Overview

‘What’s it really like living on an island?’ That was the question being asked by the Primary 1 pupils in Bannockburn Primary after reading some of Mairi Hedderwick’s ‘Katie Morag’ stories. To help answer that question, one of the school’s Primary 1 teachers, Jenny Shineton, decided to use Glow Meet to enable the pupils to speak to children who do live on an island.

Context

Bannockburn Primary is a fairly large school, with a roll of approximately 400 pupils. This session, there are three Primary 1 classes, taught by Jenny Shineton, Theresa Dandie and Claire Baillie. The teachers work closely together to plan rich learning experiences for their pupils.

© Mairi Hedderwick published by Red Fox Used by permission of The Random House Group Ltd

Part of this session’s learning was based around pupils’ engaging with the Katie Morag Stories, “Katie Morag delivers the mail”, “Katie Morag and the two grannies”, ‘Katie Morag and the Big Boy Cousins’, ‘Katie Morag and Tiresome Ted’ and “Katie Morag and the wedding”.

 A wide range of rich, engaging, cross-curricular learning activities were undertaken using the content of these stories as a stimulus.

© Mairi Hedderwick published by Red Fox. Used by permission of The Random House Group Ltd

As part of the language work being explored, pupils looked at and talked about photographs of islands, including Coll, the island that was once home to Katie Morag author Mairi Hedderwick and the inspiration for the stories. The children were asked to discuss what it might be like to live on an island, such as Struay – home to Katie Morag – and to compare this with living in Bannockburn.

It was this exercise that inspired Jenny to make enquiries about making contact with pupils who actually live on an island, to really bring the topic to life.

Hear P1 teacher Claire Baillie explain why they decided to do this (0:15)
Bringing the Katie Morag stories to life using Glow Meet

Through making enquiries with the National Glow Team, Bannockburn was put in touch with Eigg Primary School. Eigg is one of the small isles, lying off the coast of the West Highlands. It is about 160 miles away from Bannockburn.

The Headteacher of Eigg Primary school is Hilda Ibrahim. Hilda was introduced to Glow as part of Highland’s pilot with the Mallaig ASG, and she was keen to explore its potential and the added experiences it could bring to her pupils. She was therefore delighted to be able to collaborate with Bannockburn.

Preparation and Planning
Initial contact was made and the schools corresponded by email to make arrangements. A Glow Group was created at Stirling’s Local Authority level. As well as the Bannockburn teachers being given membership, the teachers on Eigg were added as members and then sent the URL of the Group, since they did not have automatic sight of it, not being part of Stirling Council. The link to the Glow Group was then added as a web link on Eigg’s Glow school site for ease of access.

In preparation for the link-up, Bannockburn held a practice Glow Meet between two classes in the school. This allowed them to add the Glow Meet web part to the Glow Group and practise using the Glow Meet shared whiteboard. Eigg, being remotely located, had already made great use of Glow Meet as a means of communication with other schools in their ASG.

The Glow Meets
After the arrangements had been made, the first Glow Meet then took place. The sixty pupils from Bannockburn’s three Primary 1 classes were excitedly sitting in one classroom in the busy central belt. All of the pupils from Eigg Primary school sat in the classroom in their school, on the peaceful west coast island.

‘How many is all pupils?’, you ask – just nine! Those nine pupils range from P2 to P7, and although they were linking with Primary 1’s, Hilda was keen to have all pupils on Eigg sharing in the experience.

The first session was mainly used to introduce the pupils to Glow Meet and to make use of the shared whiteboard, which they wrote on. There were a few issues with sound feedback, but this was overcome by each school only switching on their microphone when it was their turn to speak.

The second Glow Meet was more structured. The P1 pupils in Bannockburn had discussed and planned the questions they wanted to ask ahead of time and took turns to come up to the webcam and microphone. Each pupil began by telling the Eigg pupils how things were for them, then asked how it was in Eigg. For example, they would say things like, “We walk to school or come by car. How do you get to school?” The pupils on Eigg would then respond.

Theresa Dandie, one of the Bannockburn teachers remarked that her pupils were amazed to hear about what life is really like on an island. They were surprised by the differences between their school and Eigg Primary. Hearing, for example, that Eigg Primary school does not have a dining hall, was a revelation!

