Tag: Midweek Byte

Midweek Byte Week Commencing 21 September

Apple Professional Learning Specialist (APLS)

Welcome Ruth Burnett, Our New Apple Professional Learning Specialist!

We are delighted to announce that our very own Ruth Burnett has officially achieved accreditation as an Apple Professional Learning Specialist (APLS)!

In her new role as an APLS, Ruth is certified by Apple to deliver tailored professional learning, coaching and strategic mentorship across all our local authority establishments. Having an in-house specialist means our establishments gain direct access to expert-led digital pedagogy with Apple technology.

Here is how Ruth will be supporting staff, leadership teams and learners across our council:

  • 1:1 & Small Group Coaching: Working directly alongside teachers in the classroom to model best practices, co-teach lessons, and build confidence using iPad.
  • Enhancing Accessibility & Inclusion: Training staff on built-in Apple tools (like Spoken Content, Reader Mode, and Voice Control) to support learners with additional support needs.
  • Curriculum & Creativity: Helping schools embed Apple frameworks like Everyone Can Create and Everyone Can Code seamlessly into everyday learning.
  • Strategic Leadership Support: Partnering with Senior Leadership Teams to ensure digital investments directly boost engagement and reduce workload.

Ruth is looking forward to working closely with schools to build sustainable, long-term digital capacity. If you would like to explore how Ruth can support your team, school, or cluster, please feel free to reach out to her directly!

Over the next few months ICT will be deploying an upgrade to Windows 11 to ensure that our council devices remain secure. This update is larger than the normal monthly update and we recommend that when prompted to reboot your computer to install the update, please wait until the end of the working day as it will take longer to update than usual.

Daydream Believers

Daydream Believers, Education Scotland’s creative curriculum and AI partners have recently published their Impact Report which may be of interest.

‘Inside this report is a year of proof: pupils solving real problems, qualifications gaining recognition, and creativity earning its place at the centre of the timetable. If you are weighing up what a creative curriculum could do for your school, this is where to start’

Impact Report

Safer Schools Scotland

Educate • Empower • Protect

Official Safeguarding Updates & Guidance

Certified Training 💡

Available to all registered Safer Schools Professionals for FREE

Artificial Intelligence in Education: Understanding the Risks and Opportunities

Learning Objectives:

  • Understand what Artificial Intelligence is and how it is used within education and wider society.
  • Recognise how children and young people are engaging with AI and the potential impact on learning.
  • Identify practical ways AI can support teaching, assessment, planning, and time efficiency.
  • Understand the safeguarding, ethical, and data protection considerations linked to AI use in schools.
  • Apply key principles for the safe, responsible, and effective use of AI in line with policy and guidance.

Exploited by Image: Grooming, Blackmail and Control

Learning Objectives:

  • Understand what $3xtortion is and the different forms it can take, including the use of real and AI-generated images.
  • Identify those most at risk, such as children and young people.
  • Learn about the laws surrounding $3xtortion.
  • Recognise the emotional, social, and financial impact $3xtortion has on victims.
  • Apply your knowledge to identify potential cases of $3xtortion and provide effective support to children and young people.

Social Media 101: Your introduction to the platforms, features and risks shaping young people’s online lives

Learning Objectives:

  • Enhance their knowledge of the most popular social media platforms and their basic functions.
  • Develop confidence in navigating social media and gaming platforms.
  • Explore online risks and trends associated with individual platforms.
  • Understand how to keep children and young people safer on these platforms.

Request from ITZA – survey exploring independent learning in secondary schools

There is a forthcoming national investigation in secondary education and we need to understand your experiences and perspectives.

Below is an invitation to participate in a survey about your current practice and perspectives on important topics, such as technology use, independent learning, teaching new subjects, and assessment. Your valuable insights will help to establish the baseline data that will inform the development of a research programme involving the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, West of Scotland and UCL.

The survey takes five to seven minutes and there is an optional second part for anyone who wants to say more. Your answers are reported only as part of a group, and never attributed to you, your school or your local authority. Completing it enters you into a prize draw for £100 Amazon gift cards or other prize packs.

