Category: Curriculum Level

November 6, 2015

Pupils as Digital Leaders at Kinnaird Primary School

Malcolm Wilson, ICT Curriculum Development Officer within the Curriculum Support team of Service and School Improvement, Falkirk Council Children’s Services, supported a session with the Digital Leaders group of pupils in Kinnaird Primary School.

These pupils are being supported for them to then support classes around the school in the use of technologies in their classrooms. They are led by teacher Karen Nichol.

Office 365 in Glow

This session let the pupils explore different features within Office 365, including a specially created SharePoint site for them in Microsoft Office 365 (which is accessed via their Glow username), their sites for each class, one for their Digital Leaders Group, their own site, the local authority site and a site within the national site.

Communicating and Collaborating

All learners in Glow have access to their own Outlook email account (each user has 50GB storage, and each email can have attachments up to 25MB), a discussion app (which provides the facility for pupils sharing questions, comments or responses to set tasks (peer to peer or teacher-pupils). weblink sharing, and a document store (where documents were created using Microsoft Word Online as part of Office 365, meaning that the document can be created online without need for the software to be installed on the PC or mobile device).

Simultaneous Collaborative Writing in Word Online

The pupils all worked simultaneously on a shared Word Online document in their Digital Leaders site (and were shown how the same could also be done in their own OneDrive personal storage area called MySite, giving them unlimited storage space online). They all collaborated on the same document online all at the same time from their own PCs – and there was general excitement as they vied with each other to add lines of text, increase or decrease font sizes, and see the resulting writing from the rest of the group change in front of their eyes, with flags in different colours indicating who had added or amended each section of the writing.

Access via Mobile Device

Pupils were told about how they can be access Glow via a mobile device, with different apps for each tool, including Office Mobile (in order to be able to edit Word or Powerpoint for example) and OneDrive.

Newsfeed and Discussion tool for all pupils

Each class site in Kinnaird Prmary School’s Glow site has their own online collaborative class space created for them. Each class space is set up by default with access for pupils to view content added by their teacher, and with teachers able to add content anywhere in their site. The Discussion part and newsfeed app are both set for pupils to be able to contribute so that a teacher can set tasks, or ask questions and pupils are able to respond. The Digital Leaders have their own site which is set up for these specific pupils to be able to contribute in any part of their site, but with all other pupils to be able to respond to questions or tasks set by the digital leaders in the discussions part or newsfeed app.

Want to know more about Digital Leaders?

Several schools have pupils who act as supporters to other pupils in the use of digital technologies. More information about Digital Leaders can be found here: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/fa/ICTFalkirkPrimaries/pupils-as-digital-leaders/

August 28, 2015

Glowbusters – an interactive online trail for teachers to use with pupils to introduce them to a range of tools and resources in Glow

Malcolm Wilson, ICT Curriculum Development Officer within the Curriculum Support team of Service and School Improvement, Falkirk Council Children’s Services, presented a session for staff from a number of teaching staff from around Falkirk Council schools called: “Glowbusters – an interactive online trail for teachers to use with pupils to introduce them to a range of tools and resources in Glow”

This had been devised as a collaborative activity with Chrissie Lamont (Education Scotland), Karen-Ann McSwiggan (from RM Education) and Dawn Adams (Education Scotland) as one way to provide an engaging, fun interactive activity which teachers could use as an introductory activity with a class of pupils to let them experience a wide range of the tools and resources available to Glow users.

Through a series of “missions” the pupils have to explore many of the tools and resources available to Glow users, and find clues within each, while using some of the tools to create and share with their peers and their teacher. So participants using the Glowbusters activities learn to use Word Online, Powerpoint Online, OneDrive, Outlook Mail and Newsfeed (all part of the Microsoft Office 365 for Education suite included for all users of Glow), and are able to find and explore WordPress blogs, Wikispaces Wikis and Adobe Connect video-conferencing tools available to all Glow users.

Staff and pupils in Falkirk Council educational establishments can access the Glowbusters Falkirk interactive activity trail at the link below (note that a Glow username and password is required):

http://tinyurl.com/nmjalt2

June 5, 2015

Falkirk Learning for Sustainability Showcase Had a “Great Buzz”

Our first Falkirk Learning to Achieve Showcase took place on 4th June between 4-5.30pm at Camelon Education Centre. 64 practitioners came along to get ideas, or to share work they had done with pupils relating to the themes in the Learning for Sustainability word cloud (top left).

