Using Glow in schools with Joint Headship
Please note that this cookbook refers to Glow Meet using Marratech. Glow Meet is now delivered over Adobe Connect which offers enhanced functionality. To find out more about Glow Meet using Adobe Connect click here. The principles around the benefits of Glow Meet are the same regardless of the technology used for Glow Meet.
Overview
The Small Isles sit off the coast of the West Highlands. The Primary schools on these islands form part of the Mallaig Associated Schools Group. Stuart Poole is the Headteacher of two of these schools, Rum Primary and Canna Primary. He has been embracing glow to help aid communication between his two schools and enhance the learning opportunities of his pupils.
Context
Stuart Poole has to travel by boat to go between his two schools on Rum and Canna, and also to attend any ASG meetings on the mainland in Mallaig. This has considerable time and cost implications and his ability to make these journeys is often dependant on weather conditions and whether the boats can sail.
After some initial basic Glow training in conjunction with other staff from the ASG, Stuart decided to embrace the tools within Glow to try to improve communication and collaboration opportunities for his two schools.
The first thing that Stuart did was to request that a Glow Group be created at Highland Council level, so that both of his schools could have direct access to it. This joint Glow Group for Rum and Canna enables Stuart to communicate with both schools through one forum in order to:
• Post news that is visible to both schools
• Share documents
• Add school calendar events
• Facilitate discussions
• Add images showing school activities and events
• Use Glow Meet to hold virtual joint staff meetings, negating the need to travel
• Create sub Glow Groups for Parents to have their own forum
The main functionality that has been used in this Glow Group though, is Glow Meet. Stuart and his staff regularly use this to hold joint meetings and to have quick chats with one another. Glow Meet has transformed the way that the two schools communicate and collaborate and has saved Stuart hours of travel time. It has also enabled him to remain in direct contact with both of his schools, far better than if he were relying on phone calls and email. The two island schools have also made creative use of Glow Meet by holding a joint Christmas concert. This was extremely well received by pupils, teachers and parents alike. It even made the local press!
In this cookbook we will look at
• The Rum and Canna Glow Group
• How to add members of more than one school to a Glow Group
• How to set up a Glow Meet
Ingredients
What did Rum and Canna need to do to facilitate joint communication and collaboration?
• Have a Glow Group created at Local Authority Level
• Add all staff, pupils and parents as members of the Glow Group
• Add Glow Meet to the Group.
Recipe
In this section, we will have a look at the Rum and Canna Group. Watch the other video clips to find out how to replicate this and learn how to set up a Glow Meet.
Taking a look at the Rum and Canna Glow Group (4:03)
How to add members from two schools to a Glow Group (7:47)
How to set up a Glow Meet (5:36)
How to join and take part in a Glow Meet session (3:38)
How to use the video, audio and chat facility within a Glow Meet meeting room (6:19)
How to use the shared whiteboard in a Glow Meet meeting room (8:25)
Impact
Using Glow has had an enormous impact on the staff, pupils and parents on both Rum and Canna. Stuart Poole tells us about this:
Interview with Stuart Poole (5:49)
