Glow Scotland

August 10th, 2010

Edinburgh International Book Festival – three live Glow Meet events!

Katie Barrowman

Comments: Comments Off Tags: Tags: author, authors, Edinburgh International book Festival, Glow Meet, Literacy, writers
 : Categories Events, Glow Meet, Literacy

This year there will be three live events from the festival broadcast over Glow.

On Monday 23rd of August at 10:30, your class is invited to join John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. This event is suitable for classes in P6 – S2. Click here to find out more and sign up.

Join the Children’s Laureate, Anthony Browne, in a CPD event for teachers on Thursday August the 26th at 5pm. Click here for more details and to sign up.

And finally, on Friday the 27th of August at 12:00 – 13:00 come and join us for Philip Ardagh, as he takes you on a whirlwind tour of Grubtown. Suitable for P4 – P7. To find out more and sign up to take part, click here.

All the Glow Meets will take place in the Glow Meet page of the Book Festival Glow Group Just click ‘Join the Glow Meet’ to join in. We advise that you check a few days in advance whether you can access the Glow Meet from your location. Click here for a quick troubleshooting guide if you’re having trouble, or contact Katie in the Glow Team (k.barrowman@ltscotland.org.uk) who will help you get sorted.

May 20th, 2010

Julia Donaldson live author event.

Katie Barrowman

Comments: Comments Off Tags: Tags: authors, Glow Meet, Julia Donaldson, Literacy, Literature, Scottish Book Trust
 : Categories Events, Glow Meet

On 26th May, 2010, at 11.00am, the Scottish Book Trust will have their second event in the Authors Live programme in partnership with BBC Scotland Learning: an audience with the UK’s foremost picture book author Julia Donaldson. Julia will be leading a hugely enjoyable 35-minute session of stories and songs. This event is suitable for nursery-P4 pupils.

You can sign up to watch on the BBC Website by clicking this link, or you can also watch the live stream through Glow by clicking here to go to the Authors Live Glow Group.

So make sure you don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to see the author of The Gruffalo, Stick Man, and countless other children’s favourites live this coming Wednesday!

May 10th, 2010

Learn more about SCHOLAR – Glowing Thursday 13th May

J Jelly

Comments: Comments Off Tags: Tags: Accounting, Advanced Higher, biology, Business Management, chemistry, CPD, Economics, French, German, Glow Meet, Higher, Information Systems, Maths, physics, Psychology, SCHOLAR, science, Spanish
 : Categories Uncategorized

Many secondary teachers in Scotland, and beyond, have already discovered what a great resource SCHOLAR is.  From mainly Advanced Higher, and then Higher, in Maths, Computing and Science subjects, SCHOLAR now has online courses in Information Systems, French, German, Spanish, Accounting, Economics, Business Management and Psychology.  There are even introductory lessons in Mandarin that can be accessed without a login, along with previews of other courses. 

Did you know that if you access SCHOLAR from this Glow page in the National External Resources area, your Glow login can be “married” to your SCHOLAR login (so you just need to remember one login!)?

Jim McGill, SCHOLAR’s National Co-ordinator, will be delivering SCHOLAR’s first virtual CPD event via Glow Meet on Glowing Thursday this week (13 May from 4-5pm).

Jim has a lot of experience in education, with a background in physics teaching and school management, before joining the SCHOLAR team in 2004. His current role means he coordinates all the training events across Scotland, and trains the trainers. He sees SCHOLAR as a terrific resource which can improve lessons and help pupils.

Jim’s presentation will be a general introduction to SCHOLAR and will be useful for teachers of all subjects covered by SCHOLAR.  It will be of particular interest to teachers new to the system and those who need a refresher. Jim hopes that more teachers will build SCHOLAR into their lessons, and encourage their pupils to use all the helpful features.

April 29th, 2010

Glow 101 – a very good place to start

Katie Barrowman

Comments: 2 Comments » Tags: Tags: Glow, Glow Meet, Online Learning, Webinar
 : Categories Glow Meet

Glow 101 will be a series of online seminars – Webinars – to help you get started with Glow. There are intitially two sessions planned, and you can choose to join either or both.

Session 1 – Wednesday 12th May 2010, 16:00 – 16:45

This will cover the basics of navigating Glow, including exploring your school site, your local authority site, your My Glow area and My Glow Groups list, and the National Glow site.

Session 2 – Wednesday 19th May 2010, 16:00 – 16:45

This will cover the basics of creating a Glow Group, including how to make a group, how to populate the basic group, and how to add members to it.

Both of these will take place in Glow Meet – click this link to go to the Glow 101 page and sign up for session 1 – it’ll take you to the Glow log in page, and then straight to the online venue.

