Mary Immaculate College (MIC) will deliver two continuing professional development courses this summer, in partnership with PDST Technology in Education and Munster GAA. Both courses are designed for primary teachers and will take place online from 1 to 14 July.
In a year that saw teaching and learning move online, MIC will offer a new CPD course focusing on the potential of the internet to enhance children’s learning across the curriculum. The Internet as a Resource for Teaching, Learning and Assessment course, delivered in partnership with PDST Technology in Education, will be of particular interest to any primary teacher hoping to develop their knowledge and skills in the area of digital learning and teaching.
The course will focus on sourcing, using and creating digital resources, and how online communications can be used for collaboration. Resources will include those used to create presentations, posters and infographics, interactive lessons, polling and backchanneling, as well as tools designed for video creation, collaboration, audio recording and podcasting, photo editing and collage creation, animation and story boarding.
Other online resources that will be explored on the course include those used for concept mapping, timelines and mapping, drawing and sketching, games creation, as well as tools designed for particular curriculum areas, such as the teaching of literacy and numeracy, and lesson planning. The course will be facilitated by Annette Cregan, who teaches in ICT in Education at MIC.
The second CDP course on offer to primary teachers this summer aims to develop teachers’ knowledge and skills in the teaching of GAA in primary school. The Gaelic Games in Primary School course will focus on coaching and the management of coaching programmes at all levels, and is part of a long-established partnership between MIC and Munster GAA in the provision of professional development for teachers.
The 20-hour online course will cover topics such as the GAA Total Playing Performance (TTP) coaching model, physical literacy and movement, the social context of Gaelic Games in schools, and the effective use of teaching and other resources. Programme participants will also have the opportunity to explore issues such as inclusion, curriculum integration, and the role Gaelic Games can play as part of a healthy school environment.
The course will be led by Joe Redington, Gaelic Games Development Officer at MIC, and will include contributions from Dr Richard Bowles, lecturer in the Department of Arts Education and Physical Education at MIC, as well coaching and team management experts who work closely with inter-county teams.
Commenting on the CPD courses, Dr Cathal de Paor, Director of Continuing Professional Development at MIC, said, “Once again the support from both Munster GAA and PDST Technology in Education has enabled us to bring two great professional development opportunities to teachers. In different ways, both courses reflect the profound impact that the public health situation has had on our work in supporting teaching and teachers’ professional development. The GAA course was initially designed as an onsite course, but having adapted it successfully for online delivery last year, we are continuing with it this year. The second course on the internet as a resource is entirely new designed to respond to the increasingly digital world in which teaching and learning takes place, regardless of where this happens, whether in school or remotely.”
Further information on both courses is available here. Applications close on 23 June.
