Feature by
Neil Tarrant
Aistear i nDomhan Digiteach na Léitheoireachta Gaeilge
A Foray into the Digital World of Irish-Language Reading
Chun páistí a ghríosú agus a mholadh téacsanna Gaeilge a léamh, le saibhreas litríochta ár dtíre a bhlaiseadh, tá neart cruthaíochta de dhíth. Tháinig roinnt aipeanna bunaithe ar leabhair Ghaeilge ar an bhfód le tamall anuas, mar shampla Ó Chrann go Crann, agus tugann a leithéidí sin a ngoile do na dúchasaigh dhigiteacha inar measc ar mian leo litríocht Ghaeilge idirghníomhach a aimsiú ar bharr na méar acu. Labhraíonn Neil Tarrant maidir leis na féidearthachtaí a bhaineann le iBooks Author a úsáid d’fhonn ábhar léitheoireachta Gaeilge a chruthú do léitheoirí óga.
Encouraging children to read texts through Irish and tap into Ireland’s rich lore requires some creativity. We have seen the birth of apps for Irish-language books such as Ó Chrann go Crann but the hunger of the digital natives among us for more interactive Irish literature at the touch of a button has not yet been fully satisfied. Neil Tarrant speaks about the potentials of using iBooks Author to create Irish-language reading material for young readers.
Many commentators have stated that the post personal computer (PC) era is now here. They refer to the fact that the PC and the laptop are no longer the main information technology (IT) tools in use and that handheld devices such as smartphones and tablets are now the IT tools in vogue. With this in mind, the question arises as to what impact this new shift in IT tools might have in schools and how the use of an iPad, for example, would compare with a laptop in the classroom. Recently my 5th Class embarked on a project involving them creating a Google Sites presentation of a topic of their choice. As part of the process the children created a Google gmail account so they could collaborate with each other and could also access the material from numerous laptops/PCs, as the project was stored in ‘the cloud’.
The first stage of the project involved the collection of video links, audio, data and images and dumping them into the children’s Google doc. accounts. There were the usual technical problems with the laptop sessions: batteries giving up, dodgy wireless signal, Google docs. not allowing material to be copied/pasted, etc. In terms of ease of use, speed and reliability there was little comparison between the laptop and the iPad for the students. Inside 20 minutes I saw at first hand the possibilities the iPad presented and how it had the potential to overcome many of the barriers to effective use of the integration of IT in the classroom. I was sold!
Shortly after seeing the light as to what device was best suited to doing the project work, Apple announced the introduction of iBooks Author ‒ a free app that allows the user to publish interactive material to the iBook Store and for sharing with other iPad users. Having studied the possibilities of this authoring tool, I decided that the content for the project I had originally organised could not only be created using an iPad but with iBooks Author and the projects could be published as iBooks for reading on an iPad, combining audio, text, images and video. The projects are ongoing...
This whole experience encouraged me to look at the area of Irish and what possibilities might be offered by iBooks Author and the iPad in producing digital content as Gaeilge. Considering that the authoring tool allowed the user to input audio, the prospect of children having the option to ‘hear’ text (if so desired) was presented. For young children learning to read as Gaeilge for the first time, the facility of being able to hear the text appearing on the page had to be of significant benefit.
The decision was taken to investigate whether a batch of 40 books for infants, recently gone out of print, could be reproduced digitally for the iPad. With the assistance of two colleagues, I already had the audio of the books recorded for a Scoilnet project (see below). The books had one black and white picture per page and a maximum of two sentences per illustration. There were eight pages in each book. The books when completed could then be accessed by Senior Infants from the iBooks app on the school iPads and also be sent as email attachments to all parents with iPads.
A collection of short books, 40 in total, were written and published by two teachers, Monica Ní Choitir and Eithne Ní Dhonaile from Gaelscoil Mhíchíl Cíosóg, Ennis in 2003. As a teacher in Senior Infants, I used these books as extension readers, i.e. the children would read them at home with the assistance of the parents and I would listen and correct pronunciation, etc. in class the following day. As there is a broad bank of vocabulary covered in the books and in some cases the quality of assistance from the home would vary (some parents’ ability to pronounce words correctly was limited), I decided to look at producing digital books using ‘flash’ so that the parents and the children could ‘hear’ the sentences being read by clicking on the sentence or individual word. By adding colour to the original black and white illustrations, the layout was enhanced.
