Glow Scotland

Yesterday I spoke about changes to the National Site noticeboard in Glow, but at the same time we also changed the noticeboard of the national staffroom. You can see a screenshot of it here:

As you can see, the staffroom noticeboard gives direct links to a number of really useful areas – find CPD opportunities with CPD Find, access your very own collection of Experiences and Outcomes with a helpful tool, get involved with general discussions, update your profile, find out the latest from the Scottish Government Education Glow group or access a number of staff only groups.

There are a number of new features of the staffroom such as sharing work on charities or discussing what’s missing, but the biggest new feature is the ‘Swap Shop‘. A really simple idea, the swap shop is a place for staff to swap items with each other – maybe you have half a class set of books that you’ve never been able to complete that you can offer, and all you’re looking for in return is a set of computer speakers? Whatever you have to offer, or whatever you’re looking for, have a look in the national staffroom to see if someone elsewhere in the country can help you and your school out.

Just like the changes to the national site noticeboard, the biggest change is in how we can collaborate in the future. If you are a member of staff with access to Glow, then please log on and get involved in the conversation about what you would like to see in the national staffroom.

If you go to the national site today, you’ll notice we’ve made some changes. Following on from the discussion in December, instead of the usual items on the noticeboard, you’ll find a more graphical user interface – pointing people to useful areas of Glow more easily. There’s also a text only version of this interface, to improve accessibility. There are links to the new Help group, and direct links to areas for staff, pupils and parents. You’ll find an easy way to access some national groups. There’s also the ability to find out what’s happening in Glow across the country with a calendar that people can add in items to. Here’s a screenshot of how it looks:

We think this makes it easier to find key areas of Glow, but the biggest change isn’t the interface – it’s in the underpinning philosophy. You see, Glow is a collaborative environment. On the noticeboard you’ll find a link to ‘help make Glow better’ – here you can let everyone else know what you’re doing with Glow, request a change, see what changes are in progress and better still, get involved in the discussion or development of Glow yourself.

LTS is currently looking at how the accessibility of Glow can be improved, and a text-to-speech facility could be extremely useful. Help us to trial Browsealoud 6 within Glow. It will be ’speech- enabled’ until the end of January 2010 so trial it for yourselves and let us know what you think.

Browsealoud is essentially a tool for reading web sites with text-to-speech software. It can help pupils with visual impairment, dyslexia, reading and learning difficulties or pupils who are not fluent English readers access information on web sites. It can speak using a number of different voices including Heather, the Scottish voice.

You can find out further information about this free trial and how to download the software for Mac and PC in our Browsealoud Discussion. Once you have evaluated it then please leave your comments in this discussion thread as well – we want to know all the plus and ‘not so good’ points of using it within a Glow environment.

I am delighted to announce that the next two improvements from the Glow Refresh project will be deployed to Glow this weekend.

The two new themes you voted for will be available from 18:00 on Sat 12 Dec. If you’d like to see a preview of what will be coming, check out the Glow Refresh Group

We’ll also be upgrading Glow Mail Storage. The amount of space given to Pupil Accounts will be increased to 20Mb, with all other accounts increased to 200Mb. The Glow Mail administration screens will be altered to allow these new mailbox sizes to be applied and also to allow the giving of more space to some users in a domain.

We do not anticipate any downtime as a result of implementing these changes, but as with any changes there is an increased risk of disruption to Glow during this period.

In addition, the Glow Mail admin screen will be unavailable from 18:00 on Fri 11 Dec until 08:00 on Mon 14 Dec.

Members of the national English teachers’ Glow group have a free CPD session available to them every month – and as these are delivered digitally through Glow Meet they can be watched from the comfort of a classroom or even from a front room – no cover needed!
This month’s session will be delivered on Monday 30th November between 4 and 5pm. In it David Noble – an expert in the field of using audio tools for education – will be giving participants practical advice on how to:
> Set-up a computer to create digital audio recordings
> Record, edit, save, and even publish recordings
> Use existing digital audio resources on the web
> Use mobile devices to capture to capture, distribute, and use voice recordings.
David will also be discussing Project Ideas and connecting digital audio to the Literacy Experiences and Outcomes. A list of useful links and a ‘How to get started’ guide will also be made available.

You do not have to be an English teacher to join the English teachers’ glow group. To participate simply click HERE or go to the English Teacher’s glow group (National site – National groups -Staffroom -Staffroom groups – English Teachers group), and request membership.

The National Site in Glow has been in need of a refresh for some time now. Last time we changed things there, we added additional information to the ‘noticeboard’, changed the way the events were displayed and presented the procured content in a different way, but little has been done with the National Site since then (aside from an ever growing list of national groups! – I’ll come back to that issue in another post)

I made one massive error in the work we did on the National Site – we didn’t ask all of you what you want to do there, or what you want to find there.

It’s time to rectify that mistake.

If you go to the National Site now in Glow, you’ll find the noticeboard changed – it simply asks one question – “if we were to redesign the National Site in Glow, what would you want to find here?” There’s a discussion board there for you to tell us all what you want the National Site to be.

The important word in the sentence on the noticeboard is ‘we’. Glow isn’t the product of selected individuals, or the product of one central organisation – the National Site in Glow needs to belong to all the users of Glow, and more importantly be shaped by us all collectively.

We’ve a great opportunity here – we can all chip in with our thoughts and talents, and turn the National Site in Glow into somewhere not that we ‘must visit’ (after all, how many things do you have on your ‘must do’ list?), but somewhere that we ‘need’ to visit.