Curricular outcomes
Alongside the many other experiences and outcomes that the pupils in Bannockburn were able to engage with as part of the Katie Morag topic work, preparing for and using Glow Meet allowed the pupils to take part in learning activities to support the following Early Level experiences and outcomes:

Literacy and English
LIT 0-01c I enjoy exploring events and characters in stories and other texts, sharing my thoughts in different ways.
LIT 0-02a/ENG 0-03a As I listen and talk in different situations, I am learning to take turns and am developing my awareness of when to talk and when to listen.
LIT 0-04a I listen or watch for useful or interesting information and I use this to make choices or learn new things.
LIT 0-07a/LIT 0-16a/ENG 0-17a To help me understand stories and other texts, I ask questions and link what I am learning with what I already know.
LIT 0-09b/LIT 0-31a I enjoy exploring events and characters in stories and other texts and I use what I learn to invent my own, sharing these with others in imaginative ways.
LIT 0-19a I enjoy exploring events and characters in stories and other texts, sharing my thoughts in different ways.

Technologies:
TCH 0-01a I enjoy playing with and exploring technologies to discover what they can do and how they can help us
TCH 0-04a I enjoy exploring and using technologies to communicate with others within and beyond my place of learning.
TCH 0-04b I enjoy taking photographs or recording sound and images to represent my experiences and the world around me.

IngredientsWhat did the teachers in Bannockburn Primary School need to do to set up and take part in the Glow Meet with Eigg Primary school?
• Have a Glow Group where teachers from both schools were members
• Send the URL of the Glow Group to Eigg
• Add the Glow Meet web part to the Glow Group
• Have a web cam, microphone and speakers for the Glow Meet sessions

In the first video below we will hear from the Headteacher from Eigg talking about the Glow Meets, then find out in the rest of the videos how to replicate these elements.

Eigg Headteacher Hilda Ibrahim talks about the Glow Meet link (1:35)
Bringing the Katie Morag stories to life using Glow Meet

Now Learn how to do it yourself in the following videos:

How to make people from two schools members of a Glow Group (6:57)
Bringing the Katie Morag stories to life using Glow Meet
How to set up a Glow Meet in a Glow Group (5:36)
Bringing the Katie Morag stories to life using Glow Meet
How to join and take part in a Glow Meet (3:38)
Bringing the Katie Morag stories to life using Glow Meet
How to use the video, audio and chat facility within a Glow Meet meeting room (6:19)
Bringing the Katie Morag stories to life using Glow Meet
How to use the shared whiteboard in a Glow Meet meeting room (8:25)
Bringing the Katie Morag stories to life using Glow Meet
How to record a Glow Meet (2:09)
Bringing the Katie Morag stories to life using Glow Meet
How to play back a previously recorded Glow Meet (3:22)
Bringing the Katie Morag stories to life using Glow Meet

Impact

For the P1 pupils in Bannockburn, linking up with the pupils on Eigg has really brought relevance to their learning. What started off as a story, became alive, by being able to ask questions of people who could tell them first hand what island life is really like.

Using Glow Meet has given pupils in both Bannockburn and Eigg the opportunity to speak to people that they would otherwise never get to see or talk to, opening up their learning opportunities.

The Glow Meets had a really positive  impact on pupils’ talking and listening skills. The P1 pupils really had to think about what the wanted to ask the children on Eigg and gained great confidence from speaking to an audience.

Claire Baillie tells us about the impact she feels the Glow Meets had for he children (0:25)
Bringing the Katie Morag stories to life using Glow Meet

For the teachers involved, a great deal was gained from the experience too.

Theresa Dandie admitted that she knew almost nothing about Glow before Jenny Shineton proposed the Glow Meets. Having taken part, Theresa says that she feels far more confident in using Glow now and can see a lot of potential for using it as part of her learning and teaching. She tells us why she enjoyed using Glow in this video clip:
Theresa Dandie – Why I like Glow (0:07)
Bringing the Katie Morag stories to life using Glow Meet

On Eigg, the impact of not only this Glow Meet, but Glow Meet in general has been enormous. It has opened up a whole new world to the pupils, who normally only have a very small community of people to interact with. Using Glow Meet has enabled them to link up with Bannockburn and other schools in the Mallaig ASG.

Using Glow Meet has enhanced the learning experiences of all of the pupils involved in this collaboration.

Interested in doing something similar and need a school to link with?
Why not head to the Collaborative Projects National Glow Group and start to make some connections!

