Category Archives: Subject Hackers

Challenge yourself. Think outside the classroom.Think for yourself

VI: Ordinary Maths Revision Course – Free (venue change to Rochestown Park Hotel)

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Maths is probably one of the subjects for the Leaving Certificate that students find the most challenging and it is the one subject that is 100% essential if you wish to study at 3rd level. Here at Griffith College we will be running FREE ordinary level Maths Revision classes for 5th and 6th year students. The revision courses are based on the new project maths Leaving Certificate syllabus.

 

 

These classes will be held in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. Check out ourwebsite for more information on location and also a breakdown of what questions and papers will be covered. Also remember to register for the course as places are limited.

 

Registration will be open after the 10th of December.

Cork: Rochestown Park Hotel Cork

Tuesday 26th March 2013

 

 

 

Subject Hackers: Why (And How) To Start Learning Video Game Design

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learn video game development

It’s no secret that kids (and adults) love playing video games. Video games have become one of the most popular uses of leisure time and are a multi-billion dollar a year industry. Many educators have discovered that video game design and development is an effective learning tool in the classroom. Students who might not be interested in learning video game design and about computer programming but will be interested in video game design and development.

The main problem with teaching video game design and development is the difficulty of learning the traditional programming syntax such as C++. The teacher must be fluent in the programming language and the students have to study for weeks before expecting any progress. It takes a great deal of effort and study to get significant results from a traditional programming language.

Seeing Real Results

Multimedia Fusion 2 is a highly powerful and visual (and free!) tool that can give students very quick results. Within minutes of picking up the tool and a minimal amount of instruction, students are well on their way to seeing results of their efforts. The programming logic for a game in a visual tool like Multimedia Fusion is done with the mouse by creating events and directing what actions happen when the event is true. Multimedia Fusion is a true object oriented programming system.

Educators that have introduced video game design and development into the classroom have noticed some very interesting benefits to the students. Students who were not interested in computer programming before have suddenly become interested in using computers to create video games. Since video game design incorporate math, logic, creative writing, and computer programming among other skills, thus the student ends up learning a lot of diverse subject matter.

The visual interface of Multimedia Fusion is the key to ease of use and student success. Multimedia Fusion is very easy to understand, easy for the teacher to explain and easy for the students to use. Many summer camp programs around the USA use Multimedia Fusion to teach video game design in a week-long summer camp program. Before the end of day 1 many kids are completely comfortable with the software and on their way learning computer programming and software design under the disguise of video game creation.

The software has been used successfully in many schools with elementary thru college level students.

Free lesson plans for video game creation

1 – Introduction to Multimedia Fusion 2
2 – Lesson Plan for year 1 of a video game design class
3 – University of Waterloo – Lesson Plan for making video games

Subject Hackers: World Education Games – Finals in Sydney

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The World Education Games is an annual global online challenge to get all students (4-18 years of age) excited about learning, and to give the top students in all schools an opportunity to see how they measure up against the best in the world. Last year, over 5 million students were a part of what is now the world’s largest online education event.

The World Education Games are completely free to register for and participate in.

Split over three days and focussing on literacy, mathematics and science, the World Education Games is a hugely exciting and engaging way to promote learning and education across the world. Our partners UNICEF and Samsung work with us to promote our key messages of education for all. Check out the HISTORY tab above to read more about the story and legacy of the Games.

 

1 February - The Games platform opens for registrations and the official warm-up period for students begins.
5 March* - World Literacy Day
6 March* - World Maths Day
7 March* - World Science Day
22 March - Global award presentations begin with the Official World Education Games Awards Ceremony, to be held in 2013 at the Sydney Opera House.

*Note - events begin as soon as it is the designated start date anywhere in the world. Based on your geographic location, this may be the previous calendar day in your country.

Subject Hackers: Programming

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Aspiring young software developers can now enter Scratch 2012
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Aspiring young software developers can now enter Scratch 2012Aspiring young software developers can now enter the2013 Scratch competition that aims to get primary and secondary school students involved in software development by using the Scratch programming language.Scratch was developed at MIT Media Lab as a free software tool to help students create games, animations and stories for the web. Education Minister Ruairi Quinn, TD, launched the Irish Computer Society’s 2013 Scratch competition along with students from St Ailbe’s Secondary School in Co Tipperary. Run by the Irish software engineering research centre Lero and supported by the Sligo andTallaght institutes of technology, the competition aims to give students an understanding of how software is built and how it works. Another aim of the competition is to give students a glimpse of possible future careers in the software development sector.

Jim Friars, CEO of the ICS, said Lero and the society have worked closely for years so that students of all ages can gain 21st-century IT skills. “Over the past number of years the IT field is one of the few to experience employment growth and as time progresses technology will play an even more important role in everyday life. “Scratch gives students practical experience of the skills required for this diverse and growing profession,” he said. Lero has developed free Scratch teaching materials for primary and secondary school teachers. At primary level, Scratch is now being taught in more than 700 classrooms. Lero’seducation and outreach officer Clare McInerney said this is the fourth year of the Irish Scratch competition. She said the entries continue to get more impressive every year as more students use Scratch to develop their interest in technology. “Scratch allows students to develop creative and critical thinking, problem-solving and communication skills as they work collaboratively or individually on Scratch projects,” added McInerney.

Teachers can register their interest in the competition online via the ICS. Projects by students must be submitted by 22 March 2013, with the finals being held in May.

Carmel Doyle, silicon republic, 18/12/2012

Form V & VI: Useful Subject Sites

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English

leavingcertenglish.net

This site does exactly what it says on the tin. Teacher of the year Evelyn O’Connor works at Mount St Michael’s Secondary School in Claremorris, Co Mayo. She started the site in 2011 when unwell with a sore throat.

