Northern Lights is an expressive arts project involving schools in three local authorities in Scotland and partner schools in Norway and Russia.

In this cookbook Irene Pandolfi of North Lanarkshire Council and Ron Cowie of Stirling Council explain the background to the project and show examples of pupils’ work shared through the Northern Lights Glow Group.

In the Ingredients section you can find information about creating Glow guest accounts if you’re interested in setting up similar links with schools abroad.

Context

Irene and Ron were amongst a number of delegates who in 2009 participated in a study visit to Norway, organised through the Scottish Continuing International Professional Development (SCIPD) programme. The focus of their interest was a national initiative, the Cultural Rucksack, which gives all pupils in Norway access to professional arts and cultural activities in addition to the basic expressive arts curriculum.

As a result of the SCIPD visit, and the relationships established with Norwegian schools, Irene and Ron created the Northern Lights project. The projects links schools in North Lanarkshire, Perth and Kinross, and Stirling with partner schools in Norway and Russia.

The aims of the project are to develop pupils’ skills in expressive arts, in literacy and in peer assessment, and to encourage pupils to learn about and appreciate other cultures.

In order to encourage collaboration between all the partner schools, the Northern Lights Glow Group was established. Guest accounts were created for pupils and staff in the Norwegian and Russian schools to give them access to Glow.

Irene Pandolfi and Ron Cowie talk about the Northern Lights project
Northern Lights: an international project

Organisation of the Northern Lights projectNorthern Lights: an international project

The Northern Lights Glow Group provides a welcome area, news updates about the project, and links to useful tools such as online translation facilities. A ‘Help for teachers’ page provides background information about the project, its aims, suggestions for learning and teaching activities, and guides to using Glow features, such as the discussion boards.

The group then contains a number of sub-groups, each named after heavenly bodies, such as Comets and Shooting Stars. Each of these sub-groups links a smaller number of partner schools across the local authorities and countries.

Christmas – Norwegian style. Click to enlarge.

In each of these sub-groups, staff and pupils have found a whole host of ways to communicate, discuss their culture, exhibit their work, and give feedback to one another. Pupils have used discussion boards extensively – to write simple introductions, messages and greetings, to give feedback and to write poetry. In the Documents area pupils have uploaded presentations, describing, for example, how they celebrate Christmas. This has led to interesting comparisons about the similarities and differences in traditions between the countries.

Art from nature. Click to enlarge.

Pupils undertook an ‘art from nature’ activity, creating images using materials from the environment. Photographs of the images have been uploaded into the Documents area and shared with the partner schools. Other schools have created video clips, such as short dramas, and audio broadcasts, all also uploaded to the group and shared with an audience across three countries. Pupils have been very motivated by having their work seen and reviewed by a far wider audience than it might typically receive.

Some schools have also used Glow Meet to communicate with their partner schools, adding a whole new dimension to the opportunities to practise literacy skills, share work with an audience and learn about different cultures. Glow Meet is an area that many of the schools are keen to pursue further as the project develops.

Irene and Ron describe the project as having been ‘free-flowing’ and ‘growing arms and legs’ this year. Each school has taken the original idea, developed their own areas of interest and been creative – which indeed was the central aim of the project!

Ingredients

The Northern Lights Glow Group was created on the National Site in Glow. This was to ensure that all staff and pupils in the Scottish schools would be able to see the Group listed on their ‘My Glow Groups’ page. (This would not be the case if, for the example, the Group had been created on the North Lanarkshire site, in which case only the NLC schools would see it on their ‘My Glow Groups’ page.)

If you are interested in running a project which involves schools across a number of authorities, then a suitable Glow Group can be created on the National Site for you. Contact the Glow Admin team (glowadmin@ltscotland.org.uk).

In order to give access to Glow to the pupils in schools in Norway and Russia, guest accounts were created. Such accounts can be created by the Accounts and Services Manager (ASM) for your school or local authority. If you are interested in using Glow to communicate with a school abroad, check with your school’s ASM to see if there is a policy about guest accounts already in place. If not, talk to your authority’s Glow Key Contact who will be able to give you further advice. A list of the Key Contacts is available on the GlowScotland website.

Three documents about guest accounts have been created by Learning and Teaching Scotland and are attached here. Schools and local authorities may wish to use these for reference and adapt them as appropriate: Glow Guest User Account conditions of issue, Glow guest user AUP, Guest Account Application Form.