The survey is here: https://graspandrecall.typeform.com/uk-indplearn

Findings will be shared towards the end of the year once the analysis is complete.

Midweek Byte for Week Commencing 14th September

Promethean

If you missed our Getting to Know your ActivPanel on 3 September or would like to Watch Again, check out the recording on our YouTube channel here:

https://youtu.be/FF5dug_ytk8

There is also an opportunity to attend a Digital Drop-In Day with Promethean and friends!

Digital Drop-In Day

Explore practical EdTech solutions, meet providers and discover new ways to support teaching and learning.

We are delighted to invite you to our Digital Drop-In Day—an informal, hands-on event created for educators who want to explore technology that can make a real difference in the classroom.

Event details

Date: Tuesday 29th September
Time: 12pm-6pm
Venue: Midwich AV Hub, Westcott House, South Queensferry, EH30 9QZ

What to expect

  • Meet a range of EdTech providers and see their solutions in action.
  • Drop in for live demonstrations and informal, one-to-one conversations.
  • Ask questions about implementation, accessibility, training and classroom use.
  • Explore tools for teaching, assessment, collaboration and school operations.
  • Connect with other educators and share practical ideas and experiences.

There is no need to stay for the whole event—simply drop in at a time that suits you. Whether you are beginning your digital journey or looking for the next solution to enhance your existing approach, you will find friendly guidance and practical inspiration.

Register your interest

Get up-to-date information in the run up to the event
Register at Digital Drop-In Day 29th Sept Midwich AV Hub – Fill out form.

We look forward to welcoming you and helping you discover technology that works for your learners, colleagues and setting.

Everway Unlocked 26

Everway, the makers of Read&Write are bringing you Everway Unlocked 26!

What to expect at Everway Unlocked

Technology has the greatest impact when it’s designed and used with intention.

At Everway Unlocked, discover how purposeful tech can remove barriers, build confidence and create learning experiences that work for every mind.

During this one day PD event, sessions and themes will focus on what works in real education settings today.

Join them to explore what purposeful technology can unlock. Register your interest here: https://www.everway.com/en-gb/events/everway-unlocked-education/

Adobe Express Update

Find out all the latest Adobe Express news here on Glow Connect: https://glowconnect.org.uk/adobe-express-for-education-back-to-school-2026/

Canva Learning Lab

Want to learn more about Canva and how to use it? Why not join the Canva Team at a Learning Lab in Scotland to celebrate the launch of Canva Education within Glow?

All you need to know can be found here: Scotland Canva Learning Labs

 

Midweek Byte Week Commencing 7 September

Week Commencing 7th September

Read&Write

There’s still time to book one of our Read&Write Professional Learning sessions on CPD Manager. Both courses are being held at Cochrane Castle Primary School:

1 October – Supporting Every Learner with Read&Write using iPads, Course ID: 95776

6 October – Supporting Every Learner with Read&Write using Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge, Course ID: 95778

 

Accessibility Staff Toolkit

🧰Have you checked out our Staff Toolkits on the new DigiLearnRen? We have created these toolkits as how-to-guides to get you going. There is no expectation that you work your way through them all, rather it is a pick and mix selection that allows you to choose what you need, when you need it.

They are broken down into the main tools available through Glow. So, if you decided that you wanted to know more about the AI tools available in Glow, you could either sign up for our AI Champion courses, Watch Again our AI videos from our sessions run in partnership with Education Scotland or work through our Staff Toolkit.

If you are new to the Google tools, there is a Google Staff Toolkit with a host of helpful resources on using Gemini and Notebook.

Or if you want to learn more about Read&Write our authority subscription accessibility tool, click on the Accessibility Toolkit and then Read&Write to find out all about it – including how to use it in exam mode.

