Glow Scotland

April 29th, 2008

Driving and managing change in East Lothian

Anne Ward

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Last year East Lothian hosted the trial phases of the Glow Portal. Now, a year on, the authority is preparing to roll out the initiative to all schools by exploring how Glow can enhance teaching and learning. It began with mentor training, which helped create a ‘real buzz and vibe’ in the authority, according to East Lothian’s Glow Mentor, Tess Watson.

The group has made establishing links with schools in other local authorities one of its first priorities. Tess (Education Support Officer for ICT) is hoping to set up a national Glow Group for her subject, biology, but there have also been discussions about creating a national group for pupils with hearing impairments, and other additional needs. This would be done in collaboration with Learning and Teaching Scotland.

East Lothian’s mentors are also looking to involve non-teaching and support staff (for example librarians, technicians, CPD officers and more) in the authority’s roll-out, recognising that Glow will provide a service to a wide variety of people, not solely teachers and pupils.

Read more about Glow in East Lothian.

April 18th, 2008

Glow Meet Global Day - Western Isles

Anne Ward

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As storms go, it wasn’t the worst the islanders on Harris had experienced, but it did bring down power lines the night before the Glow team flew into the Western Isles for a two-day training session with Glow mentors. The damage blacked out television and radio signals.

As one mentor pointed out, it highlighted the difficulties facing isolated areas. This time, though, wireless access to the internet stayed live. Training went ahead, averting any delay to the launch of Glow.

But the ill-timed storm also highlighted the advantages Glow will bring to the islands. Access to tools such as Glow Meet will enable schools to communicate with one another, despite the weather-induced difficulties. Since the training in January, the mentors have been collaborating with one another using Glow Groups and connecting pupils from various schools using the Glow Meet web conferencing tool.

Glow is now ready to be launched in the Western Isles. Initially it will be introduced in two or three schools to allow the authority to get feedback from P1 through to S2 before extending access. In the spring it is hoped Glow will be made available to the rest of the schools.

Read more about Glow in the Western Isles.