Recipe

The ‘How-to’ clips below show how to replicate some of the features used in the Northern Lights Glow Group and its sub-groups.

* How to add, rename or remove pagesNorthern Lights: an international project

* How to post messages on a discussion boardNorthern Lights: an international project

* How to change the display of the Discussions web partNorthern Lights: an international project

* How to use Text Editor to display a set of world clocksNorthern Lights: an international project

Impact

Feedback from Norway. Click to enlarge.

Feedback from the schools involved in the project has been very positive, with all keen to continue it into the new session (2010/11). The key benefits have been inclusion: large numbers of pupils in three local authorities and two other countries have been able to access and contribute to the same project; pupils from the traveller community have participated and pupils who may be otherwise been disengaged from learning have also been enthusiastically involved. 

The project has developed Scottish pupils’ expressive arts and literacy skills and motivated a desire to learn about their own culture and to share it with others. Norwegian and Russian pupils have benefited tremendously through engagement in the project, developing their English language skills, and the opportunity has been much valued by schools and parents.

The impact of the Northern Lights projectNorthern Lights: an international project

Future plans for the Northern Lights project
Northern Lights: an international project

Overview

Divided City Book

Alison Cassidy of St Margarets’ Primary ran a joint project with Donna Bullivant of Cowie Primary in Stirlingshire. The project was based on their class’ work, studying the book Divided City by Theresa Breslin.

In this Cookbook Alison explains how Glow and also Guitar Hero allowed the two schools to collaborate fully.

Context

Both P6 classes in Cowie and St Margarets’ Primary were studying the book Divided City. Alison and Donna decided to start a joint project based on their studies.

Pupils from the schools would form bands, four or five members in each, with members from each school. They would then compete in a Battle of the Bands using Guitar Hero. The pupils had to decide on a name, design logos and T-shirts, write lyrics and finally perform in a show.

Glow helped the pupils collaborate on their literacy and art topic work. The finished band logos were scanned and uploaded into a Text Editor web part. The classes used Glow Meet to vote on their favourite logos. They also used Glow Meet to rehearse their performances.

Ring of Fire practice

As Alison explains, it wasn’t long before the pupils became so confident using the technology that they started running the Glow Meet sessions themselves!

Ingredients

One of the logo designs

To run the project successfully Alison and Donna needed:

1. A Glow Group
2. Web Links web part to learn more about the Divided City
3. A Picture Library web part to store the logos and band pictures
4. Text Editor web part to display the band logos and band pictures
5. Glow Meet web part
6. A web cam, microphone and speakers for the Glow Meet

Both classes also used a digital scanner to allow the original artwork to be uploaded into the Glow Group.

Recipe

In the first video below, Alison takes us on a tour of the Glow Group.

Learning about Anti Sectarianism using Glow and Guitar Hero

Watch the video below to find out how to use the Text Editor web part to display all the pictures.

Learning about Anti Sectarianism using Glow and Guitar Hero

Impact

Alison is very positive about how the tools and functionality of Glow can be used effectively in class to enhance learning and teaching. She has continued to use Glow on other projects with her classes. The project is a very good example of how Glow Meet can be used effectively with equipment available to the majority of class teachers.

Gillian Orr is a Principal Teacher for Support for Learning in Stirling Council. In August the network was disbanded and Support for Learning teachers were allocated to specific schools. In order to provide consistency of the service within schools throughout the authority, Gillian is using Glow to communicate with Support for Learning teachers and to store important documentation and resources as well as provide CPD and support.

Context

Gillian Orr has developed a Glow Group within Stirling Local Authority to maintain a network for Support for Learning teachers now working in schools. Originally working together in a base recent changes have seen Support for Learning teachers located to a school with the Head Teacher of the establishment having responsibility for recruiting new Support for Learning teachers. Gillian as Principal Teacher wanted to ensure continuity in what was happening  in schools and maintain what was good about the service they were providing. One of the ways Gillian and her team are trying to maintain the network is through a Glow Group which was created in consultation with all the Support for Learning staff  throughout the authority

The first page, the Noticeboard, lists who is working where and within which establishments and clusters as there had been a recruitment of twelve new members of staff in August so there was a need in order to keep in contact with one another and be familiar with which teachers were working in which establishments. News items are listed to keep staff updated on changes, for example retirals, and information is given that should be shared throughout the team. There is a list of useful web links given by teachers to share with one another. There is also a feature of a main resource that is being used, for example a reading scheme to support learners and this is updated regularly so that staff are familiar with the resources that are available at the base and within the authority.

