July 27th, 2009

The first bite is with the eye

Andrew Brown

Comments: 2 Comments » Tags: Tags: Glow, glow portal, glow themes, visual presentation
 : Categories Uncategorized

[UPDATE] - we’ve found a much better way to track which themes you liked best - if you voted here already, don’t worry as we’ve moved your vote across. To vote on which theme you like best, visit the updated post here.

For those of you familiar with the look and feel of Glow, there are at present six different themes that you can choose from. We thought it was time for a change, so we’ve drawn up a few possible alternatives that you can have a look at.

Unfortunately, we won’t be able to produce all of these themes, but it would be great to see which of them is most popular?

We’re also working on how you select a theme to use in Glow - at the moment, it’s from a drop down list, but it would be good if this was a visual selector. Hopefully we’ll have some more news on this in the near future.

July 24th, 2009

Getting Started with Glow

Joanne Connolly

Comments: 1 Comment Tags: Tags: SCA
 : Categories Glow Groups, National Groups, Uncategorized

All of Scotland’s 32 Local Authorities are now rolling out Glow to teachers and pupils, and in some cases, to parents. All have carefully planned programmes to provide training and support within their Authority to ensure successful implementation.
In many Local Authorities though, there are teachers who are keen to have access to Glow, prior to receiving any ‘official’ support, or to have ongoing access to information after training.
To support these users, a new National Glow Group has been created.
“Getting started with Glow” gives support and information to enable users to find out more about the structure of glow and to give access to additional online training resources.
In addition to this group, there is also a new national glow group called ‘SCA Support’ to give advice and support on the Site Collection Administrator role.
So, if you have recently been issued with your Glow username and password, but don’t know what to do next, visit ‘Getting started with Glow’ today!

July 7th, 2009

On holiday with Glow!

Joanne Connolly

Comments: 5 Comments » Tags: Tags: Add new tag, Mathematics
 : Categories Mathematics, West Lothian

John Sexton, a Maths teacher from the James Young High School in West Lothian, has taken Glow on holiday!

He has been speaking today at the The Ninth International Conference on Technology in Mathematics Teaching (ICTMT 9) in Metz, France, about his use of Glow in his classroom. The International conference is for Mathematicians who use ICT within their learning and teaching and John was invited to speak, having submitted a proposal earlier this year.

John said his presentation was well received, and that “a 15 minute presentation lasted for a further 15 minutes because of the number of questions that were asked. The audience was small (20) but they were VERY interested in Glow as a concept”

As a result of his presentation, John has made contact with a teacher from Australia who is keen to start up a joint project, using Glow. Watch this space for more info once the project gets up and running later in the year!

July 3rd, 2009

The Arts Get Glowing: Arts Across the Curriculum

Julia Fenby

Comments: 12 Comments » Tags: Tags: Anthony Horowitz, CfE, CPD, Glow, National glow groups, Partnerships, Scottish Book Trust, SLF
 : Categories Curriculum for Excellence

The Scottish Arts Council and Learning and Teaching Scotland have joined forces to bring arts education online through Glow. As a result of this partnership, a new post and project have been created to explore Glow’s potential to support innovative approaches to learning and teaching through the arts.

I have recently joined the Glow Team as Development Officer (Arts) and I’m hugely excited about this project’s potential to enable artists, performers and writers and Scotland’s schools to work and learn together in ways that have never been possible before. Glow is breaking down barriers and making learning experiences and opportunities more widely accessible – the recent Anthony Horowitz and Oscar Stringer Glow Meet events and the Willie Rodger print project are just a few examples of the exciting work that is already going on via Glow.

Over the next 22 months I will be working with selected Scottish Arts Council funded arts organisations on a number of ambitious demonstration projects, to be announced later this year, which will trial new ways of learning and will show how creativity and the arts are a fantastic way of supporting Curriculum for Excellence.

The project will provide CPD opportunities for both teachers and arts practitioners to work together to develop ideas, projects and resources. I am keen to make contact with teachers, cultural co-ordinators and local arts teams who would like to be involved so please do get in touch – I’ll be delighted to hear from you.

Look out for a new national Glow Group for the project which will highlight developments and opportunities providing a focal point for all related activity and a place to collaborate and share good practice. The project will also be showcased at the Scottish Learning Festival on 23 September.

Enquiries: [email protected]

Click here for press-release

Click here for FAQs

This post and project is funded through a partnership between Learning and Teaching Scotland and the Scottish Arts Council National Lottery Fund

July 1st, 2009

And Farewell…..

Jennifer McDougall

Comments: Comments Off Tags: Tags: glow 2
 : Categories Events, Glow Meet

On Thursday 18th June Glowing Thursday hosted a final farewell Glow Meet wth Laurie O’Donnell, Director of Learning and Technology at Learning and Teaching Scotland who left to pursue a new career on 30th June 2009.

During his Glow Meet Laurie told a range of participants, including HMIe, about his involvement with Glow and how excited about the differences that it was making in Scottish Education. Having joined LTS in 2001 as Head of Future Learning and Teaching Laurie has seen Glow through from an early stage and is looking forward to seeing what Glow 2 can bring to the children of Scotland.

The full Glow Meet with Laurie will be available in Glowing Thursdays Xtra very soon and keep track of Laurie in his Blog.

Congratulations also goes to Marie Dougan who took up the acting post of Director of Learning and Technology today (1st July). We hope that Marie will also join us soon in Glowing Thursday to tell us of her plans for Glow.

July 1st, 2009

Scotland’s Definitely Got Talent!

Jennifer McDougall

Comments: Comments Off Tags: Tags: comedy, music, singing
 : Categories Curriculum for Excellence, East Dunbartonshire, Events, Glow Meet, Local authorities, National Groups

As the school term neared a close across Scotland, Glowing Thursday held a very special event to entertain and involve schools from across the country.

Scotland’s Got Talent saw an inspiring afternoon of children from primaries and secondaries dancing, singing, doing comedy acts, playing musical instruments and even doing the Highland Fling!! Fourteen acts including schools in the Western Isles, East Lothian and North Lanarkshire all took part via Glow Meet to entertain more than 28 other classes throughout Scotland.

For some schools this was the first time that they had ever taken part in a Glow Meet and it was well receved by all. One teacher said “I thought the talent showcase was a great success” and another thought ‘It was good to see different schools’ settings for their acts and to see what works and what didn’t.’

All participants will receive a certificate and a small thank you gift for all their hard work and for keeping Scotland entertained at the end of a very long term!

A new schedule for next session’s Glowing Thursdays will be available at the beginning of August and will include ‘Scotland’s Christmas Talent’, so if you missed out this time make sure you join in with the next one. Find out more at http://www.glowhelp.me/thursdays