17 pupils from St Bernadette’s RC PS, St Francis Xavier’s RC PS, Deanburn PS, Larbert HS & Stenhousemuir PS – stole the show with their enthusiastic and passionate explanations of their work. They very naturally demonstrated that they were confident individuals, successful learners, effective contributors and responsible citizens. Ellie Williams, a pupil from Bo’ness Academy, held the room spellbound with her performance of her own song “Train Track” then “Ae Fond Kiss”. Her music and lyrics powerfully communicated her feelings about her own community and were so evocative when combined with her beautiful, note-perfect singing.

Anthony Hutcheson, Development Officer for Learning for Sustainability, Education Scotland opened the event with a brilliant, concise presentation of what LfS is all about. He really set the scene for the event and has been a great support for our LfS mobilisation team (Jane Jackson ,Yvonne McBlain, Megan Farr & Tony Bragg) and our emerging Falkirk Learning for Sustainability network.

During the short formal part of the event programme we were delighted to celebrate the achievements of 7 teachers who have gained Professional Recognition from GTCS for their Global Storyline development work. Kim McAuley, Global Education Advisor with the West of Scotland Development Education Centre (WOSDEC) kindly presented the following teachers with their certificates Liz Stephen & Laura Beattie (Deanburn PS), Heather Nicol (Carron PS), Holly Keenan (Bonnybridge PS), Brenda Bennie & Gemma Douglas (Kinnaird PS), Jennifer Main (Wallacestone PS). Our education service is proud to recognise this achievement, and it was great that the audience attending were able to help us celebrate their contribution in a public way.

Jane Jackson linked the content of Anthony’s presentation really well to set the scene for Ellie’s performance and then the mingling and sharing of good practice began.

17 establishments were represented at the event: Mariner Support Service, Kinnaird PS, Rannoch Nursery, Bonnybridge PS, Deanburn PS, St Francis Xavier’s RC PS nursery class and their SCIAF project, Stenhousemuir PS, Larbert HS, St Bernadette’s RC PS, Carrongrange School, Larbert Village PS, Wallacestone PS, Slammanan PS, Limerigg PS, Denny HS, Airth PS and Grangemouth HS. Our own Learning Resource Service took over room 13 and turned it into a wonderful cornucopia of resources useful for supporting teaching and learning around Learning for Sustainability – as always, these were beautifully presented and selected. Visitors could circulate from this room, via the sustainably decorated improvised café (where consultation on LfS in Falkirk could be left, and leaflets could be picked up) into the main market place, then into the foyer where all of the stalls and displays were set up.

The event was made even more valuable by the participation of a number of organisations who support teaching and learning through Learning for Sustainability, and/or can provide professional learning for practitioners. These included Communities along the Carron (CATCA), Scottish Development Education Centre (SCOTDEC), Project Trust, the British Red Cross, and Grounds for Learning. The John Muir Trust, and Traidcraft were kind enough to send in leaflets and materials for distribution at the event. Yvonne McBlain and Jane Jackson would like to thank everyone involved for their enthusiastic participation, and for creating that lovely BUZZ.

May 13, 2015

Sign up for the Falkirk Learning for Sustainability Showcase!

Falkirk Council Education Services will hold a Learning for Sustainability Showcase event in Camelon Education Centre on 4th June between 4-5.30pm.

Jane Jackson and Yvonne McBlain are working with colleagues in schools and in the Service Support and Improvement team to make the programme for the event as rich as possible.

So far, we know that Scotdec will be there to share the professional learning they can offer and lots of wonderful resources teachers can use with their pupils. We are thrilled that Anthony Hutcheson, development officer from Education Scotland will welcome everyone AND will be sharing the new LfS professional learning area in Glow. Organisations like Opal, the John Muir Trust, Royal Highland Education Trust are all coming along to share how they can contribute to learning for pupils and for staff. CATCA will be there, and members of the Outdoor Learning Network will show how they have developed learning outwith the classroom. Wosdec will also attend to help us celebrate the achievements of teachers and pupils taking part in the Global Storyline training programme.

We know that Falkirk teachers and early years officers use the Learning for Sustainability theme across many areas of the curriculum and are pleased to have a growing number of applications to share this work at the showcase. We know there is lots more good practice out there though so please click here for an application form and instructions if you would like to share your work too. The word cloud above shows just how diverse Learning for Sustainability is, and with your help, we are keen to show as wide a range of work as possible.

