Denis Moynihan

Dr

Contact Details




DCU Institute of Education
St Patrick's Campus
Drumcondra
T:Ext. 9285

E:Denis.Moynihan@dcu.ie
Profile Photo

Denis Moynihan is an assistant professor in the School of STEM Education, Innovation and Global Studies. Currently his main responsibilities include researching, developing and facilitating teacher education predominately in the area of Digital Learning. Denis is a member of the Centre for the Advancement STEM Teaching and Learning (CASTeL), the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (ACCE), and the Computer Education Society of Ireland (CESI). He is currently undertaking doctoral research examining the Digital Competence and Intentions of Pre-service Primary School Teachers to use Digital Technology in their Professional Practice. 

Denis began his teaching career in a primary school in north Dublin and prior to joining the Institute of Education, DCU, was seconded to the Digital Technologies Team in the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST). He spent three years supporting in-career teachers and school leaders across Ireland in the effective use of digital technologies for teaching, learning and assessment. Denis has been involved in several national initiatives including the design and national rollout of the Digital Learning Framework, the Schools Excellence Fund; Digital & STEM, as well as contributing to training and materials for Webwise.ie, Scoilnet.ie and teachercpd.ie. He has a keen interest in digital storytelling and co-designed the teacher training resources for the The Fís Film Competition, as well as serving as one of the judges for the competition. 


Conference Publication

Year Publication
2021 Leahy, M., Butler, D., Hsu, H. P., & Moynihan, D. (2021) Proceedings of the IFIP TC3 Conference OCCE 2021 DTEL. International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP) Building Pre-Service Teachers’ Confidence and Competence in Using Game-Based Learning Online,
2021 Moynihan, D. (2021) Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning of the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE) Supporting the development of digital skills within a programme of ITE Online, The Netherlands,
2020 Butler, D., Leahy, M., Hsu, H.P., & Moynihan, D. (2020) Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (2020) . In: D. Schmidt-Crawford eds. Impact of pre-service teachers’ gaming behaviours on their confidence and competence in applying game-based learning approaches: Implications for Teacher Educators [Link]

Other Journal

Year Publication
2022 Joe Usher; Denis Moynihan (2022) 'The future is mine: Geography Education and Minecraft Edcation' Primary Geography, 108 (2) :26-28.

Conference Contribution

Year Publication
2023 (2023) European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI) Examining the Digital Competence and Intentions of Pre-service Primary School Teachers to use Digital Technology in their Professional Practice Thessaloniki, Greece, .
2023 Denis Moynihan (2023) EDEN Digital Learning Europe Exploring the intentions and digital competence of pre-service primary school teachers in Ireland Dublin City University, .
2023 Denis Moynihan, Deirdre Butler, Joe Usher, Nicola Broderick (2023) Computers in Education Society of Ireland (CESI) First LEGO League Explore Teacher Guide for Ireland Galway, .
2023 (2023) Trinity College Postgraduate Research Conference 2023: Breakthrough Insights in Education EXPLORING THE INTENTIONS AND DIGITAL COMPETENCE OF PRE-SERVICE PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN IRELAND Dublin, Ireland, .
2022 Moynihan, D. (2022) ESAI Conference 2022 Exploring the development of digital skills of pre-service primary school teachers in the Republic of Ireland Marino Institute of Education, Dublin, Ireland, .
2022 Moynihan, D, Butler, D., Hsu, H. P., Boz, T., & Maguire, K. (2022) CESI Conference 2022 Reflections on redesigning a game-based learning module for pre-service teachers during the Pandemic Experience Online Conference, Ireland, .
2021 Moynihan, D. (2021) INTO Consultative Conference on Education 2021, Facing the Future: Digital Learning and Wellbeing An Introduction To Game-Based Learning (GBL) and Minecraft Education Edition For Cross-Curricular Teaching, Learning And Assessment Galway, Ireland, .
2021 Butler, D., Leahy, M., Hsu, H.P., & Moynihan, D. (2021) Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference Impact of pre-service teachers’ gaming behaviours on their confidence and competence in applying game-based learning approaches: Implications for Teacher Educators Online, USA, .
2021 Moynihan, D. (2021) Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning of the AACE Supporting the development of digital skills within a programme of ITE Online, The Netherlands, .
2017 McNamara, M., & Moynihan, D. (2017) Immersive Education with ICTEdu Conference Digital Storytelling and the Fís Film Project LIT Thurles Campus, Tipperary, .
2017 Moynihan, D. (2017) 2017 INTO Consultative Conference on Education Digital Citizenship and Internet Safety Mount Errigal Hotel, Donegal, .
2017 Moynihan, D., & McNamara, M. (2017) Computers in Education Society of Ireland Digital Storytelling: Animation DCU Institute of Education, Dublin, .