I don’t often ask for favours. But if you’re reading this, and you’ve got access to Glow, please go and join the conversation. If you don’t have access to Glow but you’ve got ideas about what it should offer all its users then leave your comments here.

Together we’re greater than the sum of our parts.

The English teachers’ national Glow group presents another fantastic free masterclass. The November session will run on Monday, 30th November from 4-5pm and will focus on practical steps to help teachers become more confident in using audio devices and recordings in their classroom.
The masterclass will be delivered by David Noble, a Chartered Teacher at a residential school in Fife experienced in using ICT across the curriculum. David produces the fortnightly educational podcast, Booruch, and is a doctoral student at the University of Edinburgh. He also co-produces the EDUtalk website, (http://edutalk.cc/) a space for teachers and students to use mobile technology to create and share educational audio.

During the session participants will learn how to:

Set-up a computer to create digital audio recordings

Record, edit, save, and even publish recordings

Use existing digital audio resources on the web

Use mobile devices to capture, distribute, and use voice recordings

Project ideas will also be discussed, connecting digital audio to the Literacy
Experiences and Outcomes. A list of useful links and a ‘How to get started’ guide will also be available.

All the English teacher group masterclasses have an English and/or Literacy focus but they are open to all and you do not need to be an English teacher to join the group and participate. Membership requests are welcomed from all stages and sectors of education. Click HERE to request membership. Full details of how to join a Glow Meet masterclass session are posted in the group.

“I am inspired”.

‘great fun … and very impressive’.

“It was great. I am from a primary background and could easily adapt this. Thanks so much”.

“A great success. My first Glow Meet and I’ve left with lots of good ideas”.

On 29th October teachers from as far afield as Stirling and Thurso logged into Glow to listen to David Miller from St Ninian’s High School East Dunbartonshire deliver a fantastic masterclass session entitled ‘Literacy in Action’.

During the session David explained how an S1 poetry unit he was working on led to a cross-curricular project with the Art Department and resulted in the pupils making a short animation film. As well as sharing his own teaching approaches and the Curriculum for Excellence outcomes the project covered, David showed examples of the work produced by the pupils and gave the participants of the session practical advice on how the project was organised. Some of those taking part in the Glow Meet also offered their own hints about the best software they had found for animation projects. All those who took part agreed that the masterclass was, ‘inspiring’.

Every month the national English teachers’ Glow group runs a session just like this one on a variety of Literacy/English topics. If you have a Glow log-in, an internet connection and speakers attached to your PC then you can take part. These sessions are free and are always timed for after school so no cover is needed – you can even join in from the comfort of your own living room!

You do not have to be an English teacher to participate but you must be a member of the national English teachers’ Glow group. Click HERE to request membership. Detailed instructions on how to join a Glow Meet masterclass are posted in the group.

Another masterclass session will be running in November – details coming soon!

After a long summer break I am pleased to announce that the English teacher masterclass sessions have once again resumed. These one hour sessions offer teachers all over the country the opportunity -through Glow Meet- to increase their knowledge through participation in on-line CPD sessions run by ‘experts’ in a variety of fields.

Returning in the first of our autumn sessions is 2008 UK Teacher of the year David Miller who delivered a fantastic masterclass on Robert Frost Poetry way back in March.
His latest session – entitled ‘Literacy in Action’ will focus on an Interdisciplinary Learning project between English and Art & Design called Poetry in Motion. As well as exemplifying the Outcomes and Experiences in English, Literacy and Expressive Arts at Level 3, the session will also illustrate examples of Literacy in Action across a range of other subjects.

The session will take place on Thursday 29th October at 4.30 and is open to all teachers with a Glow log-in. You do not have to be an English teacher but you must be a member of the national English Teachers glow group to participate. Click on this LINK to go to the group and request membership.
The masterclasses will cover a wide variety of subjects and will run once a month as before – watch this space for more exciting events coming soon!

A ‘Speed Dating’ event with a difference was held at the DCA in Dundee last week to foster new partnerships between arts organisations and new media and technology companies.

The Co-Create project is inviting Scottish Arts Council funded arts organisations to develop proposals for projects with schools using Glow, working in partnership with learners and with media companies who can help create innovative new resources for Glow. Co-Create provides a fantastic opportunity to illustrate the key role the arts can play in supporting Curriculum for Excellence via Glow.

Almost 30 representatives of arts and media organisations attended the Speed Dating event with a view to meeting new creative partners. Media companies were each given a five minute slot to present their work and this was followed by a networking session where arts and media companies met each other for short introductory conversations on a rotational basis.

The event generated a real buzz, with lively conversation and ideas exchange. A follow up Open Day at the Optima Building, Glasgow on 15 October will allow participants to find out more about the technical possibilities of Glow.

‘Glow is an exciting idea…..allowing interaction with us and several schools at the one same time is very exciting…..’

Sonja Lowe, Playwright Studio Scotland

‘It’s been particularly good to share with people…. and to hear about how other companies are utilising new media in reaching different sectors within education…’

Sara Kinnear, Screen Media

Arts organisations have until 16 November to submit their proposals to Co-Create. Successful applications will be announced in January and projects will take place throughout 2010.

If you would like to be involved in the Co-Create Project, please contact the Glow Arts Development Officer by emailing GlowAdmin@ltscotland.org.uk or via the Co-Create Glow Group.

For more information on Co-Create visit the Glow Scotland website or
Visit the project page on Scottish Arts Council website
Follow #CoCreate on Twitter

The Glow Arts Project Co-Create is funded through a partnership between Learning and Teaching Scotland and the Scottish Arts Council National Lottery Fund