Don’t worry if you don’t have anything to share this year at this event – you can always sign up using code LfS1 in CPD Manager. We would love to see you there to help build a strong and appreciative audience at the event. The more, the merrier – we look forward to seeing you on the 4th June!

March 18, 2015

Connecting the Learning at St Bernadette’s PS

Yvonne McBlain, curriculum support officer with Falkirk Council, enjoyed hearing how Cathy Quinn and staff colleagues at St Bernadette’s RC PS are developing pupil awareness of their learning across the curriculum. Over the last two school sessions, Yvonne has worked with staff to explore whether pupils understand what the curriculum actually is. Read more about the initial enquiry project by clicking here.

Staff have devised learning experiences which develop pupil understanding of the subjects within the curriculum, and piloted these during “Focus Weeks” so that children could :

consider how the knowledge and skill in one curricular area links with knowledge and skills in other curricular areas; make connections in their learning
identify their strengths and development needs and know what they should do to improve.
connect their learning in school to the skills they will need for learning, life and work

All school staff are therefore beginning to build a toolkit and simple processes which should help pupils and staff to track progression of learning across the four capacities and the four contexts for learning. Yvonne and Cathy agreed that other schools will be working towards this also, and would be glad to hear from anyone wishing to collaborate and explore further – yvonne.mcblain@falkirk.gov.uk or catherine.quinn@falkirk.gov.uk

The photo above shows the characters which John Cloherty, principal teacher, primary 6/7 pupils created. They are: Robbie the responsible citizen, Elizabeth the effective contributor, Sam the successful learner, and Carly the confident individual. John and his class felt that using a storyline approach and having characters would help even the youngest children in their school understand what the 4 capacities actually mean.

Teachers in St Bernadette’s PS are following up on Yvonne’s initial work to build pupil understanding of the curriculum by designing new learning experiences suitable for their pupils in every stage. The photo on the left shows John’s simple but effective method. His pupils have made a simple curriculum subject display on their class room window. They have subdivided each curriculum area into its subjects and its organisers. At relevant points during their learning, they can then look at the display to help them discuss and understand how their learning is connected.

February 23, 2015

Pupils as Digital Leaders in Laurieston Primary School

Malcolm Wilson, ICT Curriculum Development Officer within the Curriculum Support team of Service and School Improvement, Falkirk Council Education Services, supported a session with the Digital Leaders group of pupils in Laurieston Primary School

These pupils are being supported for them to then support classes around the school in the use of technologies in their classrooms. They are led by Depute Headteacher Debbie Calderwood.

Office 365 in Glow

Communicating and Collaborating

Simultaneous Collaborative Writing in Word Online

National Collaborative Story Writing Using Word Online

The pupils were encouraged to see if they could use what they had learned using the collaborative writing feature of Word Online to take part in the national collaborative story writing “Digital Storytelling Across Scotland” during the first week in March as part of the National Digital Learning Week. Class sign up and are allocated a specific hour within the week to develop a story started by others, and take the story in whatever direction they wish during that hour. And all learners throughout the country can also view, at any time during the week, the progress of the story developing in front of their eyes! More information can be found at the link below:

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/ndlf/2015/02/16/digital-storytelling-across-scotland/

Access via Mobile Device

Pupils were interested to know that everything can be accessed via a mobile device, with different apps for each tool, including Office Mobile (in order to be able to edit Word or Powerpoint for example) and OneDrive for Business (the ordinary OneDrive app is for the likes of a personal Hotmail account).

Newsfeed and Discussion tool for all pupils

Each class site in Laurieston Prmary School’s Glow site has their own online collaborative class space created for them. Each class space is set up by default with access for pupils to view content added by their teacher, and with teachers able to add content anywhere in their site. The Discussion part and newsfeed app are both set for pupils to be able to contribute so that a teacher can set tasks, or ask questions and pupils are able to respond. The Digital Leaders have their own site which is set up for these specific pupils to be able to contribute in any part of their site, but with all other pupils to be able to respond to questions or tasks set by the digital leaders in the discussions part or newsfeed app.

Want to know more about Digital Leaders?