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)
Using Glow in schools with Joint Headship
How to add members from two schools to a Glow Group (7:47)
Using Glow in schools with Joint Headship
How to set up a Glow Meet (5:36)
Using Glow in schools with Joint Headship
How to join and take part in a Glow Meet session (3:38)
Using Glow in schools with Joint Headship
How to use the video, audio and chat facility within a Glow Meet meeting room (6:19)
Using Glow in schools with Joint Headship
How to use the shared whiteboard in a Glow Meet meeting room (8:25)
Using Glow in schools with Joint Headship

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)
Using Glow in schools with Joint Headship

Overview
Highland Local Authority covers an area of land equivalent to that of Belgium. As a result, the schools within the Authority are very widely dispersed. Even within an Associated Schools Group, the distances between schools can be vast.
In this cookbook we will look at how one Associated Schools Group in Highland embarked upon using Glow to enhance communication and collaboration and to widen the learning opportunities of all children.

Context
The Mallaig ASG was chosen to pilot Glow within Highland, in part due to the geographical challenges it presented and in part due to the limited broadband connectivity that the schools initially had. Half of the Primary Schools associated with Mallaig High School are situated on the small isles, namely Rum, Eigg, Muck and Canna. Others, such as Inverie Primary in Knoydart, whilst on the mainland, is accessed by boat from Mallaig, otherwise it is more than a 2 hour drive away covering over 80 miles!

High School pupils from the islands board in Mallaig during the week, meaning contact with their families is restricted. Sometimes too, these pupils are unable to attend school if the weather prevents the ferry from sailing.
Communication between home and school, and between the schools themselves, can therefore be difficult and getting staff together for development or collaborative events is extremely challenging, with meetings and events usually having to be coordinated with ferry sailings.
Most of the Primary Schools in the Mallaig ASG are small, some with rolls of less than 20 pupils. Coupled with their remoteness, this means that pupils do not always have the ready access to specialists and experts that pupils in larger, more urban schools might have.
As a result, the Mallaig ASG was keen to find out how Glow could benefit them
One of the tools that quickly became an obvious choice for the schools was Glow Meet, Glow’s video conferencing tool.
In this cookbook we will look at
• Examples of how the schools have used Glow Meet
• How to set up a Glow Meet
• What technical requirements should be considered
• What the impact has been on the pupils and staff

Ingredients
What did the Mallaig ASG need to facilitate their use of Glow Meet?
• A Glow Group, accessible by all in the ASG
• A Glow Meet web part
• Web cams
• Microphones

In the next section, we will look at examples of Glow Meets involving pupils and staff in the Mallaig ASG, then find out how to set up a Glow Meet within a Glow Group.

How has Glow Meet been used by the Mallaig ASG?

Below are some examples of how Glow Meet has been used throughout the ASG.

English Lesson
Recently, Vikki MacKinnon, an English teacher from Mallaig High school, delivered a lesson via Glow Meet to pupils in one of the associated Primary Schools, Arisaig. (Other schools had been invited, but were unable to join due to conflicts with other activities).
The pupils discussed a poem with Vikki, explored its language and looked at how this had been used to influence the reader. Vikki used the shared whiteboard within Glow Meet to display the poem to all of the pupils, but left blanks where some of the words should have been. Pupils were then able to contribute to the shared whiteboard and fill in the blanks. Pupils were able to explain their choice of words and when given the original version of the poem, they gave thoughtful explanations for the poet’s choices too.
The lesson had been arranged as part of the High School’s transition programme, to help familiarise pupils with staff in Mallaig High and introduce them to the types of lesson they might have when they move to S1.
Vikki was very pleased with the pupils’ responsiveness during the lesson and their ease of using Glow Meet, saying:
“The pupils responded well to the tasks set and didn’t appear to be intimidated by using this medium. They were enthusiastic and well motivated during the lesson. They were able to use the interactive whiteboard to see written instructions and to record their answers. I believe this helped to keep the pupils on task and focused on the lesson. It gives pupils a level of responsibility and ownership too.”
Vikki also felt that using Glow Meet saved time, saying, “it was practical as well, because using Glow Meet meant I did not have to travel the 10 or so miles to Arisaig Primary School”

French Lesson
A few weeks ago, pupils from many of the Mallaig ASG schools took part in a French lesson using Glow Meet. Pupils from Mallaig High, Mallaig Primary, Arisaig Primary, Lady Lovat Primary and Inverie Primary all took part. This gave pupils access to a specialist that they might not normally have been able to learn from. Amongst other activities, the pupils sang songs in French.

