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Our Cloud Share-Pinboards for video and image sharing

May 17, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

Our Cloud Share

A mini Pinterest?

This is probably best described as basically a mini-Pinterest, if anyone is familiar with that site. Pinterest is used to gather images and videos from all over the web and they are displayed on Pinboards.

This site is an Education version for Cfe but works in the same way, with users able to add a wee bookmarklet (button type thing) to their internet bookmarks bar and then browse the web and click the button to pin stuff to topic boards on our site.

It makes it so easy to share videos and images and pave the way for ‘flipped’ learning. It is fully responsive, meaning that it is designed for iPad/tablet and smartphone display and it enables revision and study anywhere at any time because of that.

What is there so far?

We have added almost 300 pins so far and that included videos on just about every aspect of Higher English courses as well as loads of Maths videos that basically talk users through worked solutions to Maths questions from SQA past papers.

We have also done a few literature boards on school favourites like Of Mice and Men and Edwin Morgan poetry and it is already shaping up into an amazing collection of content.

How can you use the site?

You can use the site just to look at what others have added by browsing the homepage to view the most popular items or by clicking on a CfE category to view what has been curated under subject areas

Why not sign up and add your own stuff?

Anyone can join the site and add some boards and pins of their own choosing. Just find video (you tube and vimeo) and images around the web and then click the bookmarklet that you drag to your bookmarks bar and the rest is magic. You will all be familiar with different areas of the curriculum and could find videos specific to your courses and then pin them to boards you create.

We will end up with a smashing resource

This would really help the site as a whole, as we would end up covering loads of topics and have a massive collection of web content that has been gathered and curated by teachers who know what they want for learning in Scottish classrooms.

It is really quite easy!

We promise you it is easy to do and, though we are hoping to knock a video together to demo it as well, we are confident you will manage. You can sign-up with Facebook and Twitter or email and then you will be able to add boards, drag that wee share button to your bookmarks bar and start pinning to your boards.

What sort of things should we pin?

We need Primary and early years stuff, especially, mainly because we have added a lot of secondary content so far, but basically any video (You Tube and Vimeo) or image from a website can be added. Though it is only images from websites, the images then take you to the website when you click on them so it is a handy way to save websites for later use and organise them under topics.

How might teachers use the site?

Well, we imagine a primary teacher planning to teach the second world war as a topic. She would be able to gather images from all over the web and pin them to a board she creates called WW2 or something.

There are bound to be videos and images galore for that and the end result would be a smashing collection that displays beautifully and is there for the next time she teaches it. Pupils can use the board for homework and they can sign up to add stuff they collect on the topic.

A great way to share pupils’ creativity

Pupils could also create their own images and videos to demonstrate their learning and then pin them to the very same topic board afterwards. How awesome would that be? There’s even a built in comment and rating system for collaboration and feedback.

The boards are also public, so they can be viewed by everyone else as well, even users who just want to look at the site content and not actually create boards of their own or add any pins. Space? Vikings? Victorians? Any topic/area of the curriculum can be a board. You just choose a grouping for your content and then add pins to it from all over the web.

FAQs?

Why not just use Pinterest?

Well because it is too busy with other content in broad categories and doesn’t focus on the curriculum. Learning would get lost and browsing Pinterest would have everyone distracted by all its mass of other content.

Why not just use Glow?

Have you ever tried to add a video to Glow? It is far from easy. This is not replacing Glow either. This is a resource. Glow provides tools.

Why do we need this site?

Because the future is visual. Videos and images have to be the future of learning content because of the move towards mobile devices. Most people now browse the web from mobile devices, rather than desktops. Text does not work so well on mobile devices so information has become visual.

What if a teacher wants to add a Powerpoint?

We would like to add this functionality but, for the moment, the site only supports videos and images. However, you could change it into a video and add it to You Tube or add the separate slides as images.

What if someone includes something rubbish?

We have added a ratings system to the site so that users will be able to rate every pin and add comments to correct misinformation or respond to the resource. Popular content will then display first.

Give it a go

Glow news

RM Unify

January 9, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

RM Unify has been in place for staff now for a few weeks. The new launchpad and app library for Glow is a welcome improvement and transforms the way Glow looks and operates.

But Glow’s rubbish, isn’t it?

Glow has had its critics over the years but your Glow login gives you access to so many tools and excellent resources that you may want to reconsider your take on it.

But it’s really hard to use…

Fair enough, Glow groups and the act of navigating through its inner depths was never easy, let alone actually creating the kind of content that 21st century learners and teachers began to require. However, that initial Glow offering has been seriously improved upon in recent times and the Glow we have today is a whole lot better than it may have been the last time you checked it out.

So what should I be using Glow for?

Blogs, wikis, forums and the web conferencing tool, Adobe Connect are all globally-recognised, ‘best of breed’ softwares that you are given safe, secure and free access to using your Glow login. In addition to all of that, you get relevant and dynamic resources like Twig videos, the Daily What and Just 2 easy tools. Collaboration and Creativity is easier now than ever and these are 21st century skills that we all need to embrace. Glow makes this possible with a single login and a secure environment.

What about new Glow?

