06
Issue 06 / Winter 2014 / Newsletter
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In this Issue
Cover: St. Bricin’s Case Study
Page 2-3: A Vision for Introducing Technology
Page 4-5 Schoology
Page 6 Coláiste Chraobh Abhann Case Study
Page 7 Claregalway Case Study
Page 8 Details about Wriggles Field Trip
St. Bricin’s College Cavan Embraces 1:1 Learning
with the Microsoft Surface Tablet
We are delighted to announce that Wriggle was recently
appointed an Authorised Device Reseller (ADR) for
Microsoft. St. Bricin’s College is one of Wriggle’s first
Surface schools and we are thrilled to share their story with
you.
This story begins back in the summer time when the school
approached us about joining the 1:1 programme. This
school was already quite IT savy as this was not their first
time using technology in the classroom. Deputy Principal,
Niall M. Lynch explains:
“St. Bricin’s have been using digital textbooks
and laptop computers for the last five
years and have been at the forefront of the
development of digital learning environments
in Irish classrooms. We were delighted to
partner with Wriggle for the deployment of
Wriggle tablet devices and Microsoft Office
365 accounts for our students”.
As a result of the schools wealth of IT knowledge, the
process moved along rather rapidly after the school had
made their decision to move to 1:1 and use the Surface
Device. Mid summer, Wriggle visited the school and spoke
to the parents of the 40 incoming students. The team
explained the benefits of using mobile devices in the
classroom and how the 1:1 mobile learning programme
Unit G6, Calmount Business Park, Ballymount, Dublin 12. e. [email protected]
would have a positive impact on their children’s learning,
all of which was well received by the parents.
The next stage was to open the Wriggle online store. The
store provided parents with a simple step by step guide
to purchase their child’s Surface Tablet, Mobile Device
Management System and eBooks.
In early September, team Wriggle arrived at the school
for deployment day and met 40 very excited students as
they sat eagerly awaiting the arrival of their Surface tablet.
The team talked them through setting up the device and
their 365 Office accounts. Today these 40 students are
embracing this new way of learning and are working
seamlessly on their Surface Tablets devices.
Caption: Pictured here are Daneil Hamilton, David Corrigan, Ashleen
Lennon, and Lauren Grant, Martin O’Brien C.E.O. of Cavan & Monaghan
ETB; Mary Sheridan, Principal of St. Bricin’s College Belturbet.
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A Vision for Introducing Technology
by David Ganley, ICT Co-Ordinator Donabate Community College
Donabate Community College (DCC) is a modern 21st
Century DDLETB (Dublin & Dun Laoighre Education
& Training Board) school that has invested heavily in
technology and two years ago made the move to student
and staff 1:1 devices.
is done correctly and incorporates a vision and one of the
key areas in my own opinion is the engagement of staff and
providing them with the correct training. I don’t mean one
training session but instead a sustained series of training/
workshops.’
Not only has DCC made the brave move to tablet devices
but it also has a vision for this technology to be used to its
full potential by both staff and students. This year Donabate
Community College has made a further investment in training
its staff for the future. With the drive of ICT Coordinator,
David Ganly, they have teamed up with Bridge21 (www.
bridge21.ie) of Trinity College Dublin, and assisted by
Wriggle, to create a unique programme of CPD training and
workshops. These workshops are focused on utilising the
technology, mainly the iPad, which the school and parents
have invested in since opening its new building 4 years ago.
Behind the scenes of Donabate Community College’s tablet
introduction, a year of research was spent investigating the
device which would work best for the school. This involved a
pilot group with BYOD (bring your own device) and offering
ICT as a core subject. Along with choosing the device the
school has discovered in its research that there are many
other things which are required for a smooth transition such
as - security of the device, controlling the device, tablet &
internet acceptable use policies, working with the right
companies, choosing the correct publishing company for
eBooks, choosing Google Apps for Education or Office 365,
engaging parents at an early stage and engaging staff plus
lots more.