Gaelic Lesson
Recently, Megan, a pupil at Mallaig High School, used Glow Meet to teach a Gaelic song to pupils in Arisaig Primary School. This took place over two sessions.
The first part was in the morning, when Megan taught the song. The pupils could see and hear Megan singing, and could also see the words of the song, as Megan had put these onto the shared whiteboard.
Perhaps more powerfully though, the Glow Meet session was recorded, enabling the Arisaig pupils to watch and listen again after the lesson, so that they could continue to hear the correct pronunciation of the words and remember the tune. They then practised the song over and over.
In the afternoon, they joined back up with Megan via Glow Meet, and sang back to her the song she had taught them. Megan was then able to help refine the pupils’ pronunciation of some of the phrases, as well as translating the song for them. The session was extremely successful and very enjoyable for all involved.

Click the link below to watch extracts from the afternoon Gaelic Glow Meet session.

Gaelic Lesson on Glow Meet (5:00)

Using Glow to Connect Remote Schools

Music Tuition
Another example, of Glow Meet use, is it being utilised for music tuition.
A violin instructor has been using the video conferencing facility to provide tuition to a pupil who lives many miles away. The girl receiving tuition is in fact a pupil at Ardnamurchan High School (not part of the Mallaig ASG) and so is over an hour’s drive away from the teacher in the Mallaig area. By using video conferencing, the pupil and teacher are able to have more regular contact than might otherwise be possible, and travel time for the teacher is eliminated, so allowing her more time to dedicate to tuition.

Recipe

The video links below give information on how to use Glow Meet:

How to set up a Glow Meet (5:36)
Using Glow to Connect Remote Schools
How to join and take part in a Glow Meet session (3:38)
Using Glow to Connect Remote Schools
How to use the video, audio and chat facility within a Glow Meet meeting room (6:19)
Using Glow to Connect Remote Schools
How to use the shared whiteboard in a Glow Meet meeting room (8:25)
Using Glow to Connect Remote Schools

Impact
The use of Glow Meet amongst the Mallaig ASG has been highly beneficial.
Pupils have had access to resources that they would not normally have and both time and money have been saved by teachers and pupils not having to travel to meetings or for lessons.
You can hear one pupil and her music teacher talking about the impact and benefits that Glow Meet has had for them in the following video clip

Benefits of using Glow Meet – Interview with teacher and pupil (1:10)

Using Glow to Connect Remote Schools

Further teacher comments:

John Fisher is Depute Headteacher at Mallaig High School. He had this to say about Glow:

“Glow Meet has been used for a number of purposes all of which have proved a big success.

 Meetings between staff from different remote schools has been a tremendous boon.  One of the drawbacks of working in a single or two teacher Primary School on an island or a remote mainland location is the sense of isolation.  Attending an Associated School Group meeting for some staff used to involve a three day trip.  Now they can attend and participate in staff meetings using Glow Meet.  Reaction from staff has been very positive and most of us can hardly believe how well this system works.  We use netbooks or MacBooks with built in cameras and microphones which makes the whole experience even easier than using an external webcam and microphone.

Lessons in Mallaig High have been delivered from a distance using Glow Meet.  Our one Gaelic teacher is on maternity leave and sourcing a replacement locally has proved impossible.  The ‘S’ Grade class is taught on a weekly basis by a Gaelic teacher using Glow Meet.  She is able to see and discuss with the class their progress.  The Whiteboard facility is used to electronically correct the pupil’s work.  Without Glow Meet these youngsters would not have achieved the results they are getting at the moment.

Pupils use Glow Meet at home in order to support their progress in the Gaelic language.  This has not been monitored but the class assures me that it is a useful support mechanism.

One of our senior pupils is intending to teach and has delivered singing lessons via Glow Meet to pupils in Arisaig Primary.  Indeed she taught the whole school on more than one occasion.

As part of the primary secondary induction process secondary teachers are now using Glow Meet to teach primary 7 classes.  Once again the use of the audio, video and whiteboard facilities proved to be a big success.

Regular discussions between pupils and staff from school to school has broken down barriers.  The evidence for this is that the Depute Headteacher from Mallaig High is now so well known by pupils in Arisaig Primary that he has appeared on the school tea towel.  Without Glow Meet I would never have made the tea towel!”

Martin Jones is Headteacher of Arisaig Primary, one of the schools in the Mallaig ASG.  He says:

“GLOW is proving to be an excellent classroom tool for the delivery of all aspects of curriculum for excellence.

It increases independence, improves motivation to learn, and works beautifully as a tool in co-operative working across the curriculum.

Schools in remote areas have linked in lessons, shared information on topics and created cyber peer groups. Children and teachers from our local secondary have taught primary pupils on line live and eased the fears of transition. It does what it says on the tin …makes you GLOW… “