This online summer course, which is worth 3 EPV days, is aimed at primary school teachers who are teaching 5th and/or 6th class. It is suitable for teachers who don’t feel confident speaking Irish and who wish, therefore, to develop their skills in the language. The course is bilingual - each sentence in Irish is translated into English.
Although we would encourage you to use as much Irish as possible in your answers, you can use English if you need to.
The main objectives of the course are:
Important: Although there are many examples of conversational activities given in this course and many practical ideas for activities of this kind available in the course forum, ‘Practical Irish for Primary School Teachers’ is primarily a language course rather than a course on methodology.
This course was written by Siobhán Patten. Siobhán is originally from Achill, County Mayo. She spent several years working as a primary school teacher before being employed by Gaelchultúr, first as a tutor and then as Specialised Courses Manager.
Siobhán has extensive experience in developing syllabuses, teaching materials and lessons plans for learners of Irish of various ages and at various levels of competency.
Gaelchultúr published her first book, Gníomhaíochtaí Gasta, in 2013. That book contains 60 communication activities, aimed at primary school teachers who teach classes 3–6 in both T1 and T2 schools.
There are five modules in this course and each module contains a mixture of grammatical explanation, useful vocabulary, conversations and exercises.
All the exercises are interactive. Once you have completed an exercise, you can then click on the ‘Seol’ (Send) button and receive feedback immediately. You’ll be told which answers were correct and which were incorrect, and you’ll be given the correct answers and a score.
At the beginning of each module, you’re told what the focus of that module is.
In order to move from one screen to another, all you have to do is click on the arrows which appear on the left-hand side (to go back) or on the right-hand side (to go forward), at the top and bottom of each screen. You can also click on any line of text under the words PLEAN AN AONAID on the left-hand side of the screen in order to access another part of the module.
On the last page of each module, An leathanach scoir, you’re given an overview of the work that you’ve done in that module and your total score for the module. You’re given several choices as well: to continue to the next module, to redo the module you’ve just completed, or go back to the very beginning of the course.
A discussion forum will be provided for Practical Irish for Primary School Teachers. In this forum, teachers will answer the interactive question at the end of each module, as well as the reflective question at the very end of the course.
Those registered for the course will also have an opportunity to contact other teachers through the discussion forum. They will be able to send messages, ask and discuss questions, and express ideas.
There are interactive exercises in each module, and once you’ve completed an exercise you can then click on the Seol (Send) button and receive feedback immediately. While you’re given a score for these exercises, they’re not assessed for the purposes of the award of EPV days; their aim is to stimulate the user’s interaction with the course content, and to give him/her the opportunity to practise what he/she has learned.
Participation in the online debate forum is an obligatory part of each module. You must participate in the forum by sharing ideas with the other participants and by completing written tasks.
At the end of the course, the participants must answer a reflective question. This question will confirm that you have engaged with the course content, and it will give you the opportunity to reflect on the implementation of the course content in the classroom.
Assessment of your work is based predominantly on the standard of your written work, but a record will also be kept of the amount of time you spent working on the course.
In order to earn 3 EPV days, the course must be completed between 3 July 2017 and 25 August 2017. During that period, it’s up to you to decide when to study the course content.
Department of Education and Skills criteria for online courses stipulate that participants may complete one online course for the awarding of 3 EPV days, two online courses for 4 EPV days and three online courses for 5 EPV days.
Immediately!
Any time from the beginning of July onwards. In order to earn 3 EPV days, the course must be completed between 3 July 2017 and 25 August 2017.
By 25 August 2017. In order to earn 3 EPV days, the course must be completed some time between 3 July 2017 and 25 August 2017. During that period it’s up to you to decide when to study the course content.
You will have to read the material in the module and do all the interactive exercises.
When you have done all that work, you will have to answer the interactive question at the end of the module. You must post this answer on the course forum.
You must publish at least one post per module in the forums aside from answering the interactive questions.
At the very end of the course, you must answer the reflective question. Again, you must post your answer on the course forum.
Approximately 20 hours.
The course is bilingual - each sentence in Irish is translated into English.
No. We would encourage you to use as much Irish as possible in your answers, but you can use English if you need to.
Most of ranganna.com can be used on smartphones and tablet computers, however the site’s multimedia content does not work on all devices. It would be advisable, therefore, to try a sample unit of the course you’re interested in on the device before registering for that course.
Write it on the forum or write to your course facilitator.
If you have any difficulties with the site, call (01) 484 5220 or write to eolas@ranganna.com.
Absolutely! Department of Education and Skills criteria for online courses stipulate that participants may complete one online course for the awarding of 3 EPV days, two online courses for 4 EPV days and three online courses for 5 EPV days.
You will have completed the course when:
- you have spent approximately 20 hours working on the course material
- you have answered the five interactive questions as well as the reflective question
- you have published at least one post per module in the forums aside from answering the interactive questions
- the course facilitator is happy that your work is of a suitably high standard.
You will receive your certificate and CPD record within two working days of having completed the course. It takes a little while to compile the answers, and to prepare the certificate and record.
‘The course was excellent as a refresher course. The games and activities which I downloaded will be very useful in the classroom throughout the coming year and the many fun activities provided by the course will foster an interest among the children in their Irish lessons.’ - DR
‘The course content was clear and very usable which was what I was looking for. I liked the emphasis on pair work and opportunities for talking as that is really what I want to focus on this year. I would like the children in my class to gain more confidence in speaking to each other and I have some great ideas for my whiteboard and projector!’ - SW
‘The course has given me lots of ideas on how to prompt oral discussion in the classroom as well as useful templates I can use in my teaching. It has also provided word banks for each theme that can be accessed easily by the pupils.’ - RL
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