I used Illuminatus Opus Pro 7 as my authoring tool and the steady hands of a selection of children from 5th Class to colour in the pages. The audio was added by my colleague Aisling Uí Fhloinn and myself to produce the books that can now be viewed on Scoilnet (www.scoilnet.ie/leabhair.shtm). The digital books can be presented using an interactive whiteboard and read on computers in schools and at home by the children/parents. At present, the Senior Infants in our school are reading the books at home using the digital books on Scoilnet as an assist. Parents and teachers are reporting significant positive results from this project.
The creation of the iBooks as Gaeilge was in every way a success. Not only did the Senior Infant teachers herald them as hugely beneficial as a reading resource, but with a growing number of parents buying iPads, parents have since expressed the desire for more stories to be created. They were more than happy to read the books at home with their children on the iPads.
Tá sé ráite ag go leor tráchtairí go bhfuil ré iar-ríomhairí pearsanta (PC) buailte linn. Déanann siad tagairt don chaoi nach iad an PC agus an ríomhaire glúine na príomhuirlisí TF atá in úsáid a thuilleadh agus gurb iad na gléasanna póca amhail smartphones agus tablets na huirlisí TF atá i réim anois. Eascraíonn an cheist mar sin, faoin tionchar a bheidh ag an aistriú nua seo sna huirlisí TF ar scoileanna agus eascraíonn ceisteanna freisin faoi úsáid an iPad i gcomparáid le ríomhaire glúine sa seomra ranga. Le déanaí, thug lucht Rang a Cúig faoi thionscadal inar chruthaigh siad cur i láthair Google Sites ar ábhair áirithe. Mar chuid den phróiseas seo, chruthaigh na páistí cuntas Google gmail ionas go bhféadfaidís comhoibriú lena chéile agus ionas go bhféadfaidís rochtain a fháil ar ábhar ó go leor ríomhairí glúine/PC, agus an tionscadal sábháilte ‘sa scamall’, mar a déarfá.
Sa chéad chéim den tionscadal, bailíodh na naisc físe, comhaid fuaime, sonraí agus íomhánna agus cuireadh iad sna cuntais Google docs. Tharla na gnáthfhadhbanna teicniúla le linn na seisiún ríomhaire glúine: d’imigh na cadhnraí, an chomhartha gan sreang a bhí ag teacht agus ag imeacht, deacrachtaí maidir le hábhar a chóipeáil agus a ghreamú in Google docs. Maidir le so-úsáid, le luas agus le hiontaofacht, ba shop in aghaidhe na scuaibe a bhí sa ríomhaire glúine. Bhí an bua ar an iPad. Laistigh de fiche nóiméad chonaic mé na féidearthachtaí uile a bhaineann leis an iPad agus an acmhainn a bhí ann gnáth-dheacrachtaí a shárú maidir le comhtháthú TF sa seomra ranga. Bhí mé tógtha leis!
Nuair a chonacthas dom cén uirlis a d’oirfeadh don tionscadal, d’fhógair Apple iBooks Author – aip saor in aisce a chuireann ar chumas an úsáideora ábhar idirghníomhach a fhoilsiú ar iBooks Store le roinnt le húsáideoirí iPad eile. Tar éis dom féidearthachtaí na huirlise údarachta seo a imscrúdú, shocraigh mé gur féidir liom, ní hamháin ábhar an tionscadail a bhí idir lámha agam a chruthú i gcomhar le iPad, ach gur féidir liom na tionscadail a fhoilsiú le iBooks Author agus go mbeidís ina iBooks le léamh ar iPad. D’fhéadfaí fuaim, ábhar scríofa, íomhánna agus físeanna a chur leo. Is liosta gan áireamh na tionscadail...
Le linn na taithí seo, d’fhéach mé ar chúrsaí Gaeilge agus ar na féidearthachtaí a bhainfeadh le iBooks Author agus iPad chun ábhar digiteach a chruthú as Gaeilge. Toisc gur féidir fuaim a chur isteach mar chuid den uirlis údarachta, bhí an deis romhainn go n-éistfeadh páistí leis an téacs chomh maith (dá mba mhian leo). Do léitheoirí óga, go háirithe, bheadh tairbhe ag baint leis an téacs a thagann ar an leathanach a chloisteáil.
