Press Release: Irish Primary School building it’s own virtual world

Posted in: Blog by James on May 22, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Irish Primary School building it’s own virtual world

NEWCASTLEWEST, CO. LIMERICK - MAY 21, 2010: Daynuv has partnered with GiftedKids.ie to pilot a new ICT initiative aimed at supporting a group of exceptionally able students in Gaelscoil Eoghain Uí Thuairisc Carlow. The pilot, overseen and developed in conjuction with Bríd Uí Mhaoluala, Learning Support Teacher with Carlow Gaelscoil is the first of its kind in Ireland to use 3D modelling software and programming tools to teach part of the primary school curriculum in a learning support setting.

Daynuv built a private and secure GiftedKids.ie ‘island’ on their 3D grid. This deserted island was quickly peopled with avatars and architectural structures created by a group of five Gaelscoil students under the guidance of their teacher Brid Uí Mhaoluala. After some initial training the students quickly got to grips with the software and soon built a 3D world based a number of local structures including high crosses such as the Castledermot crosses. The students can access the island both at home and at school and can interact via their avatars with the virtual environment and with each other.

“With expertise in 3D modelling software and programming tools for children, Daynuv has created an engaging and empowering learning environment, particularly for children with exceptional ability and high visual spatial awareness”, said Margaret Keane of Giftedkids.ie.

Giftedkids.ie is a support website for parents and educators of “exceptionally able” and “twice exceptional” (gifted but with learning difficulties) children in Ireland. “We would like to thank Brid Uí Mhaoluala and the staff of Gaelscoil Eoghain Uí Thuairisc in particular for embracing this new technology so readily and recognising its potential use for these often overlooked group of students”.

Brid Uí Mhaoluala has been teaching small groups of exceptionally able children for the past number of years at the school and was interested in using this type of technology to provide enrichment material for her current group of students.

“We worked the Daynuv project for two periods a week in school, but the children continued to work on the project at home. It was great that they could work on what they wanted and on something truly challenging”, said Uí Mhaoluala. “I am not a techno-wizard, I don’t even have an ECDL, so by taking this on, I felt I would be able to say to any teacher that if I could do it, anyone could.”

Daynuv specialises in the development of virtual worlds for immersive education and has received seed funding from Social Entrepreneurs Ireland to develop applications for children with special needs. “From our experience we’ve discovered that 3D learning software allows exceptionally able children to unlock the abilities which can go unnoticed in a traditional learning environment”, said James Corbett of Daynuv. “Partnering with GiftedKids.ie was the ideal way for us to bring this enabling technology to those who need it most”.

Contact:

James Corbett, co-founder
Daynuv
Newcastlewest,
Co. Limerick
Phone: 087-3207756
http://www.daynuv.com

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Daynuv cited at ICT in Education conference keynote

Posted in: Blog by James on May 16, 2010

We attended the wonderful ICT in Education conference in Tipperary Institute of Technology, Thurles on Saturday. It was an honour to deliver a talk on Educating in 3D and an even greater honour to have our project with GiftedKids.ie and Gaelscoil Eoghain Ui Thuairisc cited by Keynote speaker Simon Lewis - “If this was expanded out to each school the possibilities are phenomenal”

You can watch a video of Simon’s wonderful talk in the video below and fast forward to our mention at about 9:15 (though we recommend watching the whole thing from start to finish).

Virtual Worlds pilot programme in Carlow primary school

Posted in: Blog by James on May 10, 2010

GiftedKids.ie is “an online survival guide for parents and teachers of gifted children in Ireland”.

“Does an exceptionally bright child mean an exceptionally bright future? Not necessarily. Parenting in itself can be daunting but parenting a “gifted” child can be incredibly challenging. Unlike many other countries there are scant resources available in Ireland for exceptionally able kids”

We’re delighted at Daynuv to have teamed up with GiftedKids.ie to pilot a new ICT initiative aimed at supporting a group of exceptionally able students in Gaelscoil Eoghain Uí Thuairisc Carlow. The pilot is the first of its kind in Ireland to use 3D modelling software and programming tools to teach part of the primary school curriculum in a learning support setting.

GiftedKids Virtual World

A full article on the partnership has now been published on the GiftedKids.ie website and I’ll excerpt below just one quote from the children involved -

“Daynuv is not a game, it is a hobby and a tool. When such a programme, granting the ability to create anything and the chance to interact with other people, is used in the education of children the possibilities are massive. The programme allows children to understand architecture. The control of the land is excellent. Not only can buildings be erected but looking out on the horizon we can see mountains, lakes and valleys of our own creation. In creating replicas of true buildings we gain a deeper knowledge of the processes, toils and triumphs used in building. The programme is enjoyable to use and is a fascinating meeting place for classmates.” ~ Conor