Gillian and her colleagues have created a discussions page to provide an opportunity for staff to have professional discussions, this has been developed through CPD twilight sessions and used not only as a discussion forum but as a way of training staff in the components of Glow.

The document page contains two folders, one of which has proforma which the Principal Teacher has created to ensure staff continue to use the appropriate paperwork within their establishments/cluster groups in order to provide continuity throughout the authority. Another folder contains resource information which lists resources and also catalogue information that staff can look at in order to propose the purchase of new resources. There is also policy information that would be relevant to the staff within their establishments.

Termly newsletters are displayed in the Newsletter page using Page Viewer and back copies are also available for staff as they contain some helpful information on resources, articles and good web sites for use in schools.

Previous to the changes within the network, CPD was provided centrally and all staff attended together. Within the Glow Group a Staff Development page has been set up with relevant CPD which is available on line, with links to useful websites and information on how, for example, how to follow someone on Twitter to keep up to date with Educational discussions. The change in the provision of CPD has provided the opportunity for leadership at all levels with staff taking responsibility for sourcing their own CPD through the resources provided.

As a result of the introduction of the twelve new members of staff with varying experience Gillian has created a page within the Glow group entitled , Mentoring Programme, this provides information on courses and relevant information for the new staff.

The Support for Learning Teachers requested more information on Dyslexia and a page has been allocated for this. This page feeds back information from the Dyslexia Working Party which is currently established within the authority through a section entitled Working Party Update. There are also useful web links which will provide further professional reading for staff on Dyslexia. Relevant documentation which has been produced by the Working Party is also available for staff to read and download, including a Dyslexia training pack from the LTScotland web site.

Staff asked for more specific information on the Additional Support Needs of learners within the authority and a page listing several needs has been created with relevant information provided.

Finally a page has been given to Early Years which is maintained by a member of staff who works with partnership nurseries within the authority. This teacher uploads information that staff may wish, for example documentation on support for learning materials that are being used in Early Years.

*Watch Gillian give a tour of her group and talk about how it supports the Supprt for Learning Staff within Stirling

Stirling Support for Learning Teachers Support Glow Group

Ingredients

What did Gillian need to create her Glow Group

*A Glow Username and Password

Recipe

Watch the videos below to find out how to recreate elements of the Support for Learning Glow Group

*How to create a new Glow Group

Stirling Support for Learning Teachers Support Glow Group

*How to add the Glow Group to Favourites

Stirling Support for Learning Teachers Support Glow Group

*How to add members to a Glow Group

Stirling Support for Learning Teachers Support Glow Group

*How to add, remove and change page titles within a Glow Group

Stirling Support for Learning Teachers Support Glow Group

*How to add images to a Glow Page

Stirling Support for Learning Teachers Support Glow Group

*How to create a discussion using Glow Forums

Stirling Support for Learning Teachers Support Glow Group

*How to add information using text editor and minimise it to list titles

Stirling Support for Learning Teachers Support Glow Group

Impact

Watch Gillian discuss the impact of using Glow to maintain consistency within Stirling for Support for Learning

Stirling Support for Learning Teachers Support Glow Group

Theresa O’Hanlon is Headteacher in St Mary’s Primary School in Bannockburn. Keen to foster and maintain a strong school community, she always looks for ways to involve all staff, pupils and parents in the life of the school and looks to give them the opportunity to voice their thoughts and opinions on the school, welcoming contributions from all.

 Context

St Mary’s has used a range of ways in the past to encourage members of the school community to share their opinions on aspects of school life. Theresa O’Hanlon is particularly keen to enable pupil voice to be heard and so approached P7 teacher and Glow mentor, Jennifer Toft, to find out if there might be a way to use Glow for this purpose.

Jennifer had already been using Glow Surveys with her own class for formative assessment (learn more about this in the cookbook ‘Formative assessment in P7 French – using Glow Surveys’). She realised that a Glow survey would be a great way to encourage pupil voice.

After discussions, it was decided that the school would use the HMiE pre-inspection pupil questionnaire from the HMiE website, to find out pupils’ thoughts on the school.

