iTunes U service for schools, further education & training

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Pupils and students of Dublin & Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board across 16 schools, colleges and further education centres will benefit from a new approach to learning with the launch of iTunes U Site on Monday 7th
December 2015. https://vimeo.com/149277581

DDLETB’s iTunes U courses are now live on iTunes. This new education platform was launched at an impressive exhibition of digital learning projects in Tallaght involving students from Community National Schools, Colleges, and Further
Education centres who are piloting the initiative.

iTunes U is Apple’s collaborative learning app which can house multiple resources in a streamlined learning environment. An initial group of over 70 teachers in 16 centres of learning have undertaken professional training in using iTunes U to
create, edit and manage entire courses for the iTunes U platform. They are also sharing their ongoing course work with each other.

A library of iPads has been made available for teachers to use. Resource materials prepared specially by teachers will form the content of the iTunes U Courses. Students will be taught using a mix of traditional and digital means. Teachers and students can collaborate in an open learning environment.

iTunes U provides user-friendly technology with a wide choice of options to suit the needs of a class. Courses on the app can vary in length depending on the needs of the learner. Teachers can deliver classes in an organised and streamlined manner with a new easy-to-use app which learners can access on their iPads. iTunes U allows users to access courses and notes at any time, receive course updates directly onto their iPads and submit assignments to their teacher and get direct feedback.

Paddy Lavelle, CEO of the DDLETB launched the programme and said: “This is exemplary of the forward looking approach to skills development that we want to see for every pupil and driven by our teachers. It’s truly exciting to be at the
forefront of the merging of traditional teaching methods with advanced digital technologies that will underpin and support the skills of our teachers and are easy to use for our students. It’s going to be really interesting to see how students react
to the initiative and the long term results iTunes U will impact on teachers and students”.

The iTunes U project is now running an initiative in maths and science in 7 schools across DDLETB. If you are a 1:1 school or an iPad class set school and are looking for a virtual learning environment please contact sconroy@ddletb.ie.

Visit the DDLETB iTunes U Site
https://itunes.apple.com/ie/institution/dublin-dun-laoghaire-education/id1004374997

DDLETB Further Education Colleges and EUCOPP

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Teachers from our Further Education Colleges are currently involved in a European project with education partners in Norway and Estonia.  The project known as EUCOPP (European Communities of Professional Practice) aims to build communities of professional practice for teachers within DDLETB and at a European level.  The focus of the project is on the Healthcare and Childcare vocational areas and includes examining how our European partners incorporate core non vocational subjects into vocationally specialised courses.  The project was launched in October 2017 and in November, teachers from 8 DDLETB colleges became involved in the first stage of the programme.

EUCOPP is a two-year project during which teachers from Estonia and Norway will visit Ireland to spend time job shadowing our teachers in a number of different FE colleges.  Teachers from DDLETB will travel to Trondheim in Norway and Haapsalu in Estonia to learn about vocational education in these countries and observe teaching methodologies and practice.

On the 13 th  of November a group of seven teachers and managers from two vocational colleges in Trondheim, Norway (Kristen Videregående Skole Trøndelag (KVT) and Orkdal Videregående Skole) came to Dublin for a three-day job shadowing visit with our FE colleges. During the visit, teachers exchanged a lot of ideas and information about their specialist vocational areas, their teaching practice and of course, their students.

Before their departure the Norwegian teachers thanked DDLETB for the warm welcome they received and the quality of the programme planned for their visit.  They reported positively on what they had learned from practice observed in the classes they visited and were particularly impressed with the relationships evident between.

Adult Education Service pilots tours of local library services

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As part of a new national protocol for co-operation between LGMA/ County Library Services and ETBs, students and staff of South-West Dublin, Adult Education Service have been attending tours of the County Library Tallaght. This protocol is still in its pilot stage, but already the Tallaght Library and DDLETB Adult Education Service have benefited from staff and students becoming members of the library and increased usage of the library to
facilitate adult education classes.

Luttrellstown CC iPad Rollout

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Luttrellstown Community College continued with its exciting project rollout in August 2016, ongoing for the past 2 years. They have now rolled out iPads to all years. Their aim is to develop the higher order skills that their students will require throughout their life, facilitated by the many opportunities students will have to personalise their learning and manage additional resources to create their own learning profiles.

From a staff perspective it has been an enjoyable and enthusiastic learning curve in terms of getting familiar with a new educational tool in terms of teaching and learning and opening other channels of communication with students in terms of sharing educational apps and ideas. The school is striving to become a paperless community. Ideas, resources, exam materials, minutes of meetings etc.. are now shared using google docs. Students and teachers accessibility to resource sharing forums such as ‘edmodo’ and student/staff gmail is so much easier and flexible using the iPad device.
‘Wildfire Productions’ visited the school in May 2016 as part of their ‘Digital Literacy’ production to be aired on national television end Oct/beginning Nov 2016. LCC were honoured that Lord David Puttnam was on hand experiencing the schools’ digital journey so far.
Lord Puttnam was appointed as Ireland’s Digital champion in 2012. He got first-hand experience from talking with students and teachers and visiting classrooms of how iPads as an additional tool can benefit teaching and learning and make learning a more enjoyable and rewarding experience for all.Students have expressed how such a tool makes knowledge readily accessible and how eager they are to engage and demonstrate use of so many useful apps:-‘The iPads are great. They have a good note taking facility by using apps such as showme and evernote’. Robert, First year
‘ Because all our books are in the iPad you don’t have to worry about carrying heavy bags and worrying about losing hardback books’ Sam, First year

‘Its great having my iPad when I want to research something for homework. Everything is at my fingertips’. Chevonne, First year

‘My iPad is great. I can download apps that help with school work. I use ‘picolage’ for example that is very useful for presentations’. Cherry, First year.

Sallynoggin CFE Fashion Event 2016

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We are fashion. We are stylists. We are designers.

We are students at Sallynoggin College of Further Education and we love to share our work with you. We recently celebrated our work this year at an event which linked two venues in Temple Bar, Filmbase and The Button Factory.

What is our fashion? Fashion is always here, but trends are ever changing. As young designers and creative beings we pulled together our ideas and striking displays to curate our fashion event. Both experimental and creative, this event was like no other, showcasing the diversity of the fashion department at Sallynoggin College. It was about us. We | Are Fashion.

In a unique collaborative approach, the Fashion Design and Fashion Industry Practice students came together to share our work with fashion enthusiasts. On view throughout the event were student collections, visual displays and an exciting fashion show. Guests were able to join in the fun with Monoposhop spending Sallynoggin Dollars, and our Dis | Play | You interactive photo booths.

Showcased in the event were a mix of garments designed and created by our Fashion Design students along with some of our favourite Spring/Summer 2016 looks selected from the best of Dublin’s boutiques and styled by our Fashion Industry Practice students. Whatever your style, we had something to inspire you.

Skills for Work programme wins EU Award

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Marian Lynch (SFW), Nolette Dolan (SFW) and Rosemarie Gibney (An Post) travelled to Brussels this week to accept the EU Commission’s Training at Work Award 2017 on behalf of all of the employers, participants and ETB staff members from around the country who contributed to the great success of the programme and the award.

This prestigious award is presented each year as part of the EU Vocational Education and Training Skills Week celebrated across Europe under the banner of Discover Your Talent.

Skills for Work is a national programme aimed at providing training opportunities to help employees deal with the basic skills demands of the workplace. The initiative is funded by the Irish Government under the Department of Education and Skills, and delivered by the newly formed Education & Training Boards (ETB) across the country. The project is managed nationally by Dublin & Dún Laoghaire ETB.

Watch the video of their award ceremony here