 

Immersive Learning Mobile View with ThingLink

If you haven’t claimed your authority ThingLink seat to allow you to create interactive content – either for use with learners or for learners to create their own – please use the contact form to reach out. There are a host of different ways to use ThingLink with some brilliant ideas to get you started available on their blog. This post is all about using ThingLink mobile view: https://www.thinglink.com/blog/immersive-learning-in-your-hands-introducing-mobile-view-for-thinglink/

Toolkit for Reflecting on Digital and AI Technologies in L&T

Monday 14 September, 9.30 – 11.30 am online

The event marks the launch of a new open-access resource designed to support critical, evidence-informed reflection on the use of digital and AI technologies in education, and to hear how the research team and educational partners will using it in practice this academic year.

The team at the School of Education, University of Glasgow has developed the Toolkit for Reflecting on the Use of Digital and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technologies in Learning and Teaching. Rather than promoting specific technologies or offering a compliance checklist, the toolkit encourages structured reflection, professional dialogue, and enquiry through self-assessment activities, real-world case studies, and guided reflective frameworks. It supports reflection across a range of dimensions of technology use and can be used individually or collaboratively, with flexibility to adapt to the needs and realities of different educational settings.

At this launch event, we will introduce the toolkit and explore how it can be used in practice. We will share more information about the design process of the tool and where we are heading with our current piloting of the resource in different contexts across Scotland. The event will also provide opportunities for discussion, questions, and feedback, allowing participants to contribute to conversations about the future development of the toolkit and related professional learning resources. The toolkit and associated pilot work are supported through Scaling Educational and Policy Impact through Co-designed Digital and AI Professional Learning and Educational Resources (SCOPED), a project funded through the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account at the University of Glasgow. The launch event marks the starting point for SCOPED’s knowledge exchange and dissemination activities and provides an opportunity to share emerging insights with educators, researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders.

Anyone with an interest in the thoughtful, critical, and evidence-informed use of digital and AI technologies in education is warmly invited to attend. This includes educators, teacher educators, school and college leaders, professional learning facilitators, researchers, policymakers, and others interested in the educational implications of emerging technologies. Whether you are new to the toolkit or already exploring its use in your own setting, we would be delighted to welcome you.

Attendance is free. Places for the in-person event are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Online attendance is also available.

Book your place here: Launch Event: Toolkit for Reflecting on Digital and AI Technologies in L&T Tickets, Monday, September 14  •  9:30 AM – 11:30 AM | Eventbrite

Access the toolkit here: https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/366744/

 

MidWeek Byte Week Commencing 31st August

Week Commencing 31st August

Accessibility!

September is accessibility month in Renfrewshire!

Read&Write

We recently ran a session on Read&Write for a group of staff. The session slides contain a wealth of follow up resources for staff and pupils, including a full training video for each platform. These should fully support anyone wanting to revise certain tools.

The slides can be accessed here. Please feel free to share as widely as you see fit.

We have 2 new Professional Learning courses on Read&Write available to book via CPD Manager. Both courses are face-to-face sessions. Supporting Every Learner with Read&Write using iPads, Course ID: 95776 on 1 October and Supporting Every Learner with Read&Write using Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge, Course ID: 95778 on 6 October.

 

ThingLink Integration with Adobe Express

Check out this interesting article on how easy it is to integrate your Adobe Express content into ThingLink:

https://www.thinglink.com/blog/how-to-create-immersive-learning-with-adobe-express-and-thinglink/

If you have never used ThingLink before and are interested in getting a Renfrewshire “seat”, please reach out via our contact us page and we will get you sorted. If you are a visual person, you can watch our ThingLink Professional Learning videos here and here.

We hope to have further PL on ThingLink coming soon so please keep checking our PL calendar and CPD Manager for details.

 

Canva

Last week we said that Canva is now available in Glow and you can access this via a tile on your LaunchPad. We have now added on the Canva Professional Learning on offer via Education Scotland to our Professional Learning calendar so check out the dates by scrolling to the bottom of this page to book and get your self going with Canva!

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/re/digilearnrenfrewshire/professionallearning/

 

Glow Security Improvements

As part of Education Scotland’s ongoing review of Glow account security and access management, they will be removing certain administrative privileges from Glow accounts that have not logged on in the last 18 months.

