“Cuirfear tús le cúrsa nua i múineadh na Gaeilge ar líne in Ollscoil Mhá Nuad an bhliain acadúil seo chugainn. Díreoidh Teastas i Múineadh na Gaeilge ar an aosoideachas agus conas teagasc a chur ar fhoghlaimeoirí fásta …” (níos mó)
[Malachi Ó Marcaigh, University Times, 28 March]
“After a two weeks break, on March 23rd classes have restarted for all UCD students through the online learning platform made available by the university. This is as a result of the nationwide university shutdown aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19 …” (more)
[Alessia Mennitto, College Tribune, 27 March]
“PhD students defending their dissertations must do so remotely right now. Could videoconference defenses become the new normal? ‘Can you move the computer closer?’ asks a disembodied voice. ‘Because we see a lot of roof.’ ‘Ah, I think it looks much better’, another invisible person says a few minutes later …” (more)
[Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed, 27 March]
“Students at Letterkenny Institute of Technology have been told they will have no written exams at the end of this college year. The move comes after the government announced an extension of the closure of schools and colleges until April 19 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic …” (more)
[Highland Radio, 26 March]
“NUI Galway will hold the majority of summer exams online to avoid bringing thousands of students to exam halls around the city. The university’s exams are due to begin at the end of April and will continue up to the 15th of May – with results expected in July …” (more)
[Galway Bay FM, 25 March]
“Leaving Cert students could end up sitting deferred exams and starting college as late as October or November under contingency plans being discussed by senior education sources. The Department of Education has been engaging with a range of education stakeholders over alternative plans for the Leaving Cert in the event that the exams do not begin in June as planned …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, University Times, 25 March]
“Students should get confirmation on what shape this year’s exams will take by the end of next week, Trinity said today. Trinity’s College Board today approved proposed changes to the structure of this year’s exams – previously by The University Times – that could see students sitting final assessments instead of exams or real-time online exams …” (more)
[Cormac Watson and Donal MacNamee, University Times, 25 March]
“Second-level students want to involved in the decision-making around the Leaving Cert and Junior cycle exams, in the face of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. The Irish Second-Level Students’ Union (ISSU) said there was an immense feeling of uncertainty and anxiety as students await clarification on the exams …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 25 March]
“As a result of the new coronavirus epidemic most universities in China have encouraged their professors to apply online teaching instead of in-class teaching and this is likely to continue for the indefinite future. Some professors and students have complained about problems with online teaching and lack confidence in its effectiveness, but many are still new to the whole online experience. Here are some of the problems and some potential solutions …” (more)
[Huili Han, University World News, 21 March]
“The President of IT Sligo has said people need to come off their household WiFi to allow students to continue their studies. This comes after reports of many secondary and third levels students across the North West are struggling to study and access online resources due to poor broadband connectivity …” (more)
[Ocean FM, 24 March]
“Taoiseach Leo Vardakar said the government will do ‘everything possible’ so that the Leaving Certificate and college exams will go ahead. It comes as Education Minister Joe McHugh confirmed on Tuesday that although schools are closed up to March 29, they will not be opening immediately after that …” (more)
[Aine McMahon, Belfast Telegraph, 24 March]
“Students have been urged to ignore speculation about the exams, particularly on social media, and stay focused on their studies as schools look set to remain closed. Joe McHugh, the Minister for Education, confirmed this Tuesday that although schools are closed up to March 29, they will not be opening immediately after that …” (more)
[Jess Casey, Irish Examiner, 24 March]
“To nobody’s great surprise today we received official confirmation that there will be no face-to-face teaching for the rest of the semester at Maynooth University; teaching had been due to end in early May. There will also be no in situ examinations, with all assessments being switched either to homework or remote assessments …” (more)
[In the Dark, 24 March]
“Maynooth University (MU) will not be re-opening for face-to-face lectures for the rest of the academic year, it has announced. The university made the announcement today amid the uncertainty over how long the Covid-19 crisis will last …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 24 March]
“University College Cork and University College Dublin are to provide a course, free of charge during the coronavirus pandemic, to help more nurses treat patients with Covid-19. The National Foundation module in Critical Care Nursing is an online accelerated programme aimed at increasing the number of nurses available to provide critical care to patients with Covid-19 as well as to other patients who require intensive care …” (more)
[Irish Examiner, 23 March]
“Being in a high risk category, I’ve been in isolation for over two weeks now, and I’ve hardly been out the door in the last week. Despite the fact that I’ve spent massive amounts of time staring at my phone, I’ve also spent a lot of time thinking and reflecting about education. Here are some of the things that have crossed my mind …” (more)
[Education and other Things, 23 March]
“If the secondary school students in John Gavin’s Irish class thought they were getting off lightly when the schools closed, they had another thing coming. Gavin broadcasts his classes from a home-made studio equipped with a 27-inch iMac, gigabit broadband and professional-grade microphones. It allows him to conduct quizzes in real-time, screencast tutorials and share video from his computer screen …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien and Michaelle McBride, Irish Times, 23 March]
“Opinion: The plan to continue with the written exams in June is not possible. Today I, like 56,000 other Leaving Cert students, would normally be getting ready for a seven- or eight-hour day at school with the aim of preparing for the most important exams of my life …” (more)
[Brian Lynch, Irish Times, 23 March]
“The Department of Education has said there is no intention at this moment to cancel or postpone either the Junior or Leaving Certificate this summer. Despite a report in a Sunday newspaper a statement from the Department of Education says it ‘remains completely focused on running both sets of state exams’ … (more)
[RTÉ News, 22 March]
“I’ve always felt that a big part of the reason that many unproven teaching innovations gain traction is that they tend to they make the job of teaching more enjoyable. I love teaching laboratory classes because it is quite a social way of teaching. I like to call it ‘teaching by walking around’, my version of the well-known concept of ‘managing by walking around’ …” (more)
[Education and other Things, 22 March]
