Learning Horizons

How Three New Innovative Irish-produced Software Programs Can Turbo-Charge Your Interactive Whiteboards, Bring Irish Language and History Classes To Life and Improve Reading Standards For All Your Pupils.

Now that the Interactive Whiteboard Revolution has taken place in your school, you're thinking, well at long last, we have all these state-of-the-art projectors and interactive whiteboards, but what good will it be if we don't have quality Irish content and software to run on them?

Will the novelty wear out and will you and your colleagues get the full use of this wonderful technology, which you've spent so long waiting for? Wouldn't it make sense to utilise this technology and introduce the best indigenous Irish-produced software you can find - software which will be available in every classroom at the click of a mouse?

As you may have already guessed, you're not alone in your concerns and thankfully, an Irish company called CDGA has produced three Irish software programs, eGaeilge 1, Reading Tracks 1 and The Vikings in Ireland ( produced with Robbie O'Leary), guaranteed to provide a huge and wonderful array of interactive activities which will reinforce everything being taught in Gaeilge and literacy in your school.

Read on to find out how eGaeilge 1, Reading Tracks 1 and The Vikings in Ireland (all produced by Irish teachers) will increase reading levels in your school, ensure you cover the 10 strand units of Gaeilge in your classrooms, make history more fun, and motivate both your colleagues and pupils in the process.

eGaeilge 1, Reading Tracks 1 and The Vikings in Ireland have reduced these teachers' preparation time and they are benefitting from having quality content, appropriate to their teaching needs and linked to the strands of the revised Irish Curriculum in Primary Schools.

Imagine the difference eGaeilge 1, Reading Tracks 1 and The Vikings in Ireland can make in your school by implementing them today... benefits which will make a lasting difference to your colleagues and pupils...

Boost Your Pupils' Confidence:

eGaeilge, Reading Tracks 1 and The Vikings in Ireland are the perfect addition to your software library. Given your life-long commitment to providing your pupils with an exceptional learning environment, you'll notice immediately how eGaeilge 1, Reading Tracks 1 and The Vikings in Ireland provide a powerful, adaptable and engaging interface to make learning a real pleasure and effortlessly allow your pupils' confidence to grow!

Unlimited Site Licence:

Our software packages come with an unlimited site licence. This means you can run each program on multiple computers within the same classroom (as well as on the interactive whiteboards), and even in different classrooms in your school, with absolutely no additional cost.  Now every pupil in your school can enjoy and benefit from eGaeilge 1, Reading Tracks 1and The Vikings in Ireland!

Exceptional Value:

Costing only €169 (for eGaeilge 1), €199 (for Reading Tracks 1) or €130 ( for The Vikings in Ireland) for a site licence, they are exceptional value for money and are a one-off investment for your school. Many publishers charge an annual licence well in excess of the site licence price we offer for our software packages.

Tracking and Recording

A key feature of these programs is that they track the progress of each student by saving scores and other data on to the hard disc of the host computer. This data can be retrieved when the programme is started again and can be printed directly from the program or copied and pasted to a word document. There is a password-protected section in which teachers can view, print, copy or delete the records of individual pupils.

The Vikings in Ireland

Just released recently and produced specifically for Irish children, The Vikings in Ireland has been devised and written by Robbie O'Leary to enhance the teaching and the learning of this fascinating period of Irish history. It offers schools an attractive, interactive resource which can be used in a variety of ways. The program is divided into seven chapters, each of which describes and explores a specific dimension of the topic. Each chapter is illustrated with colourful photographs, original artwork and pop-up features. Each chapter also contains a set of varied quizzes and activities which will allow users test their knowledge and understanding of the material.

A key feature of the program is the facility for pupils to test their knowledge and understanding of the Viking period in general, and if successful, to print out a customised certificate testifying to their achievement.

Ultimately, however, this program will be used in various ways by different teachers: no two classrooms are the same. Whether used on stand-alone computers or interactive whiteboards, to introduce, present, revise or differentiate - or, indeed, as a source of reference material for cross-curricular project work - we hope, above all, that the pupils will enjoy discovering the story of the Vikings in Ireland. It is, of course, part of what we are.

The Vikings in Ireland was recently reveiwed on www.anseo.net by Simon Lewis.

To see the review, please got to:http://www.anseo.net/2011/01/review-the-vikings-in-ireland-cdga/

At only €130 for an unlimited site licence, it is a superb investment for your school.

e-Gaeilge 1

e-Gaeilge 1 is a new interactive teaching resource that has been developed specifically to help teach the 10 Strand Units of Gaeilge in the primary curriculum and uses the vocabulary range featured in all popular textbooks up to third class.

The programme contains 65 interactive activities which can be used by pupils individually or equally at the front of class on an interactive whiteboard. The activities include: Multiple choice, Word Recognition, Word Searches, Spelling, Matching and Listening. All of the activities feature high quality illustrations and animations.

Everything about the software is designed to engage the pupil; instant response to input, over 400 high quality sound recordings, a simple navigation system and reward games. Being conscious of the time available during class, only 5 minutes of reward game activities are permitted before the pupil is returned to learning activities.

e-Gaeilge 1 was produced as a result of consultation with practising primary teachers and their concerns with the teaching of Irish. It was established that there was a lack of interactive resources for teaching Irish that a teacher could easily integrate into the busy classroom while keeping within the demands of the curriculum. e-Gaeilge 1 has been produced and designed specifically to address these needs.

Play eGaeilge 1 Now- Click Here

We enclose two reviews on eGaeilge, which as you will see, will speak for themselves: don't just take our word for it!

"eGaeilge 1is a resource to reinforce material already taught up to and including third class, but would also be useful as a revision tool in older classes. It contains 64 interactive exercises and covers all ten strand units of the curriculum.

