Using Glow to support Intermediate 2 English

Click to enlarge image

Judith Weston is a teacher of English at Earlston High School in the Scottish Borders. Judith is an advocate of the use of technology aimed at enhancing the learning and teaching process and has previously made use of Wikispaces in her teaching.

In this cookbook Judith will talk us through how she uses Glow to support the learning and teaching of her S5 Intermediate 2 English class.

Context

Through the appropriate use of technology in class, Judith has aimed to enhance the experience of her pupils. With the introduction of Glow to Earlston High School, Judith was keen to investigate how best to use the tools and functionality and set about developing a Glow Group to act as a revision and independent learning tool to further enrich the learning experiences of her pupils.

In this cookbook, we will:

• Hear Judith outline how she uses Glow to support the teaching of her Intermediate 2 English class.
• Find out how to make use of Glow web parts to engage pupils and support learning.

Ingredients

What Judith uses to support the teaching of her class: 

1. A Glow Group
2. An XML web part to display a Voki
3. Discussion web part
4. Documents web part
5. Text Editor web part
6. Survey web part

Recipe

In the first two videos below, Judith talks us through how she uses Glow to support her class teaching. The other video clips will take you through how to replicate some of the activities that Judith demonstrates in the group: 

Impact

Judith is very positive about the ability of Glow to support her teaching. In particular:

• Pupils providing one another peer support and evaluation facilitated through Discussion Boards and the uploading of work to the Documents store for review
• The use of a Voki to engage with the pupils informing them of lesson learning intentions and providing general messages about what is new to the Glow Group
• The Discussions web part providing opportunities to explore topics more deeply
• The provision of anytime, anywhere access to targeted revision resources
• The Survey web part used as a formative assessment tool informing future lesson planning
• The Survey web part facilitating the pupil voice in next steps of learning
• Contributing to the Eco school culture by cutting down on the need for photocopying resources

In making use of a variety of Glow tools, Judith has developed a Glow Group that is engaging and relevant for her pupils. The group provides an easy access point to a variety of information sources, stimulus to deeper learning, opportunities for collaboration, peer evaluation and assessment. In the video clip below, Judith sums up her views on the impact that Glow is having on her class.

Follow the link below to hear how Judith uses Glow to support the teaching of Standard Grade English: