Storing, tagging and sharing resources in Glow Learn

Context

Robert Anderson is a Technology teacher at Penicuik High School in Midlothian. Many of the learning and teaching materials that Robert uses with his classes are digital resources, such as Powerpoint slides and pdf versions of reference guides. Currently these materials are stored on the school network, but Robert is uploading many of them to Glow Learn. The advantages that he sees are that pupils then have access to the resources beyond the school day, encouraging pupils to learn at a time and pace that suits them. Additionally, Glow Learn allows Robert to set assignments that pupils complete and return online, to set assessments which are marked automatically, and to combine the tracking benefits of Glow Learn with collaborative Glow tools such as discussion boards.

In the video clip below, Robert shows how he organises resources in Glow Learn. He has chosen to upload his resources to the school shared area in Glow Learn, which means that the resources can be seen and used by any member of staff across his school. Using the school shared area from the outset (rather than uploading to the ‘My Resources’ area) offers many benefits: encouraging inter-disciplinary working, the sharing of good practice, and reducing the need to ’recreate the wheel’. Robert explains how, in order to keep resources organised systematically, the school shared area is structured according to department, subject and level.

* Robert Anderson gives a tour of his Glow Learn resources and courses

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Robert also emphasises the benefits of linking (’tagging’) resources to specific curricular objectives. Tagging gives an indication of the content of the material and the level it is intended for and is particularly valuable if resources are being shared within a school or authority or nationally. Other staff looking for content to support their teaching can then use Glow Learn’s search facility to find resources, not only by entering a keyword (as in Google), but by selecting a specific curricular objective. As the store of tagged resources in shared areas in Glow Learn develops, this will become a very powerful method of searching for content.

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Note that since Robert’s video and the how-to clips below were recorded, Curriculum for Excellence has been added to the Glow Learn list of frameworks. It’s now possible to tag resources to  CfE outcomes and therefore possible to search through all the shared areas in Glow Learn for content relevant to specific outcomes. Click the image to the left to see an example of the display of CfE outcomes in Glow Learn.

Recipe

If you’re interested in starting to use Glow Learn, the clips below will help you to get started. Further information is also available through ‘Learning about Glow’ area of the GlowScotland website.

 * uploading a resource to Glow Learn

* creating a Glow Learn course

* enrolling pupils on a Glow Learn course

* setting viewing and assessment options

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