Pictured partaking in a VEX Robotics Training Workshop at Mary Immaculate College were MIC primary teaching students Aisling Woulfe from Whitechurch, Cork and Kathy Harrington, Bantry, Co. Cork
Mary Immaculate College (MIC) is offering free summer courses for primary school teachers in order to equip them with the knowledge, skills and confidence to integrate ICT, digital literacies and Robotics into their practice.
According to Dr Maeve Liston, Director of Enterprise and Community Engagement MIC, the initiative aims to develop teachers’ digital skills which will in turn extend opportunities for children in the classroom to experience critical thinking and problem solving..
“It is our aim to continue to build on such initiatives in the STEM education domain, linked to the above mentioned Regional Action Plan for Jobs, Regional Skills Fora, Ireland’s National Skills Strategy 2025, and regional initiatives such as Limerick Digital Strategy and Limerick for IT etc,” said Dr Liston.
MIC will offer the free summer course for primary school teachers from July 3 – 7 supported by the Professional Development Services for Teachers (PDST), the Irish American Partnership and DELL EMC.
According to Bernie Kinsella, a primary school teacher from St Nessans National School, Mungret, Limerick, who will facilitate the course, it will “focus on the potential of integration ICT across the primary school curriculum by embedding a constructivist pedagogical orientation showing teachers how to facilitate activities whereby learners can exercise creative, problem-solving, critical thinking and project work and team-working skills”.
Speaking on the initiative Dr Maeve Liston added “The focus of such a programme is to develop new innovative classroom techniques and ‘hands-on, minds-on’ experiences that supports and enriches the entire learning process and to explore the use of Robotics to support teaching, learning and assessment, with a particular emphasis on Science, Technology and Maths, Literacy and the Arts (STEAM)”.
Further information on the free summer course is available from Maeve.Liston@mic.ul.ie