April 12th, 2010

Evaluation of Homecoming 2009: Get involved on Glow!

Katie Barrowman

Comments: Comments Off Tags: Tags: evaluation, Glow Meet, Homecoming, research
 : Categories Events, Glow Meet, Homecoming

Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) has commissioned Blake Stevenson, a social research and development company, to evaluate the impact of Homecoming 2009 on learning and teaching. In particular the study will explore whether Homecoming 2009 was a useful vehicle to allow practitioners and young people to engage with Curriculum for Excellence.

As part of the evaluation we are very keen to hear about the views and experiences of practitioners working in schools and early years centres who were involved in organising and developing Homecoming 2009 activities and events. We will be holding two Glow Meet sessions with practitioners from across Scotland and would like to hear from anyone who is interested in participating.

The dates for the GLOW Meet discussion sessions are:

• 13 May at 4pm for early years practitioners and primary school teachers; and

• 19 May at 4pm for secondary school teachers.

To participate, you will need access to a Glow account, an internet connection and a webcam. Discussions should last no longer than 45 minutes.

Blake Stevenson complies with the Data Protection Act 1998, and the Market Research Society’s Guidelines for the handling of databases and confidential survey data. All data will be stored securely, confidentiality will be ensured and all responses will be anonymised. The findings of the research will only be reported to LTS and other partner organisations.

To register your interest in participating in one of the discussions, please contact Alasdair Stuart at Blake Stevenson on 0131 335 3700, or by email at Alasdair@blakestevenson.co.uk.

March 30th, 2010

Science on Glow and in the Media

J Jelly

Comments: Comments Off Tags: Tags: BBC, biology, chemistry, Events, Glow Meet, physics, problem solving, science
 : Categories Curriculum for Excellence, Events, Glow Groups, Glow Meet, Local authorities, National Groups, Pupils, Sciences

Have you noticed how many Glow events exploring science there have been recently? Scotland needs to nurture young scientists to ensure our country has a prosperous future – and Glow is doing its best to help. From Doctor Bunhead to the research scientists who took part in last week’s “Too Hot to Handle?” Space Glow Meet, to the Industrial Chemistry Glow Meet engineers, scientists and industrialists have been using Glow to reach our youngsters and share the excitement and rewards of science. There is a buzz about science at the moment. Television is also playing its part. Professor Brian Cox’s “Wonders of the Solar System” is inspiring young physicists. “Richard Hammond’s Invisible Worlds” sets the imagination alight. “Bang goes the Theory” is encouraging a new generation of Spoofbusters! Pupils can take part in school in live Glow Meets with real scientists and then get reinforcement at home on their TV sets. It will be interesting to see if there is more uptake in the sciences over the next few years as pupils with this sort of stimulus choose their career paths.

Our young people are already fantastic problem solvers. When the JANET link was down on 18^th March and the west of Scotland’s schools had no internet access, one school in Motherwell was able to access the Chemical Industry Glow Meet through a pupil’s laptop and mobile connection. Good thinking!

If you have missed any of the recent Glow Meet science events, or want to access presentations and other files associated with the Glow Meets, click on the hyperlinks in the paragraphs above, or go to the national Sciences Glow Group and explore it to see what’s coming next.

March 13th, 2010

25th March – First Glow Meet in Too Hot to Handle? Science Series

J Jelly

Comments: Comments Off Tags: Tags: biology, CfE, chemistry, competition, Glow Groups, Glow Meet, physics, resources, science, space, topical science, transition
 : Categories Curriculum for Excellence, Events, Glow Groups, Glow Meet, National Groups, Sciences

Pupils across Scotland will have the chance to take part in activities and Glow Meets about five hot science topics in the Too Hot to Handle? series in the next few months, starting next week with Space for P6-S1 on 25^th March.

Cathy Southworth from Edinburgh University is heading up this development and is keen to involve as many youngsters as possible. She says, “Too Hot To Handle? is here to support the Topical Science organiser of a Curriculum for Excellence from P6-S3. It provides access to current scientists in Scotland that work on a range of hot topics, through a vidcast, teaching materials and a discussion board for questions about the topics that are answered by the scientists, and a GLOW meet where you can grill the scientists with questions.”

As well as learning about the science, pupils will get a flavour of the excitement of being a scientist.

Visit the Too Hot to Handle Glow Group. Have a look at the wealth of materials for the Space topic, show your class the videos, post some questions for the scientists on the discussion board and come into the Glow Meet on 25^th to grill the space scientists – Noe Kains from The University of St Andrews and Duncan Forgan and Chris Evans from The Royal Observatory, Edinburgh.