Setting up the survey
Jennifer created a Glow Survey, entering the questions from the HMiE questionnaire as multiple choice questions, and adding a final ‘multiple lines of text’ question at the end to give pupils the opportunity to make any additional comments they wished. She configured the questionnaire to ensure that pupils could only respond once, so as not to skew the results and also set it up so that the responses were anonymous. This helped achieve more honest results, as pupils felt secure knowing that no one would know who had said what.

The survey was then added to the Noticeboard page of the school site, to enable everyone in the school to see it.
In addition, the pupils’ permissions on the school site were upped from the default ‘Reader’ to ‘Contributor’, as this is the minimum level of permission required to enable users to respond to a survey.

Responses
The response to the survey was far greater than it would have been had a paper questionnaire been issued, based on previous experience. Since only pupils in P5, 6 and 7 currently use Glow within the school, they were the only pupils asked to respond in this way. (Pupils in P1-4 did also complete the survey, but did so in paper format). Within a week, over 60 responses had been submitted through the survey, and to date, there have been 92.

The responses are viewable in graphical format, with the percentages calculated for the number of respondents choosing each possible answer. This gives Theresa, as Headteacher, a quick and easy way of analysing the results, without having to do lots of statistical analysis and collation of results by hand. She can easily see areas where the pupils feel the school is performing well, and areas that may require improvement.

Jennifer talks about the survey in the following video:

Jennifer Toft: pupil voice whole school survey (1:03)
Enabling Pupil Voice – using a Glow Survey

 
Ingredients

It did not take much work to have the questionnaire available for pupils to respond to. Since the survey sits on the school site though rather than in a Glow Group, the work was done by Jennifer using the Site Collection Administrator account. This included:
- Raising the pupil permissions on the school site to Contributor
- Creating a new survey
- Adding the survey to the Noticeboard page of the school site
- Changing the view of the survey web part to make the ‘Respond to this survey’ link visible in the web part

In the following videos, we will take a look at the survey on the St Mary’s Primary school site in Glow, then find out how this can be replicated.

Looking at the survey on the St Mary’s school site (3:48)
Enabling Pupil Voice – using a Glow Survey
How the SCA changes users’ permissions on the school site (3:29)
Enabling Pupil Voice – using a Glow Survey
How to create and configure a survey (14:16)
Enabling Pupil Voice – using a Glow Survey
How to respond to a survey (5:19)
Enabling Pupil Voice – using a Glow Survey

Impact

The school has seen many benefits in using a Glow Survey to give pupils a voice.

The response rate to the Glow Survey was far higher than the return rate would normally be for paper questionnaires issued.

The results are easily accessible, with the statistical analysis and graphical displays automatically done, saving the Headteacher time and giving a permanent record of responses. Since no paper is used, there is no need to file the questionnaires, and money is saved.

Headteacher Theresa O’Hanlon has the following to say about pupils’ usual response to questionnaires, their response to the Glow Survey and the impact it has for her and the school staff:

“The children are not very enthusiastic usually about filling one in by hand and see it as another chore. However the children were much happier to be able to complete it on line. It was a quick and efficient way to find out the children’s thoughts and this will influence next sessions Improvement Plan for the school. “

Jennifer Toft teaches Primary 7 in St Mary’s Primary school in Bannockburn. She has been using Glow surveys for a range of purposes, both within her own class and across the school. One way that she uses surveys, is for formative assessment in French.

 Context

Jennifer is one of Stirling’s Glow Mentors, and originally had her Glow training over two years ago. Whilst she had used Glow during these two years, she had not fully explored all of Glow’s functionality, so when she decided to use a Glow Survey with her class, she turned to the Glow Training Guides to refresh her memory on how to create one. She tells us about this:

Jennifer Toft: Getting started with Glow surveys (0:22)
Formative assessment in P7 French – using Glow Surveys

Having discovered how straightforward it is to create a survey, Jennifer has used surveys as part of her assessment portfolio with her class.

One of the areas of the curriculum that she has used surveys for is French.

Jennifer uses surveys both before and after a topic. By creating a few simple questions, she is able to assess prior learning to find out what the children already know then tailor the lessons in the new topic accordingly. After a topic, she uses the survey to check on vocabulary retention and understanding.