Peer Reviewed Journal

Year Publication
2021 Denis Moynihan (2021) 'In the Era of Zoom, are school leaders under a lens? An analysis of the contemporary discourse surrounding educational leadership in Irish primary schools'. Irish Teachers' Journal, 9 (1):24-34. [Link]
2023 Moynihan, D.; Gorman, A.; Leahy, M.; Scully, D. (2023) 'All the World’s a Stage: Examining the Actors That Influence the Development of Primary Pre-Service Teacher Digital Competence in the Republic of Ireland'. Education Sciences, 13 (10). [DOI]

Electronic Source

Year Publication
2020 Moynihan, D. (2020) From a Distance - Moving from Consuming Content to Creating Content. Dublin, Ireland: ELES [Link]

Book

Year Publication
2022 Deirdre Butler; Nicola Broderick; Joe Usher; Denis Moynihan (2022) First LEGO League Explore Cargo Connect Teacher Guide for Ireland. Stevenage: The Institution of Engineering and Technology. [Link]
2022 Deirdre Butler; Denis Moynihan; Joe Usher; Nicola Broderick (2022) SUPERPOWERED: FIRST LEGO League Explore Teacher Guide for Ireland. Stevenage: The Institution of Engineering and Technology.
2023 Deirdre Butler; Nicola Broderick; Joe Usher; Denis Moynihan; Anne McMorrough (2023) First Lego League Explore Masterpiece Teacher Guide for Ireland. Ireland: Stevenage: The Institution of Engineering and Technology. [Link]
Certain data included herein are derived from the © Web of Science (2024) of Clarivate. All rights reserved.

Research Interests

Areas of research interest include; digital learning, digital competence, STEM/STEaM, initial teacher education (ITE), educational policy design and implementation, curriculum design and implementation, professional learning (PL), digital storytelling, game-based learning (GBL), computational thinking, robotics and physical computing in primary education, creativity and teacher identity. 

Internal Collaborators

Type Name Company Role
Internal Nicola Broderick Dublin City University Academic
Internal Margaret Leahy Dublin City University Academic
Internal Hsiao-Ping Hsu Dublin City University Academic
Internal Deirdre Butler Dublin City University Academic
Internal Joe Usher Dublin City University Academic

Teaching Interests

Denis teaches on a wide range of courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Professional Master of Education (Primary) (Level 9)
PMEP1: ED8039 Enabling Learning (Digital Learning)
PMEP1: Professional Placement Supervision
PMEP2: Professional Placement Supervision

Master of Education (Primary) (Level 9)
MEd1: SG812 Gaming to Learn

Bachelor of Education (Level 8)
B.Ed1: ED1017 Enabling Learning: Digital Learning
B.Ed2: ED2033 Reflection & Enquiry
B.Ed4: ED4056 Enabling Learning: Digital Learning
B.Ed4: ED4015 Research Project

BEd1, 2, 3 and 4 - Professional Placement Supervision 

Modules Coordinated

Term Title Subject
2022 Enabling Learning ED4056
2024 ED8039
2022 Assessment, DL & SIE ED1017
2023 ED4056