February 17, 2015

The SCOTS Programme in Falkirk – Schools College Opportunities To Succeed

Steve Dougan, Falkirk Council Opportunities for All Co-ordinator, has been working with staff in all of Falkirk Council’s high schools as well as staff in Forth Valley College to develop the SCOTS (Schools College Opportunities To Succeed) programme for learners in Falkirk. The video below provides a summary of the programme and the positive impact it has had on young people.

https://vimeo.com/84181302

February 16, 2015

Developing collaborative online class spaces in Office 365 in Glow

Malcolm Wilson, ICT Curriculum Development Officer within the Curriculum Support team of Service and School Improvement, Falkirk Council Education Services has worked with key staff at Denny High School, Graeme High School, Falkirk High School, Braes High School, Grangemouth High School, Bo’ness Academy, Larbert High School and St Mungo’s High School to develop online collaborative class spaces with Microsoft Office 365 in Glow.

Office 365 in Glow

One part of Glow is Microsoft Office 365 which includes sites created within SharePoint (all accessed via their Glow username). So, in collaboration with key staff in each establishment, sites were created specific to each school for each curricular area, subject department or faculty as appropriate to each school.

Class Shared Resources

All curricular areas, faculties or subject departments have their own online space created for them within Office 365 in Glow. These spaces include:

a discussion app (which provides the facility for pupils sharing their work with the teacher who has set the task, and for asking questions in a controlled class environment, peer to peer or teacher-pupil in the confines of a private class area);
a links section for sharing weblinks;
a document store (where files of any kind can be uploaded form elsewhere, or can be created online using Microsoft Word Online, Powerpoint Online or Excel Online as part of Office 365, meaning that the document can be created online without need for the software to be installed on the PC or mobile device);
a media gallery (where, for example, videos or audio recording can be uploaded and which play without the need to download the recordings). With unlimited storage space, and files uploaded by a quick drag and drop, either singly or multiple uploads, this is ideal for teachers using the flipped classroom concept to share videos explaining concepts for pupils.
navigation links back to the school’s main Glow site, as well as to the main department or faculty sites.

Further apps can be added to these class spaces (so some include a class calendar, or tasks app for tracking tasks set for groups), and each page is easily editable by the class teacher. In most cases sites are set up so that pupils can automatically access the sites but cannot anywhere except the discussion section (where the pupils can ask questions, tasks can be set for them, and pupils can add attachments or links to work completed by them elsewhere such as their own OneDrive cloud storage in Glow).

Access rights can be changed by staff should they so wish. Staff can add and edit throughout the class sites as they are given full administrator rights in their sites.

Task Workflow – easy, secure sharing of pupil work with their teacher

A task can be set by a teacher (perhaps using the discussion webpart in their class site)
Each individual pupil can then create their response in their own OneDrive using Word Online (so Word does not need installed on any device)
Each pupil then shares their completed task with their teacher (just by clicking on “Share” within the document, adding the teacher’s Glow username and clicking “share” to automatically both send it by email to the teacher, and making it available in the “Documents shared with me” part of the teacher’s OneDrive for easy access)
The teacher, with whom the pupil’s document has been shared, can then either edit the document in Word Online or simply click on “Insert” in the edit menu to add comments at appropriate parts in the pupil’s document, to provide feedback, encouragement and suggestions for change. All of this is able to be seen by the pupil instantly the changes or comments have been added.

Pupils collaborating on a joint Powerpoint presentation using Office 365 Powerpoint Online

Paul Casey, a Computing Science teacher, has described the process he followed with his S1 pupils using Office 365, and specifically the use of Powerpoint Online so that pupils could collaborate on joint Powerpoint presentations, and add comments during the process, which he, as the teacher, was also able to see as the work was progressing.

Access via Mobile Device

All parts of Glow can be accessed via a mobile device either via the mobile device browser or via different apps for each tool, including Office Mobile (in order to be able to edit Word or Powerpoint for example) and OneDrive for Business (the ordinary OneDrive app is for the likes of a personal Hotmail account).

Setting alerts for changes

The sites include a guide to setting alerts on the sites – users can set an alert in their class site so that they get sent a message whenever anything gets added or changed in their site.

Resources to support Staff in Using Glow

Staff can click on the following link to access support material for using Glow: http://tinyurl.com/l5zmeqw (Glow login required – access restricted to staff); as well as at the national Glow Connect site: http://connect.glowscotland.org.uk/

How to add further class sites

As a template site has been created for each of these schools then a teacher can create additional sites, should there be a need to do so, within just a few minutes. The video below provides a step-by-step guide to creating a new class site, where a template site has previously been created for that school.

http://youtu.be/XgSetXdYJ0I

February 5, 2015

Developing an online collaborative classroom with Microsoft Office 365 in Glow

Malcolm Wilson, ICT Curriculum Development Officer within the Curriculum Support team of Service and School Improvement, Falkirk Council Education Services led sessions with all teaching staff at Nethermains Primary School, Antonine Primary School, Carmuirs Primary School, Bonnybridge Primary School, Shieldhill Primary School, Denny Primary School, St Joseph’s Primary School and St Patrick’s Primary School on developing an online collaborative classroom with Microsoft Office 365 in Glow.