As well as the school purchasing staff tablets (each school
has a different system in place), it is also crucial to engage
parents at an early stage and keep them informed as they
too will ultimately be making an investment, and they need
to know that this is the correct move for their son/daughter’s
future education. They need to know that this tablet device
will be primarily an educational tool and that its use will be
maximised for learning, not just handed to the student with
the hope or expectation that they can use it effectively.
DCC realised in the early stages of the tablet introduction that
With as many as 20,000 Irish students now using tablets in
the classroom David has indicated that these workshops are
needed more now than ever. He states, ‘It is great to see so
many Irish schools embrace technology and it’s fascinating
to see the current changes in classroom teaching and
learning. We are going through a really exciting time and
transformation of education right now.’
However, David continues to raise some awareness
relating to the introduction of this technology, mainly iPads
and interactive boards. ‘There is an underlying issue
in some circumstances where schools are introducing
this technology with little vision. If a school is introducing
tablet devices they have to understand that it is a long
term commitment to which they are signing up teachers,
parents and students. However the implementation of this
technology will only transform teaching and learning if it
Unit G6, Calmount Business Park, Ballymount, Dublin 12. e. [email protected]
Members of the DCC staff engaged in the workshop on
the 23rd September
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this could only be a success if those who are in charge
are fully competent in using the device, this is where the
hypothesis for continuous workshops for teachers came
about. A recent IMD report in 2013 has shown that 70% of
teachers in the EU have learned how to use technology in
the classroom by themselves. With the strong emphasis
on using technology in the classroom nowadays, it’s
surprising that there is no structure in place to train teachers
in how to implement this technology effectively, more so it
is expected that teachers and students just know how to
use it. With regard to the students, there is an assumption
of technological ability, however that is certainly not true.
We all know that students/teenagers can of course find
their way around Facebook, send selfies through snapchat
and type 200 words a minute through whatsapp! However,
until schools begin teaching skills such as computational
thinking, programming and digital media, we will still lag
behind some of our European counterparts. The UK has
just revamped their ICT curriculum for second level. DCC
was part of a pilot programme in 2012, which offered
ICT as a core subject and has seen an overwhelming
difference in student capability that has strongly aided the
use of the tablet device and general ICT skills within the
classroom.
Fun & Innovative Workshops
The structure of these teacher-focused workshops run
by Bridge21 & DCC are based over 6 sessions and all of
the sessions are 100% voluntary. A total of 35 DCC staff
are dedicating over 20 workshop hours (plus more for
implementation) of their time to benefit both them in their
teaching and their students learning in and beyond the
classroom. The sessions can be structured in various ways
which suits the school but DCC have decided 5 of these
sessions will take place for 3 hours after school in their new
multifunctional 21st century learning room and the remaining
session will be a 5 hour session which takes place in Oriel
House, the home of Bridge21. Much of the content in these
workshops is focused on utilising the iPad, but importantly
the methodology, which goes with the teaching and learning,
is key to its success. There is a large focus on collaboration,
group work and problem solving - all of which are key skills
in today’s working world.
To date DCC have completed three of the workshops and
the feedback from staff has been excellent. It’s hoped that
other schools embracing technology, in particular tablet
devices, can have a similar vision. David has been a contact
for many ETB schools and Principals who are thinking about
introducing tablets and is happy to offer his opinion and
advice [email protected]
DCC staff working in Oriel House (7pm on Friday evening!)
Unit G6, Calmount Business Park, Ballymount, Dublin 12. e. [email protected]
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?
Courses
Schoology makes creating unique and flexible
courses simple with a
whole suite of studentcentered content creation
and learning tools and
an easy-to-use, intuitive
interface.
Online Homework
Submissions
Schoology’s Assignment
Submissions feature
simplifies the process of
submitting, annotating,
grading, and returning
assignments so there’s no
unnecessary repetition.