Tugadh faoi thionscadal ansin le hiniúchadh a dhéanamh ar charn 40 leabhar do na naíonáin a bhí imithe as cló le tamall anuas, agus iad a athléiriú ar bhonn digiteach don iPad. I gcomhar le beirt chomhghleacaithe, bhí na comhaid fuaime de na leabhair agam cheana féin ón tionscadal Scoilnet (féach an t-eolas thíos). Sna leabhair, bhí pictiúr amháin dubh agus bán ar gach leathanach agus dhá abairt ar a mhéad do gach maisiú. Bhí ocht leathanach i ngach leabhar. Nuair a bheadh na leabhair curtha i gcrích, d’fhéadfadh Naíonáin Shinsearacha rochtain a fháil ar na leabhair ar an aip iBooks ar iPads na scoile. D’fhéadfaí freisin na leabhair a chur mar cheangaltán i ríomhphost chuig gach tuismitheoir a raibh iPad aige/aici.
Scríobh agus d’fhoilsigh beirt mhúinteoirí, Monica Ní Choitir agus Eithne Ní Dhonaile ó Ghaelscoil Mhíchíl Cíosóg, Inis, cnuasach de ghearrleabhair – 40 san iomlán ‒ sa bhliain 2003. Mar mhúinteoir i rang na Naíonán Sinsearach, bhain mé úsáid as na leabhair seo mar léitheoireacht shínteach, .i. léifeadh na páistí na leabhair sa bhaile le cabhair óna dtuismitheoirí agus d’éistfinn leis an bhfoghraíocht srl. sa rang an lá dar gcionn. Toisc go bhfuil go leor foclóra clúdaithe sna leabhair agus toisc i gcásanna áirithe go raibh caighdeáin éagsúla thacaíochta sa bhaile (bhí cumas teoranta foghraíochta ag roinnt tuismitheoirí), shocraigh mé ar na leabhair a léiriú agus ‘flash’ in úsáid agam ionas go bhféadfadh na tuismitheoirí agus na páistí araon na habairtí a bhí á léamh a ‘chloisteáil’ trí chliceáil ar an abairt nó ar an bhfocal aonair. Trí dhath a chur leis na bunléaráidí (a bhí dubh agus bán), cuireadh go mór leis an leagan amach.
Bhain mé úsáid as Illuminatus Opus Pro 7 mar uirlis údarachta chomh maith le lámha foisteanacha rogha páistí ó Rang a Cúig a dhathaigh na leathanaigh. Chuir me féin agus comhghleacaí liom, Aisling Uí Fhloinn, an fhuaim leis. Is féidir breathnú ar na leabhair anois ar Scoilnet (www.scoilnet.ie/leabhair.shtm). Is féidir na leabhair dhigiteacha a chur i láthair ar chlár bán idirghníomhach agus is féidir le páistí/tuismitheoirí iad a léamh ar ríomhaire scoile agus sa bhaile. I láthair na huaire, tá na leabhair á léamh sa bhaile ag na Naíonáin Shinsearacha sa scoil seo againn le cabhair ó Scoilnet. Tá torthaí dearfacha suntasacha á bhfógairt ag tuismitheoirí agus múinteoirí maidir leis seo.
Bhí rath ar chruthú iBooks as Gaeilge i ngach slí. Ní hamháin gur áis léitheoireachta thar a bheith úsáideach a bhí iontu dar le múinteoirí Naíonáin Shinsearacha, ach leis an méadú atá tagtha ar líon na dtuismitheoirí a cheannaíonn iPads, tá tuismitheoirí tar éis a chur in iúl dúinn gur mian leo tuilleadh scéalta a fháil agus iad lán-sásta na leabhair a léamh sa bhaile in éineacht lena bpáistí.
Ná bíodh drogall ar bith ort teagmháil a dhéanamh liom más maith leat múnlú cosúil leis seo a chur ar bun i do scoil nó má bhíonn ceist agat maidir le iBooks a chruthú as Gaeilge do dhaltaí scoile.
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Please feel free to contact me, neilotarrant@gmail.com, if you wish to set up a similar model in your school or have any questions on creating iBooks as Gaeilge for your students.
