General Questions
What is Scoilnet?
What is a portal website?
Why should I use Scoilnet?
Who is the site aimed at?
How do I set Scoilnet as my default homepage?
Is it possible to submit resources that I find useful directly to Scoilnet site
Features of the site
What is ed TV?
What is the purpose of My Scoilnet?
What is clipboard and how do I use them?
Where can I view results from previous polls?
What does the web accessible version offer above the standard version?
How do I use the school directory?
Teacher's Section
What does the teachers’ homepage offer?
How do I find curricular resources within the site?
Student's section
What’s on the homepage for students at primary level?
How do I publish a story for the Story Time section?
What does Scoilnet offer to students at post primary level?
Parent's section
How does Scoilnet engage parents?
School Management
What areas are covered in this section of the site?
General Questions
What is Scoilnet?
Scoilnet is a portal website that aims to support Ireland’s education community by providing educational resources,curricular support, information and advice to students, teachers and parents. It is a key initiative of the Department of Education and Science.
What is a portal website?
A portal website is a central point of access to information and services specific to a topic. In the case of Scoilnet it is a portal website for primary and post primary education in Ireland.
Why should I use Scoilnet?
Portals usually are safe starting points for users new to the Internet.
Scoilnet offers an extensive range of subject and age specific resources that are evaluated by subject matter experts to ensure relevance to the curricula.
Who is the site aimed at?
Primarily, it is aimed at teachers, students, parents and school managers in the Irish education system. However information and resources may have relevance to the global education community.
How do I set Scoilnet as my default homepage?
Open your browser eg Internet Explorer and choose Internet Options in the Tools menu bar.
Click in the tab named General and type or copy the Scoilnet website address (http://www.scoilnet.ie/) into the text box to the right of Address.
Choose apply and ok.
Can I submit resources that I find useful directly to the Scoilnet site?
No, Scoilnet has a team of subject matter specialists that compile resources with relevance to specific areas of the curricula. However, if you find a resource that is especially good we would welcome your input. Use the “contact us” function to send us these links, which will then be reviewed by our subject matter experts.
Features of the site
What is the purpose of My Scoilnet?
My Scoilnet provides you with a web page that can be customised to reflect areas of the main Scoilnet site that you frequently access.
What is the clipboard and how do I use it?
The clipboard is a storage area for content of interest to the user that can be clipped from the Scoilnet site and stored in a pop up menu.
What is the school directory?
The school directory is a searchable database of primary and post primary schools in Ireland.
What information about schools is displayed?
The school directory displays the school name, school roll number, address and contact details.
What is ed TV?
Ed TV lists 4 weekly learning focused programmes featured on terrestrial channels. Where possible corresponding website addresses are also provided.
Where can I view results from previous polls?
Poll results are published for a period of two weeks and may be viewed by clicking on the link, “View poll results”.
What does the web accessible version offer above the standard version?
This version is designed to enable each web page to download more quickly. Usually web accessible versions contain limited or no graphics and content is placed in such a way as to facilitate screen readers.
Teacher's Section
What can I find in the teacher’s section?
The teacher’s section is broken into First Level Teachers, Second Level Teachers and Special Needs Teachers. In addition to the sections common to the entire site, the teachers’ homepage offers the following items.
Resource finder – allows the user to select a type of resource relevant to a specific age group.
In the news – focuses on current issues in the context of education.
In the classroom – presents a combination of resources, such as lesson plans, worksheets and relevant websites suitable for teaching the various curricular areas at primary and post primary level.
Support – links to areas of support within education such as programmes, organisations, unions etc.
Research – provides access to publications, articles and studies.
How do I find curricular resources within the site?
Use the search tool at the top right corner
Use the resource finder if you are a primary/post primary teacher or post primary student
Use the School Subjects link if you are a primary student
Broadly speaking, the “In the Classroom” section highlights resources that can be found within the resource finder or the School Subjects section.
Student's section
What can I find on the students section?
The student’s section is divided up into Primary and Post Primary students.
What is there for primary students?
Quiz Time - Each week a quiz is created to test student general knowledge of a topic.
Colouring Corner - Each week Scoilnet picks a letter of the alphabet and presents four examples of words with pictures that begin with that letter. Students can choose a picture to colour in by clicking on the picture and printing it. (Soon students will be able to do some online colouring by using a drag and drop colouring tool).
Story Time - If students have an interesting story to tell, they can submit it to Story Time. The story will remain on the site for two weeks. All stories may be viewed by clicking on the “View All Stories button”.
Joke of the week – Each week the Scoilnet team will pick a joke for students to share with their friends.
School Subjects – Resources in the form of worksheets, links to interesting websites and ideas for project work are available for 10 subject areas. An icon represents the availability of a resource type for 4 age groups.
How do I publish a story for the Story Time section?
Stories can be submitted by clicking on the “Tell us a story button”, completing the form and typing in your story.
What does Scoilnet offer to students at post primary level?
In addition to the features My Scoilnet, Ed TV and the interactive poll, all of which have been described above the following content areas are offered;
Resource finder – enables students to select a subject and resource type (for example experiment, relevant website etc) relevant to their cycle.
Focus on – generally presents topical issues
Junior cycle – Links to and briefly describes resources specific to the junior cycle curricula
Senior cycle - Links to and briefly describes resources specific to the senior cycle curricula
Co curricular – covers a range of topics from debating to sports to songwriting offered of interest to students both in and out of school
Your Future – provides information on a range of topics including choosing school subjects, applying for third level courses and choosing a career.
Parent's section
How does Scoilnet engage parents?
Scoilnet engages parents be presenting the following topics:
Site of the week –displays an educational site of specific relevance to parents and education
In the news – focuses on current events topical to education and parenting
Schooling – looks at general issues relating to schooling
Special Needs – refers to websites with information on the various areas of special educational needs
Focus on – explores an issue in depth by providing links to information, articles, research and advice
School Management
What areas are covered in this section of the site?
The aim is to explore school management issues relevant to primary and post primary levels. Links to press releases, news and cross issues such as induction of newly qualified teachers, mentoring and planning are also presented in this section.
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