The presentation is colourful, attractive and easy to follow and the navigation system allows easy access to all sections. The inclusion of audio files helps to develop aural recognition of words and a litriu unit focuses on a phonic approach to spelling.

The activities range from the simple to the challenging, encouraging the children to attempt them many times. The accompanying teacher notes are comprehensive and easy to follow!"

Kindly reproduced from an INTouch review.

Reviewer: Christina Ni Dheaghaidh, St. Martin de Porres NS, Aylesbury, Dublin 24.

"Software titles designed for Irish pupils are thin on the ground but the recently available eGaeilge 1 is a great example of home-produced software. It is bright colourful, easy to use and well structured. It provides a broad range of interactive games, exercises and activities based on the content of the curriculum strands in Gaeilge. eGaeilge 1 provides teachers with a means of reinforcing vocabulary, spelling and everyday phrases in a stimulating and fun way and has been very well received in the classrooms where I have seen it in use."

Robbie O Leary, Sacred Heart S.N.S., Killinarden, Dublin 24.

Play eGaeilge 1Now- Click Here

To order eGaeilge 1, ring us at 01 4111537.

Reading Tracks 1

Reading Tracks 1 is a new literacy resource to support the work of Learning Support Teachers, Resource Teachers, English Language Support Teachers and classroom teachers. It can also be used with a whiteboard for general class teaching or individual pupils can complete reinforcement activities on individual PCs and laptops.

Reading Tracks 1 was planned and developed in close consultation with two experienced Learning Support Teachers and will provide a full year's work for individual pupils needing extra help in reading, spelling and word recognition skills. The programme is not age-specific. In general, a pupil who can complete most of the activities will have attained a reading age of approximately 11+.

With around 200 sets of learning activities, a unique tracking system which records pupils' progress - activities completed, scores, times, dates etc. - and a range of features to motivate even the most reluctant pupils, Reading Tracks 1 will prove to be an invaluable resource which can be used with every pupil in every school.

Play Reading Tracks 1 Now- Click Here

We enclose two reviews on Reading Tracks 1, which as you will see, will speak for themselves: don't just take our word for it!

"A revised curriculum for Primary Schools was introduced in 1999, as a response to changing needs, especially in the areas of science and technology.  In its general aims it states, inter alia, that "in a rapidly changing society, ...skills in communications are essential for personal, social and educational fulfillment" Indeed, the primary rationale for the introduction of ICT into Irish education was that it would complement the achievement of broader educational aims, that affirm the professional skills of teachers and the personal growth of students.

With such laudable aims, frequently reinforced in glowing rhetoric by successive Ministers for Education and Science, one would imagine that indigenous Irish software would be a part of life in schools.  Unfortunately such is not the case and I am particularly pleased to have this very rare opportunity to review an Irish product, new to the market this year.  Reading Tracks 11 is a literacy development program, specifically designed for use by Learning Support/Resource teachers and by English Language Support Teachers.

The program offers a very user-friendly interface and is easy to navigate and use.  A pupil begins by typing in a name and clicking on the start button.  This brings up a main Menu of two pages, Main Menu 1 and an "eBooks" Menu.   Clicking on Menu1 brings up a screen with a grid of 25 numbered buttons.  Clicking on any of the buttons will bring the student to a unit of work.  Each unit is not only visually appealing but also contains a range and diversity of activities that will keep the student happily engaged and actively learning at the same time.

Activities include a number of well-known educational games such as Wordsearch, Hangman and Matching Pairs, to mention but a few that help to reinforce basic skills in spelling and phonics that the teacher will have already taught.

The "eBooks" section enhances the enjoyment that students get from reading and should be a significant aid to comprehension.  The eBooks are presented in a very attractive manner and have a high interest and age-appropriate content for students.  Each of the eBooks comes with four activities: Read the story, Test knowledge of the story, Cloze activity and Matching Pairs.  There is also an increasing level of reading difficulty in the stories, so that different stories can be applicable to different age groups.

Students are rewarded for progress made as they go through the program by earning bonus games and they can access printable certificates.  From the teacher's point of view, the detailed records that the program keeps on each student are an invaluable resource and allow for close monitoring of each student's progress.

I am confident that Reading Tracks 1 would be a valuable resource to any Special Needs, Resource Teacher or Language Teacher.  It is a worthwhile tool to help students to develop literacy skills in an engaging and multimedia context.  It is an added boon that this product is completely Irish and geared towards the Irish curriculum."

Reviewed by Matt Reville, St. Brigid's B. N. S., Foxrock, Co. Dublin (recently retired).

Play Reading Tracks 1 Now- Click Here

"I find that using the Reading Tracks 1 Program with my ESOL students is an efficient way of language instruction for both beginners and achieving learners. The program provides the beginner with valuable sound and picture clues which scaffold learning vocabulary at the learner's own pace. Through word games, correct spelling and understanding of the meaning of new words are reinforced.

At a more advanced level, the learners use words in context.  Cloze exercises and crosswords are available in addition to multi-sensory presentation of vocabulary. Word fun provides encouragement and motivation.

Ebooks enable the more advanced student to practise reading and comprehension exercises. Six Etexts are included in the learning programme. That all of the above are available at the click of a button is a great addition.

From the teacher's point of view, that a record of the work done is available for each session provides information which contributes to the student IEP. Learning support teachers would find that the program will help them in many and varied ways."

Sr. Thomasina, Adult Literacy Centre, Harold's Cross, Dublin 6W.

To order Reading Tracks 1, click here or ring us at 01 4111537.

Play Reading Tracks 1 Now- Click Here