Gordon McKinlay- Education Matters

Introducing Glow – ICT Coordinators Meeting

September 27, 2006

At the meeting of ICT coordinators on September the 27th, Paul Smyth of RM gave an introduction to Glow.  He made the point that Glow is the new name for the Scottish Schools Digital Network.  There will be 800,000 users across teachers and pupils in Scotland.  It is browser based and will work on any Mac or PC with Internet access and a browser. 

The service will be safe and secure.  The overview of the system highlighted :

• authentication system – data drawn from SEEMIS
• user directory – this will allow teachers to find each other
• Virtual Teaching and Learning environment – will include resources such as SCRAN, Scotland’s People, etc.  This part of the system will allow huge flexibility and alternative approaches to learning and teaching
• Collaborative tools – including email, web conferencing, etc.

The training model to support staff in schools is currently under development.  In Renfrewshire this will be based primarily on the work of the staff tutor with support from the pilot schools.

 Renfrewshire is one of the pilot authorities.  Four of our schools will be working with RM during October and November to try to break the system.  The four schools initially involved in piloting are Barsail Primary, St Fillans Primary, Johnstone High and Park Mains High.

The tools will become available over the months leadng up to the full implementation becoming available after the summer of 2007.

Paul then gave the group a demonstration of what the Glow portal currently looks like.  It was noted that there may be changes as a result of the testing which is about to take place.  The demo included the collaborative glow groups and targetted news which are an important part of the first phase.  The web parts for other facilities were also noted.  Glow groups can be set up at all sorts of different levels including, school, local authority and nationally.  These tools will allow professionals to share their practice locally and across Scotland.

Entry Filed under: GLOW, ICT, IT, Renfrewshire, SSDN, edublog, education, glowscotland, gordonmckinlay, in-service. .