Glow Scotland

June 11th, 2008

Glow event is an inspiration in Aberdeenshire

rpitman

Comments: Comments Off Tags:  : Categories Aberdeenshire

A Glow event in Aberdeenshire this April got teachers fired up about the potential of Glow to transform pedagogy. More than 300 teachers in Aberdeenshire attended ‘Motivating learners – embracing new technologies for learning’, which showcased how Glow could be used to support teaching and learning.

Bruce Robertson, Director of Education in Aberdeenshire, opened the presentations with an inspirational talk about how Glow could be used to deliver Curriculum for Excellence.

The focus then switched to using Glow in conjunction with ICT, and Tim Rylands and Derek Robertson both captivated the audience with presentations on integrating Glow with educational gaming.

Another highlight was the enthusiasm shown by Richard Stroud of the Cairngorms National Park Authority as he spoke about potentially creating a National Parks Glow Group, dubbed ‘Glow in the Park’.

Glow national facilitator Martin Brown hailed the event a great success: ‘In Aberdeenshire we’re aiming to create a culture where communicating through Glow is central to teachers’ work. It’s a good tool for supporting Curriculum for Excellence because most Glow projects are cross-curricular. The event was a great way of promoting that aim and we got fantastic feedback.’

June 11th, 2008

Glow Mentor training sparks some creative ideas

rpitman

Comments: Comments Off Tags:  : Categories Aberdeenshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Inverclyde

The latest Glow Mentor training proved inspirational for the educational community in Dumfries and Galloway, Inverclyde and Aberdeenshire.

Mentors in Dumfries and Galloway have already got started on a project where each school in the authority creates a virtual island. The island is populated by characters created by the pupils, and the islands communicate and collaborate through the tools available in Glow.

In Inverclyde, mentors plan to use Glow to help pupils catch up following absence or revise for a test or exam. Mentors also felt Glow provided a golden opportunity to involve parents in their child’s education, and are keen to start uploading material to keep pupils’ families informed.

One of the most interesting ideas to emerge from the Aberdeenshire event was mentors’ plans to train their pupils in Glow. The ‘Glow Bugs’ would then pass on their new knowledge to classmates, and earn their ‘Glow Wings’.

Feedback from the Mentors was very encouraging, and they have wasted no time in getting started with their projects. See future issues of Glowing for more updates!

June 2nd, 2008

Glow Learn personalises learning at Grove Academy

Anne Ward

Comments: Comments Off Tags:  : Categories Dundee City

‘The dog ate it’ is the famous excuse pupils have at the ready for teachers demanding homework assignments. But as Grove Academy teacher Kenny Stewart mischievously points out, Glow Learn could change all that. ‘Perhaps I’ll get all my students to do their homework in digital form – there will be no such excuses then!’

Joking aside, Kenny is quickly discovering the potential that Glow Learn has to actually achieve that sought-after concept of personalised learning. His pilot project as a Glow Mentor involved uploading his lesson content onto Glow Learn for his computing class to work through.

‘It’s very easy to create links to existing resources (such as websites or documents), which can help cater for a wide range of learning styles,’ explained Kenny. ‘It gave some of my S3 pupils a chance to use Glow Learn and the feedback received was very encouraging.

‘The big plus for me was personalisation – pupils can choose how they want to learn and of course they can continue their studies at home. That sense of responsibility for their own learning was something pupils really seemed to value.’

Read more about personalised learning at Grove Academy and Glow in Dundee.