The Glow survey tool offers Jennifer flexibility as she can use a range of question types when assessing the pupils. She uses simple multiple choice questions, or questions requiring a single line of text to be entered, to assess vocabulary knowledge and the multiple text question to enable pupils to give extended responses. Jennifer talks about this:

Jennifer Toft: Using the survey tool to assess French (1:01)
Formative assessment in P7 French – using Glow Surveys

The surveys are quick and easy for pupils to use and give them a format of assessment which they find enjoyable. Jennifer says that pupils do not realise they are being assessed, as they do not feel like they are sitting a test, as they would if they were being asked to write about what they know on paper.

Analysing the Results
The results are really easy for Jennifer to analyse. She can get an overview of the responses from the whole class and can see at a glance, areas where there is misunderstanding across the class as a whole. For example, from the survey on French food, it was clear to Jennifer that pupils were confused about the meaning of ‘le beurre’. This allowed her to revisit this with the class.

As well as getting an overview of the whole class, the survey allows Jennifer to look at individual pupil responses. That way, she can see the specific areas that each child might need support with.

Jennifer has set up the survey so that the pupils do not see the results. This makes them feel more secure when responding, knowing that no one else (apart from the teacher) will see what they have said.

The results are permanently available to Jennifer should she need them. There is no need for her to store paper copies of assessments and no need for her to calculate the statistics on the responses, such as the percentage of pupils who gave a particular response, as the Glow survey does that for her. This saves Jennifer time, and also saves the school money as less paper is being used!

Ingredients

So what did Jennifer need to do to create the surveys and enable the pupils to respond to them?
It is important to note that in order to be able to respond to a survey, users must have contributor permissions within the Glow Group, so Jennifer required the following:
- Have a Glow Group at school level
- Ensure all pupils had Contributor rights to the Glow Group
- Create the survey and add it to the page

We’ll have a  look now at the P7H Glow Group that Jennifer uses with her class, focusing particularly on the surveys within it. The videos that then follow explain how to replicate elements of this.

P7H Glow Group, St Mary’s Bannockburn (4:48)
Formative assessment in P7 French – using Glow Surveys
How to create a survey (14:16)
Formative assessment in P7 French – using Glow Surveys
How to respond to a survey (5:19)
Formative assessment in P7 French – using Glow Surveys

Impact

Pupils have responded very well to the use of surveys as an assessment tool. Jennifer says that the pupils do not feel like they are being assessed and so respond better than if they were issued with an assessment in paper format. They are enthusiastic and keen to respond.

For staff, there have been benefits too. The results are easily accessible, all in one place, with statistical analysis already done. There is no need for paper and so using the Glow Survey helps contribute to cutting costs for the school. There is also no need to store paper copies of questionnaires, as they are held online.

Jennifer talks about this and the impact that using surveys has had on her own assessment of pupils’ learning:

Jennifer Toft: Impact (0:44)
Formative assessment in P7 French – using Glow Surveys

In St Mary’s Primary, surveys have been used in other areas of the school too. Read more about these uses in the following cookbooks:

Using a Glow Survey to evaluate ‘Connecting the Learning’ shared homework tasks
Enabling pupil voice: Using a Glow Survey

Context
‘Connecting the Learning’ is the process of Bernadette planning a topic with the children so as to create an enjoyable, coherent and relevant context for learning.

Recently, the pupils in Primary 5 were studying the Scottish Wars of Independence.
Through planning this with the children, Bernadette provided a wide range of engaging and stimulating activities throughout this topic. The focus was very much on the children being active learners.

Bernadette describes some of this in her own words:

 “Our P5 topic last term was the Scottish Wars of Independence. As part of the topic the children created a film advertisement and a brochure with a Digital Artist on tourism in Stirling. We visited the Wallace Monument and Stirling Castle on a trip, we built a small medieval castle in our classroom, made poster presentations on Medieval Life, Feudalism, Medieval Jewellery and Armour and Heraldry. The class also created a Timeline wall with lots of information about the wars of independence. During our Open Afternoon, they hosted a cafe to raise funds for SCIAF and did a quiz with parents as well as presenting all their work and showing the advertisement.

For the Open Afternoon, the classroom was transformed into a ‘Tourist Office’ which was split into different areas. In one area was a model of a Medieval Castle built by the pupils; in another was a lego model of the Wallace Monument that they had made; in the middle of the room was a suitcase, filled with the clothing and other items that the pupils felt should be packed by visitors planning to visit the Stirling area. The pupils acted as Tour Guides for the afternoon and were able to share lots of information about Wallace and Bruce with the visitors who included Parents and pupils from other classes. This included playing the video advertisement they had made and appeared in. There was also a cafe in the Tourist Centre, as the pupils all felt that this was an essential element of any good tourist experience!

