Mr. King said, 'the day you get a job from Twitter is the day I will dance in the middle of the street.' Well, good sir, you owe me a dance!
I will be teaching two courses in the Kilkenny Education Centre, one in an introduction to Scratch computer programming and the other Twitter for Education.
Now, before I go on to give you more detail I just want to say one thing; NO! No you do not need to be an IT guru to programme. All you need is to be curious and stubborn, (stubborn to stick with it and troubleshoot till you have your issue resolved.)
Course Details see below, to book a place on the course go to the
Kilkenny Education Centre.
Introduction to Scratch (Tues 28 Feb)
Course Content
Module 1- Introduction to Scratch, layout of the graphical user interface (stage, sprite, background), create and manage multiple forms of media to create your own sprite and background), ending with the creation of an animation in Sprite.
Module 2- Exploring the process of coding a game ending with the creation of a basic game in Scratch.
Module 3- Combining the animation and game to create a more complex game.
Overview:
This course aims to develop the basic computer programming skills apply these skills to creating an animation and game. Become familiar with the Scratch layout. Create an animation and game and become familiar with the programming tools. Become familiar with troubleshooting skills in fixing programming issues. Use useful Internet sites for learning and sharing Scratch. Using your own resources (images, music, voice) to create your own game and animation. Using troubleshooting skills to resolve issues. Scratch can be used to create teacher resources (you can even create quizzes (advanced)), pupils can create their own games or you can show your pupils.
Twitter for Education (Tue 21 Feb)
For Primary and Post Primary Teachers
Module 1- Introducing the layout of Twitter, setting up an account, following educators/classes, sending a tweet. Discovering the power of using lists in Twitter, intruding the pupils to hastags for education, discover the Tweetdeck/Hootsuit Twitter apps Vs the internet site.
Module 2- Using Twitter for specific subjects eg - Creating a multimedia tweets, designing a background, tweeting a book review, subject facts, asking questions, conducting polls/surveys, Twitter pen-pal, sharing class information with parents.
Module 3- How to set up your account to be private and the importance of monitoring of what you tweet. As social media becomes more popular so do Tweet-ups, we will discuss the safety issues of using social media and how to encourage safe tweeting.
Overview:
This course aims to develop your ICT skills in the filed of social media, harnessing Twitter for educational purposes. We will go over the layout, Twitter apps, how to use Twitter in the classroom/subjects/connect with pupils off-site and the local community in a safe way. Other examples of what we will be covering are: Tweet about upcoming due dates or assignments. Provide the class with a running news feed. Create a list. Coordinate assignments. Track a hash tag. Connect with the community. Follow the issues. Write a story or poem. Ask questions. Set up a foreign language news stream. Role play. Take and share notes. Connect classrooms/ pen-pals. Engage parents. Facilitate research. Track the government. Write reviews. Post supplementary materials. Design a background. Compare religions. Take a poll. Go on a scavenger hunt. Track weather patterns. Create a character. Create a progressive poem. Post math puzzles. Create an online art gallery. Join #EdChatIE
For both courses:
Course Duration: 2.5 hours
Target Audience:
Both Primary and Post Primary teachers with any computer knowledge are welcome.
Pre-requisites: A sense of curiosity and a love of learning is the main pre-requisite. Computer programming is not difficult, you are just breaking down the instructions to minute levels and the computer will follow.
Places limited so book early!
Random thought from editor:You know something.....life sure is funny! I hated doing that degree in Information Technology and telecommunications, I swore that I would never, ever use it. Well having that degree got me my first job, it got me in the door of teacher training college and now it is getting me teacher jobs! The best thing I ever did.....was a degree in IT. I am no IT guru, but I sure am stubborn and can trouble shoot till the codded cows come home.....which make me the best IT teacher, like, ever!
Right, I decided to set up a blog that I could use for class. As I sub or teacher teachers ICT, I decided to make another blog, to discuss and share resources from the classes!
Module 1- Introducing the layout of Twitter, setting up an account, following educators/classes, sending a tweet. Discovering the power of using lists in Twitter, intruding the pupils to hastags for education, discover the Tweetdeck/Hootsuit Twitter apps Vs the internet site. 
It's a new year, it's a new day for you and coding! Lero, supported by the Irish Computer Society, are running a Scratch computer programming course. It is open to primary and secondary school students.