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Headshot Young Girl

Rachel McCarragher

VIA24

Northern Ireland, UK

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Challenge

As a teacher in Northern Ireland, we are currently going through a lot of changes in terms of our service provider to our schools as well as the packages and tools that are accessible to us as educators to use with the students in our classrooms. We are fortunate to have a wide range of platforms available to all schools through the contract with the Education Authority’s Education Information Solutions (EdIS) Programme. We have 2 Desirable Features for teaching Using ICT that focus on the arts - Digital Art and Design and Digital Audio. The current guidelines and suggested lessons for teaching these areas that are provided to schools do not mention any programs or tools that are specific to Chromebooks. The school that I work in has invested a significant amount of money in Chromebooks over the past 3 years and so want to ensure that we are getting the best from these devices and are providing our students with opportunities to develop their creativity skills. Chromebooks are becoming more and more popular in schools in Northern Ireland due to their affordability, low running costs and their life span. A lot of schools have been previously using iPads for the creative elements of our curriculum such as film and animation, digital art and design and digital audio. I think it is important that educators here fully appreciate the potential that Chromebooks can provide to children and even for our youngest learners. This is something I have been trying to promote over the past few years through events that I have spoken at and fellow educators I have spoken to. I would love to have the opportunity to work on this area further to try and come up with possible solutions through the Google Certified Innovator Virtual Academy.

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