Social networking is an important aspect of our ICT strategy both within and without Glow.  It would be odd, therefore, if we didn’t use the medium ourselves!  There is a lot going on that Steven will keep you up to date with.  This includes;

• Glow;
• games and learning;
• interactive whiteboards; and
• child protection on-line.

Expect to see an update on all of these here very soon.

I will keep my hand in every now and then when something of relevance crosses my horizon.  For example, we are currently getting the in-service catalogue finalised at the moment.  A letter should be out about that this and we are working hard on the curriculum for excellence conference at the end of May.

I hope you continue to find this medium of communication useful.  I know that we have not had many comments over the past year but from conversations around it seems that lots of folk read the posts.

There were three sessions in the day.  Bernard McLeary, the chief executive of LTS gave the keynote address highlighting the major developments and timelines for the programme. 

Joyce Henderson led the second session outlining the development of broad outcomes in relation to ICT, Computing and Business Studies.  Joyce was supported by Tom Liversedge and Jillian Samson who gave a very helpful insight into the actual subject areas 

The afternoon session was led by David Muir to conside how teachers can utilise web 2.0 tools in learning and teaching in the context of computing and business studies.  This included the use of social bookmarking sites such as del.icio.us which allow bookmarks to be shared in class.  Other examples included the use of blogs and wikis in learning.  I have recorded the afternoon session and will post it as soon as I edit it down.

I am very keen to get feedback on the seminar so if you were there then please let me know.  I also have copies of the presentations.  If you want a copy then please email me.

If you are coming to Gleniffer tomorrow night then I look forward to seeing you then.  If you are not, then why not!

I was at the workshop for some of the day and have blogged what I was at on my blogger account.  I also uploaded some photos to my flickr account so you can see what it was like.

If you are spending money on new boards to be installed before the end of this financial year then you should think carefully about how you will deploy this expensive resource.  Putting one in a class will not, by itself, make learning and teaching any better!  There are  a number of training courses available in the catalogue and more are being added to take account of the upsurge in demand.  We are also in the process of training a number of staff as trainers thanks to the good offices of Steljes.  The training is very worth while and the boards can make a huge difference in class where they are well used and planned for.

The new boards don’t look a whole lot different to what is typically going in to school just now.  What was interesting was the addition of the scratch pad without needing a computer.  if a teacher comes into a class and there is no computer but there is a whiteboard then they can still use it.

A lot of schools are using SmartBoards and the numbers are increasing dramatically at the moment due to the extra money from the Scottish Executive.  Our supplier for these boards, Wilson and Garden, have been responding very well and doing a great job at the installation.Schools need to make sure they get their orders in early to ensure delivery and installation before the end of March.

What is really good to see is where these boards are now being used effectively in many schools to embed ICT in teaching.  Pupils are also getting to use them to engage, enhance presentations and generally develop a lot of different skills in many areas of the curriculum.

A good day with the chance to actually get some hands on experience of new devices without having to go to London in January!

I have attached a copy of the presentation as it includes a series of questions that we all need to thing through carefully.  glow for eds 19-09-06.ppt Thanks to Paul Smyth of RM for some of the content of the presentation.  It would be good if we could spend a more extended period of time discussing these issues. 

I have also attached a copy of Coming of Age.  Coming_of_age_v1-2.pdf   This is the superb resource that everyone involved in learning should be reading seriously.  It is also worth noting that Coming of Age is available as a podcast if you are too lazy to read it!

Add your comments and thoughts here or email me if you want to talk further about how Glow will impact on learning.

Our pilot schools will get the chance to see the interface early in the new session and everyone who attends SETT will certainly learn a lot about what it is going to look like! 

A video is being produced which will be issued to schools in the new session.  This will provide a very useful introduction to SSDN and will be a very useful way of getting awareness raised. 

I took over the ICT remit last September.  Prior to that I had been working on areas such as citizenship, race equality, vocational education and curriculum flexibility since joining the advisery team in 2003.  It was really good to be able to start off with a staff tutor who knew what she was doing.  Ann Crawford has been a superb support to both myself and all our schools over her time in the post.

Ann has continued to support schools through the extensive training catalogue as well as on-site support, monitoring and developing school websites and groups such as MasterClass.   Of course the development of the use of digital video and digital animation has been hugely valued by all those who have had the chance to be involved.  The video festivals at Lapwing Lodge have all be great (even although it always rains!) and the day on digital animation with the Masterclass group was super fun.

As the session has moved on the development of SSDN has become an ever increasinging part of the landscape.  We have now got to the point where we are ready to sign the customer agreement and have a fairly extensive implementation plan in place.   As we move into the new session we have identified four pilot schools and we aim to be involved in a fairly extensive piloting programme throughout the next session.  Watch this space for more details.  Training in the use of SSDN to support and enhance learning is clearly going to be a big issue and one of my tasks over the summer is to develop the training strategy.  Perhaps I should use the East Lothian model and put up a wiki for folk to put in their own ideas.

One of the big moves this session has been to start to look at curent and emerging technologies in relation to what is sometime called Web 2.0.  Using the C in ICT is becoming a major focus in relation to the way we use ICT to enhance collaborative learning, focus on different learning styles and involve more people in the use of ICT in learning.  This blog is part of that development.  The aim being to communicate more informally with all those involved in the use of ICT in Renfrewshire.   At the most recent ICT co-ordinators meetings David Muir from Strathclyde University gave a presentation on many of the tools associated with Web 2.0.  This included on-line bookmar systems such as del.icio.us, photo sharing such as flickr, blogging, podcasting and wikis.  There is plenty for us still to explore and it is hoped that John Johnson from Sandaig Primary will be able to attend the next ICT co-ordinators meeting to talk about pupil blogging. Even more exciting is the plan for an evening seminar in February 2007 where the whole area will be showcased.  Watch this space for more details.

So at the end of the session we can look back at a lot of areas of development and on to a lot more in the coming one.  I wish everyone a very happy holiday and look forward to working with you again in session 2006/07.