This year the #eddies13 (EduBlog Awards) are 10 years old. The awards reward educators, students, teachers and educational communities who reach out to inform, include and inspire others. We were absolutely delighted when three of our favourite blogs, www.anseo.net, www.seomraranga.com and www.merrybeau.edublogs.org nominated us for our blogging and podcasting work, and we only felt it appropriate that we give back by nominating those sites that have helped us in the past 11 months on our blogging road. We hope that it reflects the help and guidance we have received from those below, and please be assured that there were many, many others all worthy of a nomination… you know who you are!
The process for nominating is available at edublogawards.com, after which there is a voting process and finally, an awards ceremony.
We hope you enjoy our nominations and you might be inspired to read the incredible work of those linked below!
By Ms Sexton and Ms Brennan
We nominate Seomra Ranga as the best individual blog because on our opinion it is one of the most comprehensive, influential and user-friendly resources. It provides effective, colourful and practical resources and encourages others to collaborate in a non-commercial, free and inclusive manner.
EdBlogs is a one-stop-shop for the movers and shakers in education in Ireland with an online platform, and was our first port of call when we ourselves began blogging.
Without a doubt, this is one of the best-run blogs in Ireland at primary level. Merrybeau and her class have a wonderful blog that is consistently updated and showcases some extremely impressive technology and innovative application of the curriculum in 2nd Class. This blog was also particularly encouraging to us when we started blogging this year.
- Best ed tech / resource sharing blog – Anseo.net
We like Anseo.net because it provides teachers with resources, motivates us to inform ourselves about changes in education in Ireland, and also analyses change by inviting guest posts. It’s a brilliantly inclusive and innovative site run by two extremely impressive teachers in their own right.
Evelyn O’Connor is an inspiration because she manages to not only inspire her class on a daily basis, but her blog posts and musings elevate education matters to the national media. She gives teachers credibility and inspires passionate response from everyone who reads her words and wish they had expressed them themselves.
While our school is not in South Dublin, we have found the staff of South Dublin Libraries to be extremely helpful in encouraging our children to be more proactive in engaging with the library service in our own area. Their site is easy to navigate and makes the borrowing process as easy as possible.
It is most appropriate that the most influential post of the year should come from our nominee for the best teaching blogger of the year. Evelyn’s post called on us all to sit up and face up to practical concerns second-level teachers have. Her passionate display in presenting her arguments was an inspiration to all.
- Best individual tweeter – @groganbee
Bianca Grogan’s day job is as a 4th Class teacher; however on a daily basis she shares resources without any expectation of reward. Her tweets on the flipped classroom, science and human rights are particularly outstanding, and she is totally inspirational in how she encourages other teachers on Twitter.
- Best twitter hashtag – #edchatie
An invaluable hashtag for both new and established teachers. Perfect for keeping up to date with developments in Irish education during the week and then as the home for topical discussion on education matters on Monday nights. Thanks to @fboss for facilitating these discussions – a fantastic way to interact with other educators.
St Peter’s makes extensive use of podcasts on the blog and Soundcloud is our method of choice! The ease in editing and publishing gives makes it an invaluable tool.
Scoil Mhuire TV is an example of the innovative use of video in education. The sheer volume of videos is impressive, all broken up into channels. It deserves special mention for their excellent animations and wonderful Lockout film!
- Best open PD / unconference / webinar series – CESImeet
We first attended the CESImeet last October and it won’t be our last! We met some inspiring educators and picked up many ideas, including the MakeyMakey board from @groganbee. We can’t wait to go to the next one!
- Best educational use of a social network – Science Week
This year’s Science Week Ireland @scienceweek made excellent use of Twitter, in particular the #SciWeek2013 hashtag. They provided links to stimulate interest and help with classroom planning. They also retweeted activities and interacted with schools. An excellent use of Twitter to provide encouragement and support.
Animoto is a fantastic mobile app and we use it regularly on our blog. Again, its ease of use is the main reason for its nomination – it provides a simple but highly effective and beautiful way to showcase the work of our students.
- Lifetime achievement – @MagsAmond
Mags is somebody who has inspired us through her use of blogging, programming and teaching. Her online persona is someone who is deeply experienced, technologically progressive and hugely influential in helping newbies like ourselves to get started. Her tweets have been particularly informative to us about programming, and she has also helped us to get involved in the CESI community
