Deirdre Butler

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor (Full) at DCU Institue of Education

Minecraft is a popular digital game‐based learning (DGBL) tool used in learning environments around the world. With increasing emphasis on evidence‐informed practice and policymaking in educational systems, this paper systematically reviews the evidence base behind the use of Minecraft in improving academic, cognitive, motivational‐affective and so...

To make sense of the changes provoked by the Covid-19 pandemic and its immediate aftermath, this paper critically examines digital education policy responses in the context of the ‘new realities’ faced by schooling. Based on seven case studies contributed by authors from Australia, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Canada, Sri Lanka, two key questions...

Education policy implementation is a complex, evolving process that involves many stakeholders often with seemingly conflicting and opposing visions. This paper presents an account of work in progress in which the authors are conducting an analysis of the enactment of a strategy for digital learning in schools in Ireland. The aim of the study is bo...

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a Minecraft Education intervention, integrated into the curriculum, in improving spatial thinking and creativity in primary school students.

Minecraft Education is a digital game-based learning platform that is thought to support the development of twenty-first century competencies and skills. The purpose of this study is to explore primary students’ experiences of using Minecraft Education during an innovative national project-based initiative. The initiative had two phases: 1) educati...

Technologies powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) are more and more present in our daily lives this is the reason why developing skills and competencies to be aware of the positive and negative impact of these technologies is extremely relevant to every citizen. Therefore, there is a developing literature framing and promoting the introduction o...

There is a strong interest in engaging young learners in understanding and using Artificial Intelligence (AI) by providing opportunities to develop skills and competencies both from a technical and ethical perspective. However, how we should teach AI is still to be discussed in-depth. There are relatively few studies that investigate the methodolog...

Over the past two decades, there has been an increased focus on designing STEM learning experiences for primary and second-level students. We posit that for teachers to design rich learning experiences for their students, they must first have the opportunity to develop their own STEM knowledge and competences, either during their pre-service teache...

Research relating to the development of computational thinking (CT) at primary school level is still in its infancy despite indications that it is most effective when introduced in primary/early secondary education. Teachers are pivotal to ensuring children develop CT, so it is essential they are effectively prepared, starting at preservice level,...

This report (Report #1) was written as part of a research project titled, Assessment of Transversal Skills in STEM (ATS STEM). The project is funded by Erasmus+ (Call reference: EACEA/28/2017 - European policy experimentations in the fields of Education and Training, and Youth led by high-level public authorities). The report is based on outputs re...

There is considerable rhetoric internationally around the need for national curricula to reflect the changes that are taking place in the world outside school. This raises questions about what a quality curriculum in a technological era should look like, and equally challenging issues about how to achieve the necessary changes in schooling in order...

Irrespective of what approach is taken to the development of computational thinking, or at what age it is introduced, the teacher is central to ensuring that the children they work with develop computational thinking. It is therefore essential that their teachers are adequately prepared to include computational thinking as part of their pedagogical...

This report (Report #5) was written as part of a research project titled, Assessment of Transversal Skills in STEM (ATS STEM). The project is funded by Erasmus+ (Call reference: EACEA/28/2017 - European policy experimentations in the fields of Education and Training, and Youth led by high-level public authorities). The report is based on outputs re...

Report of EDUsummIT 2019

This chapter looks at what a quality curriculum would look like in the digital age. It highlights the need for alignment between vision (purpose) and policy (particularly curriculum and assessment). Building upon the Yin-Yang Vision (Twining 2019) it explores three issues to do with alignment: partnership with stakeholders; teacher professionalism;...

The focus of Thematic Working Group 1 at EDUsummIT 2017 centred on the need for alignment in education systems and was driven by two key questions relating to (a) if and how all the parts of an education system work together to support the type of learning envisioned in the twenty-first century, and (b) if there is alignment, what is the purpose/vi...

Research Review commissioned by the National Council for Curriculum Assessment

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe an innovative model of teacher professional learning that has evolved over a decade (2006 to 2016). Design/methodology/approach Working in a range of different school contexts, in conjunction with an ongoing engagement with the research literature, has enabled the development over three phases of a...

Produced by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, this resource is for teaching about energy in the context of the Science curriculum. Throughout the lessons in each chapter, teachers are provided with interactive whiteboard activities (IWB) or PowerPoint slides (if no IWB available) and photocopiable master sheets (PCMs) to maximise childre...

Produced by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, this resource is for teaching about energy in the context of the Science curriculum. Throughout the lessons in each chapter, teachers are provided with interactive whiteboard activities (IWB) or PowerPoint slides (if no IWB available) and photocopiable master sheets (PCMs) to maximise childre...

Produced by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, this resource is for teaching about energy in the context of the Science curriculum. Throughout the lessons in each chapter, teachers are provided with interactive whiteboard activities (IWB) or PowerPoint slides (if no IWB available) and photocopiable master sheets (PCMs) to maximise childre...

An innovative education programme, that provides pupils with real world experiences in energy conservation and efficiency in the school environment. There is a strong emphasis throughout the programme on inquiry- based approaches to the teaching and learning of science and on the use of digital technologies to support pupils’ learning. The programm...

This exploratory analysis of smart partnerships identifies the risk of increasing the digital divide with the deployment of data analytics. Smart partnerships in education appear to include a process of evolution into a synergy of strategic and holistic approaches that enhance the quality of education with digital technologies, harnessing ICT “smar...

Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) has become increasingly important on the agendas of education policy makers, school leaders and teachers around the world. The policy level rationale for emphasizing TEL is not only to improve learning outcomes, but to also transform the learning process to foster new capabilities that are needed for life and wor...

Empowering Minds (EM) is a project that has deeply integrated technologically expressive materials, including robotics and presentation and programming software, into the educational practices of teachers at more than a dozen primary schools across Ireland. Here, we present Empowering Minds as a model of constructionist learning and teacher profess...

Media Lab Europe's Everyday Learning group and initiatives associated with the Empowering Minds project are developing new strategies for broad access to technologies and appropriation of the ideas they engender. Here we include examples of sensor-equipped portable devices for registering environmental conditions, a form and forum for developing pu...

In a previous paper, an interpretation of spirituality along constructivist lines was proposed (Gash and Shine Thompson, 2002). One of the lines of exploration discussed personal transformation as a possible consequence of an experience of an epiphany - a moment of grace. Epiphanies are first, grounded in constructivist psychology as moments when a...

This paper describes “Empowering Minds”, a collaboration between the MIT Media Laboratory, St. Patrick's College in Dublin and Irish primary school teachers. In this project, we are introducing LEGO Mindstorms technology into Irish primary schools, along with a framework for teacher professional development that centrally recognizes teachers' passi...

We present a case study analysis of teacher empowerment and student learning through Constructionist engagement with computational technologies and learning about learning itself. Looking beyond how a teacher overcomes hesitations about new technologies, we consider how he redefines his own understandings of learning as he begins to use computation...