This might be worth having a wee look at for engaging kids in some of the learning and teaching.

During next session we are expecting to continue to support the uptake of GLOW in learning and teaching.  All schools will have GLOW on their improvement plans and there will be lots of support for teachers developing theire practice.

If you are at SLF then find us and say hello.

Computer Games and Learning is another area on which we will focus this session. I mentioned the magnificent work carried out using Gamemaker by Janette Thomson with her P7 class at Craigielea in a previous post. There is an in-service course on Games Design and Learning (and Gamemaker in particular) on Thursday 6th September – please try to come along if you are interested in becoming involved with this project. The Renfrewshire on line CPD catalogue contains further details.

We are also participating in the LT scotland computer games and learning pilot programme organised by Derek Robertson and the Consolarium based in Dundee. I distributed several games consoles (PS2 and Wii) to a number of Primary Schools in June. The idea is that the teacher develops a topic of work based around the context of a game which will open doors to learning for the children to such an extent that everyone is engaged and on task. Once again I will keep you posted as this exciting iniative develops.

Enjoy the weekend.

Steven

Day 229 - close up,
originally uploaded by Gordon McKinlay.

The new session starts this week. We are about to start getting geared up for implementing Glow in Renfrewshire. A lot of planning has been done and things are now in place to get the ball rolling as the schools return.

Watch this space for lots of information about how we plan to proceed.

We spent a busy afternoon this week with staff from RM putting in place the plans that will allow us to implement Glow as early in the new session as possible. This was a very productive afternoon and I feel that we have now got all the important issues sorted out including the technical issues and training issues.

Importantly for staff in schools in Renfrewshire, EasyMail will not vanish at the end of June as we thought a few months ago. We are now looking at a direct switch from EasyMail to GlowMail in September or October. This should mean no loss of service.

On the training front, Steven and Ann have been working very hard to get all of this in place. There should now be an administrator a teacher administrator and a Glow champion in every school. Training for each of these people is in place. Steven will send out dates and further details at the start of the new session.

In the meantime, the last phase of Glow piloting has just about come to an end. Each of the elements being tested this time round all seem to work through our firewall. This was despit a wee glitch on mail day last week. Thanks to everyone who took part in that exercise.

It is now the end of term and staff in schools will be away for a well deserved break. Tose of us who don’t deserve a break are going to continue to work at making sure that everything is in place for the launch of Glow in the autumn.

You should also be aware of the Glow launch evening on the 9th of October. This will give everyone a great opportunity to see Glow first hand. This event has been designed on the back of the very successful showcase event we had last February. Watch this space for more details early in the new session.

Have a great summer!

Gordon

Day 170 - Is there anybody out there?,
originally uploaded by Gordon McKinlay.

I have now managed to get round to trying out some more aspects of the Glow phase 3 pilot. I was keen to try out the messenger feature. However, as far as I can see there is no-one else on-line!

Anyone fancy a chat? We can set up a time to try it out!

My background as a secondary Computing teacher enabled me to identify Gamemaker as a suitable language to introduce pupils to  the Software Development Process.  It will not replace established languages like VB, but it does contain a scripting language, and will certainly complement them.  I recommend that Computing teachers check this out.

However it is in the Primary sector that I have beem most impressed by the potential of Gamemaker to enhance teaching and learning.  A P7 class at a local primary have used Gamemaker as the stimulus for an imaginative writing exercise.  I visited last month and it was fantastic to see pupils of all abilities fully engaged in the learning process.

Pupils began by deciding on the characters they wished to include in the game (two fish, Gimbal and Bubbles!) and then found images to represent the characters from the internet.  These characters were created in Gamemaker as sprites and objects and the game started to take shape.  The pupils printed the characters and stuck them into their project booklets. They then worked individually to write their own stories about these characters.

One morning a diver was added to the scenario - the class brainstormed others like a crab, shark, mermaid but after a vote they settled on the diver.  Democracy in action. They also decided that a shipwreck should be included as a background to the game. Once again images were sourced from the internet, agreed upon and pupils then returned to their work books where they added in the new images and expanded their stories.  The diver character and the shipwreck background were added to Gamemaker before the pupils moved on to create their game.

As I drove back to the office I considered these activities in relation to the four capacities of a Curriculum for Excellence.  Well this is a mixed ability class – but they were all on task and enjoying the lesson.  Of course some stories were more detailed than others but every pupil was enthusiastic, offering suggestions and contributing to the best of their ability.  The class teacher intends that the P7 pupils will show their finished games, and read the accompanying story to the infant class before the summer break.  What a fantastic way for these youngsters to end their Primary school days.

I returned to the school last week and the class teacher was delighted with the response she had received from her own P7 pupils and the infants.  The P7 pupils all enjoyed success by producing games and stories that they then had the confidence to share with their peers and the infant class.  The infants listened to the stories and were then given the opportunity to play the games.  It was so successful that the P7 pupils repeated their presentation for the P2 class – the P2 teacher asked if the P7’s could do this every day!

Successful Learners, Confident Individuals, Effective Contributors, Responsible Citizens?- I certainly think so.