There will be a competition challenge on the day and members of your class could win a prize.  

Other topics in the series:
Flu Fighters for 2nd level (P6-P7) ready for after the Easter break; Glow Meet 20th May
Biodiversity Buzz for 2^nd & 3^rd  levels (P7-S2) ready for after the Easter break; Glow Meet 25th May
Doable Renewables for 2^nd & 3^rd  levels (P7-S2) ready for May; Glow Meet 15th June
Me and my Brain for third and fourth levels (S1-S3) ready for May; Glow Meet 17th June

This week too, we have another two science based Glow Meets:
Dr Bunhead’s Spoofbusters on 16^th (1.30 – 2.30) for upper primary and secondary pupils,
Industrial Chemistry on 18^th (1.45-2.45) for Higher and AH Chemistry pupils.

All these Glow Meets use the same Science Glow Meet webpart in the National Sciences Glow Group. 

February 15th, 2010

Budding Comics Creators – Join the Metaphrog Glow Meet!

Katie Barrowman

Comments: 2 Comments » Tags: Tags: comics, Events, Expressive Arts, Glow Meet, graphic novels, Literacy, National glow groups
 : Categories Events, Expressive Arts, Glow Meet, Literacy

Metaphrog are comics creators Sandra Marrs and John Chalmers, best known for making the Louis series of comics.

For the first time, they are bringing their popular comics workshop to Glow!

Any classes from P5 – S4 are invited to join Metaphrog over Glow Meet at 1pm on Wednesday the 3rd of March. You’ll learn lots about creating characters and comics, and have the chance to create your own characters. They will also set you a comic-creating challenge, and you can come back for the follow-up Glow Meet later in the year and show us how you got on.

To join the Glow Meet, you’ll need a room with a computer with internet access, a projector and screen or interactive whiteboard, and speakers. Pupils will also need access to paper and drawing materials.

The Glow Meet and the sign-up sheet can be found in the Graphic Novels National Glow Group.

February 9th, 2010

Eric Booth to launch Scottish Book Trust Online Teacher in Residence Programme via Glow Meet!

Katie Barrowman

Comments: Comments Off Tags: Tags: CPD, Events, Glow Meet, Scottish Book Trust
 : Categories Events, Glow Meet, Literacy

The Scottish Book Trust Online Teacher in Residence is an online teaching and CPD resource community and programme of events aimed at teachers in Scotland interested in creative learning approaches to literature and literacy within Curriculum for Excellence.

Working with two practising teachers, Scottish Book Trust will develop a diverse range of online teaching and CPD resources, and an online community where teachers can benefit from:
• regular CPD resources and events
• best practice examples
• shared teaching resources
• interaction with like-minded colleagues

Teachers will be able to connect with Online Teacher in Residence through a dedicated web space or our national Glow Group.

Eric Booth will be hosting the online launch via a Glow Meet at 4pm on Thursday 25th February. In order to attend this event, teachers will need to sign up via the Online Teacher in Residence Glow Group before 24th February 2010.

Please sign up by clicking here.

The Online Teacher in Residence web space can be found by clicking here.

Further information can be found on the Scottish Book trust website by clicking here.

If your or colleagues have any additional questions, please email otir@scottishbooktrust.com

January 15th, 2010

Celebrate Burns with Glow

Jennifer McDougall

Comments: Comments Off Tags: Tags: Burns, dancing, Glow Meet, music, poetry
 : Categories Curriculum for Excellence, Events, Expressive Arts, Glow Meet, Local authorities, Pupils

Are you and your class celebrating Burns Day with dancing, poetry or maybe something else? Why not share your talents with other schools throughout Scotland and join in through Glow Meet?

Whether you are doing To a Mouse, Tam O’Shanter, Highland dancing or playing an instrument sign up in the Homecoming Glow Group where the event will be held and let us all enjoy your celebrations of Burns Day.

Our event takes place from 1.30 – 3pm on Monday 25th January.

In addition why not start your celebrations a little earlier and join us from 2-3pm on 21st January for a special Glowing Thursday entitled Burns250?

Written to fit with the concepts of Curriculum for Excellence Burns250 is a one-man show of songs and verse, in full costume, telling Burns life story, accompanied by background slides and involving history, geography, music and literature.

Songs and poems include: To a Mouse, To a Louse, Tam O Shanter, Scots Wha Hae, A Man’s a Man, Auld Lang Syne and many others. Celebrate Burns with us in the Glowing Thursdays Glow Group.

We hope you can join us to celebrate this important event in the Scottish calendar!