s the year of the MIS, the Management Information System. Thanks to the success of companies such as Aladdin, lots of companies are offering their version of reducing the administrative burden for principals.
There are a number of big players at the exhibition this year and one that’s caught my eye is the subtly named Compu-B who are Ireland’s Apple resellers. With lots of talk about Apple devices such as iPods and iPads in the classroom, I’d imagine this will be a popular stand. Apple’s iTextbook service is coming online soon so this might be mentioned as a selling point. Microsoft also have a stand and although there is no explanation of what they are doing there, (do they need one?), I wonder if we’ll get a glance of Kodu?
The ESRI have just released a study about 9 year olds in Irish primary schools. I thought it might be interesting to see how the main media publications covered the story.
Read more on 5 Headlines about the ESRI report on 9 year olds in primary schools…
January 28th, 2012 
by Simon 
