Click on this link to our video presentation.

My name is Matthew Monaghan and I am the Primary 7 class teacher at Our Lady’s Primary School in Dundee.

During my final year of the BEd at the University of Dundee I had the opportunity to take an elective in Global Learning. During one of the module inputs given by both Peter Wakefield and Brenda Keatch, it was stated, “citizenship starts at a local level. It starts with you and your class“. This struck a chord with me. I have strong links with St Anne’s Primary School in Derry, Northern Ireland. I attended this school as a child and I also had the chance to work with one of the Primary 6 classes during the final months of the last school year.

Teaching a Primary 7 class gave me the perfect opportunity to develop a partnership with the Primary 7s at St Anne’s. The aim of this partnership is to allow the children in both classes to share their learning experiences throughout their final year of primary school.  With the help of Siobhan Gillen, one of the Primary 7 teachers at St Anne’s, each pupil at Our Lady’s has been linked with two ‘Learning Partners’ from St Anne’s (due to class numbers). The project is in its initial stages. I plan to add to this post to update on its progress.

I introduced the partnership to a very eager class by using Google Street View and the Bird’s Eye option that is part of Bing Maps to explore both schools and both cities from above. We explored the locations in each country.

I feel an important aspect of this partnership is that it is pupil led. I try to act as a facilitator as much as possible. My class asked if we could set up a Glow group for our project. They asked if it would be possible for the pupils and teacher from St. Anne’s to be members of our Glow group.

After a lot of discussion about what the pupils wanted to find out about Ireland, the pupils decided that it would be a good idea to tell the pupils from St. Anne’s a little bit about themselves. A pupil from my class suggested writing letters and posting them. We did this intially. However, within my class there is a wide range of ability. I felt that to engage less able writers, a different tool was needed. I introduced my class to a Voki. After a quick demonstration on how to create a voki and how to obtain the code needed to embed each completed Voki in our Glow group, my class decided that they all wanted to create their own. They were very engaged. My class were keen for their Irish learning partners to view the voki created.

I felt if pupils had the chance to see each other in real time the learning experience would be enriched greatly. With support from Louise Henderson, we have begun to use the Adobe Connect component within our Glow group to video conference and share our learning experiences visually. Adobe Connect allows all pupils to take part in video based discussions using web cameras and headsets in both classrooms. So far both classes have participated in an introductory ‘Learning Conference’. We used the ‘discussion’ layout. The focus of this initial conference was to give the pupils a chance to get to know their learning partners a little better. As the project progresses the plan is for a video conference to take place every three weeks. Pupils from St Anne’s have been studying the Victorians. Pupils from my class will be focussing on the novel Matilda by Roald Dahl as a learning context.

During each conference pupils from both schools will share their learning journey through Primary 7 and follow an agreed agenda. We plan to use the different functions present within Adobe Connect including the sharing tab. This gives both classes the ability to use the ‘whiteboard’ pod. We will be able to create and share flipchart slides, text and free-hand drawings in real time allowing a variety of lessons to be viewed simultaneously in both Dundee and Derry. My pupils are very excited about this.

As well as using Glow as a virtual learning environment, we have also begun to use LearningNI, the VLE used by schools throughout Northern Ireland. Pupils have access to a course created within LearningNI. This gives both pupils and staff involved a chance to use two different platforms. Both ‘learning spaces’ allow pupils to share their progress. Initially, I felt it would be better to focus on one VLE. However, each has its own unique features and benefits. Pupils are able to contribute to discussion forums set up within their course in LearningNI and within their Glow group. They can view each others Voki. Pupils from St Anne’s have begun to upload PowerPoint presentations they have created based on the Victorians to our course within LearningNI. Pupils from Our Lady’s can peer assess their work, posting their comments to the workspace within LearningNI. We have also begun to do this within our Glow group.

Within LearningNI pupils can view current new stories within the Newsdesk section. These are edited by a member of The Guardian team. They also have the chance to submit comments which can be viewed and shared across Northern Ireland as part of the ‘Have Your Say’ section. During the October holidays I visited the Primary 7 class at St Anne’s to talk about our partnership. Four of the pupils from St Anne’s had their comments selected by the team from the Guardian and they were displayed online by the Newsdesk.