Create Tests and Quizzes
Schoology’s assessment creation tools provide instructors with
simple ways to create media-rich assessments
Advanced Analytics
Workload Planning
With the ability to view all
of the work assigned to
a particular student from
every teacher and even
set color-coded workload thresholds, you can
ensure your students are
never overloaded at any
given time.
Schoology enables you to
track in-depth statistics on
user activity (assignment
and assessments logins,
page views, posts, submissions, etc.) at the individual,
course, and school level
to better understand how
Schoology is being utilised.
You can also switch views
between users, user types,
and schools for comparative analyses.
Unit G6, Calmount Business Park, Ballymount, Dublin 12. e. [email protected]
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Coming Soon...
Video Conferencing
School subscribers will soon
have a video conferencing
app enabling them to schedule and host video, audio,
and live chat sessions.
For more information about
Schoology email [email protected]
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Schoology: A Teachers Perspective
by Mary O’Connell, Geography Teacher, Malahide Community School
When I was asked to write a few words I started thinking
about why I loved Schoology. To paraphrase Megan
Tranyors song:
“It’s got all the right stuff in all the right places”
It’s is the complete management system for teachers.
I now have my roll, my grades and all my teaching notes
all together in one place. I can access everything for all
my classes through my iPad, my computer at home or in
school or even on the moon if it has Wi-Fi!!
illness or indeed representing the school at some match
or school event. Schoology firmly places the responsibility
on students to get and complete work whether they
are in or out of the class. But it’s not all about me. With
Schoology the iPads are now more useful for students. I
can set work which my students can answer and submit
to me using their iPads in class.
The work goes directly to me in Schoology and not to my
email. Submitted work is stored in an organised manner
and I can even mark and correct it on my iPad or PC.
Another joy of this system is that it takes the repetition out
of teaching. Classes uploaded in first year will be with you
for 3 years as will all their results. So there is no painful time
wasting transferring information.
Schoology is also delightful from a marking point of view,
the grade that I give the student is sent directly to my
grade book (no repetition in transferring work) and if I
wish the student can also see the grade and comment.
Every exercise a student submits is recorded and
every one they don’t submit is also recorded. There is
ample evidence within the results section that will give
parents a comprehensive view of what the students are
doing or are not doing!
These are just some of the many things that Schoology
can do. I have just started using it and there are many
other things about it that I have yet to discover and
explore (for example it has potential to create tests some
of which can be self-correcting).
Homework, notes and grades are on the web so students
have no excuse for not doing it. If they are absent due to
So to conclude and at the risk of being obsessional,
from a teaching point of view Schoology is life changing!
Supporting Students with Dyslexia
Technology has always promised to assist students with
special educational needs. Wriggle is passionate about
making that promise become a reality, which is why we
run an annual Accessibility on iOS series of courses in
Education Centres. Since iOS 8 was released we have
the ability to provide different keyboards and fonts on
iPads and we are now starting to roll out these features
to help students with Dyslexia.
The screenshot shows an iPad with the OpenDyslexia
fonts installed and a special lowercase keyboard.
Starting in December those fonts will be installed on all
Wriggle-managed iPads and we will offer schools the
ability to bulk buy the lowercase app (€0.89) using the
volume purchase programme. For more information
please contact your Wriggle representative.
Unit G6, Calmount Business Park, Ballymount, Dublin 12. e. [email protected]
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Coláiste Chraobh Abhann Prepares Students
for a “High Tech World”
Coláiste Chraobh Abhann is one of eight Wicklow schools
who have adopted the Wriggle 1:1 programme. A coeducational post primary school, Coláiste Chraobh Abhann
is based in the seaside village of Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow.
This school has a relatively brief history and only reached
full capacity in September 2008 with 568 students.
Teachers at Coláiste Chraobh Abhann have implemented
a student-centred approach to education and last year they
made the decision to introduce technology into the fold by
deploying iPads to their incoming first year students.
Wriggle has been working closely with Coláiste Chraobh
Abhann for nearly 2 years now. Before introducing the
devices to students, it was important to allow the teaching
staff to become familiar with this new way of teaching and
learning using iPad.