Well, it’s complicated! Microsoft and RM are working in partnership during 2013 to launch the RM Unify alongside Office 365 suite of tools. Office 365 provides email, blog tools, forums, wikis and cloud versions of its core products: Word, Powerpoint and Excel. In some ways, it is a lot like Glow, because it also gives you Sharepoint for collaboration within a group structure. Sharepoint is actually the software used for the clunky old Glow we are moving on from, albeit in a much, much earlier (2003) form.

What about after 2013?

The RM/Microsoft contract runs until December 2013 and, after that, present Glow will be switched off, so to speak. The Government has appointed a working group (ICT Excellence group) to propose what Glow should evolve into beyond the present contract and they will implement that solution for 2014 and beyond. Their thinking is that Glow should be a single sign-on to access any tools/resources teachers and learners wish/need to use and that it should not be limited to one platform. In some ways, you can see how we are moving towards that already, with the App approach in RM Unify and all the different tools that are accessed using a Glow login.

So will we still have Microsoft 365 and RM Unify in 2014 and beyond?

That is undecided at the moment. It may be that we only have Microsoft 365 for this one year, 2013, and then the core suite of tools may be provided by someone else, like Google’s Apps for Education suite. It may be that, since they are both free, a Glow login in 2014 would allow you to choose to use either one of those and others. Edmodo is becoming very popular as an extremely easy way to share to classes and it may be that Glow in 2014 and beyond would include such tools as that. Dropbox is the most popular file-sharing platform out there and it may be that Glow uses something like that for its file-sharing.

So should we just forget about training and development of Microsoft 365 in 2013?

No. Absolutely not. These changes are very welcome and a tremendous leap forward. What you need to remember is that the tools we have nowadays have a lot of common features and most content can be shared between services/platforms fairly easily via a simple export/import. Web email via Office 365 Outlook will have many benefits, as will online softwares in the cloud. One Note will be available as an online interactive notebook and that will have massive opportunity for classroom use. It is beginning not to matter so much what platforms we use, as long as we become familiar with Cloud computing and storing stuff online, rather than on devices. Think of the way Apps can be on any device/platform and you begin to understand how a Glow login may work, a bit like the ‘sign in with Facebook’ process that may web services have, you will see how Glow logins will become more and more valuable as a way to use one account to access a host of different tools and resources.

We are getting there!

Collaborative tools, Glow, Glow Help, Wikis

User roles and wikis

January 8, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

Glow Wikis have to be created in a Glow group or school site, they cannot be placed on role based sites (e.g. Staff Home, Pupil Home)

The role a user has in a wiki is defined by their role in the area of Glow that is hosting the wiki, most commonly their role in the Glow group to which the wiki web part was added.

Glow Group Role	Wiki Rights
Administrator	Edit existing pages, add new pages, delete pages, rename pages, view page history
Web Designer	Edit existing pages, add new pages, rename pages
Contributor	Edit existing pages, add new pages, rename pages
Reader with Discussions	Read only access
Reader	Read only access

Forums, Glow Help

Why use a forum?

January 7, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

And if you prefer to read, here’s an outline of what a forum is and how it can be used:

This article provides an overview of Glow Forums, further posts provide more detail in how to create a forum, post entries in to a forum and moderate other users.

Key points about a Glow Forum are:

A Glow Forum has to be linked to either a site (local authority or school) or a Glow group. They are created by adding a web part to the relevant page and then using the functionality of the web part to create the forum. The web part is called Glow Forum.

A Glow Forum can also be called a discussion board. A discussion board is made up of one or many topics.

A topic can be started by anyone. To start a topic the user creates a new post in a new topic. Other users can then join in the topic by making their own posts and replying to existing posts.

When viewing a discussion board the user is shown all the topics. The order in which the topics are displayed depends on when a user last posted – the topic with the most recent post will be at the top of the list. Shown against each topic is the number of times anyone has looked at it and the number of posts in the topic.

Some topics can be given a special status by the moderator – perhaps the topic is an announcement(so it is shown above all the other topics) or it is a sticky (it is shown with the other posts however it will always be returned at the top of the list, regardless of when last posted to)

A moderator of a board is the administrator of the Glow group.

One last thing is that it is possible for any user to view all the boards they are active in by using the Board Index link. This shows only those boards the user has ever accessed, not all the ones they are a member of by virtue of being a member of the Glow group.

What does all this mean in real life? This scenario attempts to clarify

An English teacher in a school may wish to set up a Glow Forum to allow his pupils to discuss the current class text. The web part is added to the class Glow group by the teacher and he creates the Forum.

The teacher writes the first post telling the class what the point of the Forum is – he writes a post and because he always wants everyone to see it, he sets that post to be an Announcement – he can do this because he is the Glow group administrator.

The pupils then use the Glow Forum – a first post is entered by one pupil asking for help on one question – this pupil is creating a new topic. Those that can help post replies to this post, all these replies are in the one topic. At the same time, a different pupil may ask a different question and so they write a new post in a new topic – a separate discussion is underway but all in the same Glow Forum.

One pupil asks a particularly important question about exam technique, the teacher wants this discussion to continue but wants to make sure everyone sees it – the teacher sets this topic to be a Sticky – it is always at the top.

The teacher is interested in this Glow Forum along with others such as in his school’s staff Glow group, in an authority All English teachers group and also a CPD group at national level – by going to the board index he will see all these forums listed along with the recent activity.

Forums, Glow Help