The following privileges will be removed from inactive accounts:

  • RM Unify Admin
  • RM Password Admin
  • RM Launchpad Admin

This change is intended to ensure that administrative access is limited to active users who continue to require these permissions as part of their role.

If you still require any of the above privileges following the removal, please reach out to csbit@renfrewshire.gov.uk who will be able to assist.

 

 

 

Midweek Byte 26th August

Week Commencing 24th August

S&Q Report

Here is the Standards and Quality Report for 25/26. Click on the image to access all the links.

Glow Updates

Canva is now available!

For everything you need to know about Canva in Glow, check out our handy guide available here!

🔑Glow Password Reset

The pupil password reset took place on 11th August and Staff passwords change on 25th August. Staff will be prompted to change their password the next time they log on.

Back to School with Glow

Check out this handy guide from Glow Connect for all you need to know about Glow! Back to School August 2026.

🔐Phase 3 Security Updates: Auto blocking of network traffic from out with the UK

Glow have now rolled out Phase 3 of their security changes.

What’s changing?

They have rolled out a security change within Glow that will block Glow users from accessing Glow from identified high risk countries.

Timeline for this change

RM have now enabled this change.

Why are they blocking network traffic from some countries?

They heard at Cyber UK earlier this month how increases in geo-political tensions are changing the landscape, and that cyber is now a fundamental part of modern warfare, we also heard how AI is accelerating the pace of disruption.

It’s critical that they respond to the changing landscape and the increasing threat. Standing still is no longer an option. They’ve been looking for some time at ways in which they can strengthen the safety of Glow for all users and one of those ways is to block internet traffic from some high risk nation states.

What countries will be blocked from accessing Glow?

China, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Ukraine and Russia.

How will this impact Glow users?

If a Glow user tries to access Glow from one of the identified blocked countries, they will be presented with the error message below.

This means that Glow users will need to be aware of this change before travelling and assuming they will be able to access Glow.

VPN User experience

They are aware that some users use VPNs to access Glow so again, this may impact if the VPN appears to come from one of the blocked countries.

Additional information

Please note that they will be regularly reviewing the global landscape and as a result, some countries may be added to the list, and some may be removed.

Midweek Byte 19 August 2026

Week Commencing 17th August

👍🏻Welcome Back

We hope you all had a great summer break. This session we will be posting our Midweek Bytes every Wednesday to keep you up-to-date with all the latest digital news so keep checking every week!

🔑Glow Password Reset

The pupil password reset took place on 11th August so if they arrive in class and haven’t logged on, remind them to choose 3 random words. Glow Connect have a useful post to help with this.

Administrators are able to bulk set passwords for students for whole groups/classes. In previous years this meant the whole class would have the same, potentially very insecure password as the admin setting could override any password controls resulting in (for example) a class all having the password “1234”.

This year, to close this loophole, Glow have instigated a process whereby users will be forced to change their password on first login to something known only to themselves, and which must comply with password strength rules.

Remember Staff passwords change on 25th August.

🏫Upcoming Professional Learning

All our Professional Learning (PL) can be found in our PL Calendar which is available here. In addition, our Learning Loop allows you to see what key PL is coming up in Term 1.

There is still time to sign up for our PL Network if you are interested in applying for the Digital School Award, Course ID: 94473 or Digital Wellbeing Award, Course ID: 94474. If becoming an AI Champion is something you are interested in, sign up for our AI series, Course ID: 94446 – you have until 26 August!

Google in Glow

Renfrewshire has its own Google Tenancy within Glow. You can access this from your Launch Pad by clicking on the Google Drive tile or if you can’t see it, click on App Library and add it from there.  This will automatically sign you into the Google tenancy where you can access all the great Google tools like Drive, Docs, Google Gemini and Notebook. If you want to access your Google account from the browser, when you sign in remember that the first part of the account is your Glow username then @re.glow.scot Why not check out our useful Staff Toolkit for Google to learn more?