Parents Training
Wriggle recently held a parents evening in the school. This
gathering gave us the opportunity to reconvene with the
parents post deployment to ensure that everything was
running smoothly for their children. It was also provided
us with a great chance to educate parents on best practice
with the iPad. By asking parents to bring their child’s
device to the school on the night, we were able to show
them various tips and tricks that will help to protect their
children from age inappropriate websites and apps at
home. It was great to see so many engaged in the process
and so positive about their children’s prospects with the
1:1 mobile learning programme.
Unit G6, Calmount Business Park, Ballymount, Dublin 12. e. [email protected]
Principal Shane Eivers says:
“We live in a high-tech world. Technology
is changing rapidly and is happening in
every sector of working life. Traditional
learning for students consisted of copying
from a board or book, listening to teachers
talking for a long time or taking notes while
teachers talk. The introduction of the iPad
as a teaching and learning tool comes at a
crucial and important time in Irish education
with the introduction of the new Junior Cycle
Student Award. The iPad affords students
the opportunity to be creative, inquisitive
and more self directed and independent in
their learning. Students are already digitally
focussed outside of the classroom and, with
the iPad, will be more engaged with their
learning in class. Digital media is the means
by which students communicate, collaborate
and learn on a daily basis. The iPad will not
be just an eBook. It is a tool to promote
critical thinking and problem solving. It will
motivate students and provide them with
the opportunity for higher achievement in
their exams. Teachers at Coláiste Chraobh
Abhann are really looking forward to the
challenges this initiative brings to their
teaching and the positive impact that it will
have on student success.”
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Students and Teachers Ditch the Textbooks in
Claregalway College
At just two years old, Claregalway College in Co. Galway
has taken significant steps in creating the ideal 21st
Century learning environment for its students and teachers.
In its infancy, this small school has made bold steps to not
just move from the traditional text book to Surface Tablet
device, but to get rid of text books completely in favour of
creating their very own content.
“We wanted to move away from textbooks and eBooks.
In this day and age, there is an abundance of information
out there. We felt that we were in a position to create our
own teachers’ resources,”
Explains Mr Alan Mongey, Principal.
Using the Surface Device, teachers are coming together to
create their very own content with the help of OneNote and
Office 365. It’s a new way of teaching and learning.
“All subject departments came together and started to
collate all of the information they had, compiling them on
OneNote. That essentially replaced the textbook.”
It isn’t just the teachers who have adapted well to this
technology.
“The reaction has been hugely positive. We have found
that student engagement has increased in class.”
Since receiving their devices from Wriggle in August, the
students have learned how to submit their homework online
allowing teachers to correct and grade their work in real
time using Office365. In addition, students have a forum
where they can discuss what they did in class and ask
questions about their homework.
“The key to this schools success is their willingness to
experiment and be innovative. That’s what makes it a
really interesting school.”
Pictured are Claregalway College students Vicka Mulroy,
Niamh McGrath and Nicola Kind with their new Surface devices
Unit G6, Calmount Business Park, Ballymount, Dublin 12. e. [email protected]
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The Wriggle Field Trips are
Coming to a School Near You!
We are delighted to announce that we will be running Wriggle Field Trips
early in the New Year. The Wriggle Field Trip is one of our favourite events
in the Wriggle Calendar. A number of our partner schools will host an inschool open day to talk about their journey to create a 1:1 mobile learning
programme with Wriggle.
COMIN
G
SOON
Each field trip will include
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Leadership perspective on creating a 1:1 programme.
Discussing the process of engagement with staff and parents.
Working with external partners.
Interim feedback on the programme.
Perspectives from teachers and students (if possible on the day).
Questions and Answers.
Email [email protected] to register your interest.
Wriggle is brought to you by
Wriggle
Unit G6, Calmount Business Park,
Ballymount, Dublin 12.
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e: [email protected]
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Unit G6, Calmount Business Park, Ballymount, Dublin 12. e. [email protected]
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