The site allowed her to communicate with her students despite not being able to use her voice. It now has more than 1,000 users every day. It has notes, links, resources and an excellent blog. Some comprehensive poetry podcasts are available to buy, for €2.50 a pop. Everything else is free.

sccenglish.ie

The best known of the English blogs, this is run by Julian Girdham and his team at St Columba’s College. It has won numerous awards and provides useful resources, links and insights into the English curriculum. Dig a little: the depth and breadth of what you find will make it worth your while.

Irish

irishstudysite.com

The ultimate resource for anyone studying Irish for the Junior or Leaving Cert. This is another of the St Columba’s gems, run by teacher Gary Bannister and his team.

The site is full of notes and resources, again freely available.

Maths

mathsireland.com

The site’s founder Peter Lee holds the record for the highest score achieved by an Irish person on Channel 4’s afternoon show Countdown. When he’s not breaking records on British television he works on his site, updating sample answers and answering student queries. The site started years ago when Lee’s own children were doing the Leaving Cert.

Science

thephysicsteacher.ie

Leaving Cert physics, biology and applied maths, along with notes for Junior Cert physics, chemistry and biology. Run by an award-winning physics teacher, Noel Cunningham of King’s Hospital School, Palmerstown, Co Dublin. His site has been running for more than 10 years.

He uses Facebook and other internet resources in his teaching. Teachers interested in sharing ideas can join discussion groups, the links to which are on the site. Noel is on Twitter @physicsteacher. His blog is at thinkforyourself.ie.

frogblog.com

An excellent science website run by Humphrey Jones and Jeremy Stone, science teachers at St Columba’s College. The blog is frequently updated. Humphrey Jones is on Twitter, @humphreyjones.

Biology

leavingbio.net

A strong site, full of notes and diagrams, but there is no information about who runs it. Excellent resource, though.

Geography

lcgeography.preswex.ie

Excellent site developed by Val Redmond of Presentation Secondary School in Wexford. Redmond is keen to share notes and resources with other teachers and classes around the country. There’s an option to swap PowerPoint presentations on the site.

French

schooloffrench.ie

This site has a fair amount of content that is free and available to download. Packages are also available for purchase that include worked sample questions complete with translations, vocabulary and explanations of constructions used.

myfrenchteacher.edublogs.org

Run by an Ireland-based French teacher, Julian Porzadny, this blog is aimed at his own students, but the resources and links would be useful to anyone studying the language.

History

leavingcerthistory.net

Run by Dominic Haugh, a history teacher at St Patrick’s Comprehensive School in Shannon, Co Clare. The site has well over 50,000 hits to date.

All Students: Bandon Coder Dojo

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Bandon Coder Dojo on the move

October 21, 2012 by Conor O’Neill | 0 comments

 

Bandon Coder Dojo kicked off this year and they have just made the move to St Brogans school at the top of the town. It’s on every Tuesday from 6:30pm to 8pm.

They are currently focused on Scratch, HTML and JavaScript. If you have any skills in those areas, they would really appreciate more mentors taking part.

Our eldest has just started using Scratch and is finding it good fun. Here’s a screenshot:

You currently need to have a laptop to take part in Coder Dojo. I know this excludes a lot of people but Camara Ireland has stepped in to help there. You can get reconditioned laptops from them via the Coder Dojo movement for between €114 and €125, which is a great price.

I also wonder if there is any possibility for school PCs to be used during the Coder Dojos too? Or perhaps, over time, Raspberry Pis which people can bring and hook up to the monitors there? This would maximise the number of people who can get involved with Coder Dojo, no matter what their financial situation.

Note that parents must accompany children for the entire session. If you have any questions about it at all, contact bandoncoderdojo@gmail.com

 

http://conoroneill.com/2012/10/21/bandon-coder-dojo-on-the-move/

Technology Camp – CIT July 23rd

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Cork Institute of Technology will again this year host a Technology Camp for Second Level students commencing July 23rd, 2012

Cork Institute of Technology Department of Computing (Headed by Jim O’ Dwyer) will again run a one week technology driven summer programme in July and August as part of an initiative of the Third Level Computing Forum (TLFC).

The Programme aims to demonstrate to students the team working nature of the computing professions. Also, they will explore the nature and type of opportunities that are available in this exciting Irish industry sector.

 

Benefits:

  • Students will gain an insight into the technology of tomorrow and over the programme will complete various group projects.
  • 2nd level students will be given the opportunity to sample, first hand, life as a 3rd level technology student.

 

The programme combines technology with the best educational practices, to provide students with a unique experience that improves analytical skills needed for third level education.

Over the one week programme students will be exposed to:

 

  • Programmes that take advantage of advances in computing power and interface design to make programming more engaging and accessible for teenagers.
  • Web Design where students will create their own website
  • And a flavour of other technology related subjects.
  • There will also be talks from industry professionals to mentor and encourage the students to follow careers in technology.

Sixty students will be given the opportunity to attend the one week technology camp.  This programme will be part funded by The Higher Education Authority (HEA) and CIT, with students paying €70 towards the course; as a result places will be on a first come first served basis.

Sign up today for this innovative experience and the chance to gain exposure to a 3rd level Institute of technology

 

Cost:    €70 for a one week programme (subsidised)

 

Available Dates:

23rd July – 27th July   Mon-Fri  9:30 am – 3:30 pm

30th July – 3rd Aug    Mon-Fri 9:30 am – 3:30 pm