Office 365 in Glow

These sessions led staff through an exploration of various features within Office 365, including class sites created within SharePoint as part of Microsoft Office 365 (which is accessed via their Glow username), as well as the Falkirk Council local authority site and a site within the national site which provided exemplars of pupil engagement activities.

Task Workflow – easy, secure sharing of pupil work with their teacher

Each Glow user (pupils and staff) has an Outlook email account as part of the Microsoft Office 365 account included in Glow where each user has 50GB storage, and each email can have attachments up to 25MB, and their own secure cloud storage (each user has unlimited storage in this OneDrive). So staff were shown (and carried out this themselves) how a task can be set by a teacher (perhaps using the discussion webpart in their class site) and each individual pupil can then create their response in their own OneDrive using Word Online (so Word does not need installed on any device), and then they can share it with their teacher (just by clicking on “Share” within the document, adding the teacher’s Glow username and clicking “share” to automatically both send it by email to the teacher, and making it available in the “Documents shared with me” part of the teacher’s OneDrive for easy access).

The teacher, with whom the pupil’s document has been shared, can then either edit the document in Word Online or simply click on “Insert” in the edit menu to add comments at appropriate parts in the pupil’s document, to provide feedback, encouragement and suggestions for change. All of this is able to be seen by the pupil instantly the changes or comments have been added.

Collaborative Document

Staff were shown how they could open a Word Online document in Office 365 in Glow to be editable by as many users as they chose, opening the possibility for groups of pupils to collaborate on the same document online all at the same time from their own computers, or mobile devices – staff trying this out could see that they could all view the same document being edited in front of their eyes with different coloured flags appearing on screen to show who was editing the different parts of the document.

Class Shared Resources

All classes have their own online space within Office 365 in Glow. A class space includes, by default, a discussion app (which provides the facility for pupils sharing their work with the teacher who has set the task, and for asking questions in a controlled class environment, peer to peer or teacher-pupil in the confines of a private class area); weblink sharing; a document store (where documents were created using Microsoft Word Online as part of Office 365, meaning that the document can be created online without need for the software to be installed on the PC or mobile device); and a picture gallery. Further apps can be added to these class spaces (so some include a class calendar, or media-specific gallery for uploading videos or audio recordings), and each page is easily editable by the class teacher. In most cases class sites are set up so that pupils can only add to the discussion area (though this can be changed by staff should they so wish), whereas staff can add and edit throughout the class site.

Collaboration via Video-Conferencing

Staff were shown that Glow includes two options for staff to use video-conferencing between classes or between schools.

These are the Office 365 Lync tool (which works like Skype, with which many are already familiar), set up as simply as adding an entry in the online calendar, inviting collaborators by adding their username, ticking the box to add an online meeting, and then clicking the share button to send an invitation via email to all invited to take part in the video-conferencing meeting. Currently this is only available to staff users.

The second option is Adobe Connect which provides more options for varying access permissions for different users, so that some may be able to present a Powerpoint presentation, others may be able to talk via microphone, or some may only be able to view the content and video (interacting via chat text messaging).

Access via Mobile Device

Setting alerts for changes

Staff were shown how to set an alert in their class site so that they get sent a message whenever anything gets added or changed in their site. They were shown how to click onto their own MySite in Office 365 to access a page where they can see all of the sites they want to get to quickly (both within and outwith Glow), the contacts in Glow, the documents they store in their OneDrive and more.

Online Pupil Engagement Activities

They also had a look at the national Glow Winter Challenges site in which pupils have a host of activities which they can complete in order to gain points and online badges – which can be used right away with pupils, or provide ideas for teachers to adapt for use in their own class sites.

Glow provide access to hosts of resources with just one username and password

Glow provides access to many online resources which are provided with their Glow account, including, for example, TigTag Science videos and teaching materials matched to Curriculum for Excellence Science at all levels, Scran (enormous digital archive of videos and images with associated information), film archives and several other subject-specific and cross-curricular resources.