The class also held a Glow Meet session with ‘Mr Browne’ from the Tourist Board. You can find out more about this in the cookbook ‘Your Tourist Board Needs you!’ 

Shared Learning Homework


One aspect of this ‘Connecting the learning’ topic was the Shared Learning Homework. This required the children to share their learning with people outside of school. Information was given to parents to let them know the purpose of these shared learning activities and to encourage them to support their children in these.

The pupils were given a list of 15 shared learning homework activities, and were required to complete 8 of them. There were three compulsory activities:
1. To build a castle from a shoe box with someone at home.
2. To create a ‘Wanted’ poster for the capture of William Wallace by the English.
3. To make a collage of Stirling and the historical places in the area.

Pupils could choose any other five activities of their choice.
For the tasks that required a form of written output, such as writing an acrostic poem for William Wallace or Robert the Bruce, or making a presentation about an aspect of the topic that interested them, the pupils uploaded their completed work into the Document store in their class Glow Group.

The Document Store is where many items of the childrens’ work is stored, making it a great vehicle for peer review too. 

Bernadette had carried out similar ‘Connecting the Learning’ Shared Learning Homework exercises previously and had evaluated these by sending out a questionnaire to parents/carers in paper format. This time, she decided to use Glow to evaluate it.

Glow Survey

Within the P5 Glow Group, Bernadette created a Glow Survey.
She added it to the Noticeboard Page of the Glow Group for ease of access.
Pupils logged on to Glow at home and completed the survey.

They were asked questions such as:
- How many shared learning tasks did you complete?
- What do you like most about this type of homework? Give a reason why.
- If you could change anything about this type of homework what would you change?  Give a reason why.
- Did you upload any of your homework to Glow?

Using the paper questionnaires, Bernadette had previously had a return rate of about 11 out of 25.  Using the Glow Survey, she received 18 responses, a huge increase!

The children found the survey a really enjoyable way of giving their feedback, as it was much more novelty than simply filling in a sheet of paper.

Ingredients

So what did Bernadette need to do to enable the pupils to take part in a Glow Survey to evaluate their shared learning tasks:
- Have a Glow Group at school level
- Ensure all pupils had Contributor rights to the Glow Group
- Create the survey and add it to the page
Let’s have a little look at the P5 Glow Group and the survey in it. You can then use the ‘how to’ videos to learn how to replicate this for yourself.

Tour of the P5 Glow Group (5:15)
Using a Glow Survey to evaluate ‘Connecting the Learning’ shared homework tasks

How to create a survey (14:16)
Using a Glow Survey to evaluate ‘Connecting the Learning’ shared homework tasks
How to respond to a survey (5:19)
Using a Glow Survey to evaluate ‘Connecting the Learning’ shared homework tasks

Impact

Using the Glow Survey to gather feedback has increased the number of responses that Bernadette received from the class. This gives her more data to use to evaluate the effectiveness of the tasks and plan for future shared learning exercises.

 Also, as the data is stored in Glow, she has permanent access to it and does not need to file away paper copies for future reference.

It is also possible to create a template of a survey, so Bernadette could use this survey as a template for future evaluation surveys, to save having to create a new survey from scratch each time.

Overview
Primary 5 in St Mary’s Primary School in Bannockburn were recently learning about the Scottish Wars of Independence. Their class teacher, Bernadette Cassidy, was keen to find innovative ways to engage the children and really make the learning come alive for them. Luckily, help was at hand in the form of the fictitious Mr Browne from the ‘Scottish Tourist Board’!

Context

Bernadette Cassidy had already provided a wide range of interesting and stimulating learning activities for her Primary 5 class as part of their topic of The Scottish Wars of Independence, but still felt she wanted to engage the children further . She then came up with the idea of sending a letter to the class from a fictitious Head of the Scottish tourist board, Mr Browne.

Bernadette explains this in her own words:

“Our P5 topic last term was the Scottish Wars of Independence. Since the P5 classroom is in a new build section of the school, there are a few restrictions on the things that are put up on the classroom walls etc, so it would have been impossible to transform the classroom into a medieval castle, as I have done in the past for ‘Connecting the Learning’ Topics. 

So, I sent the children a letter from ‘ Mr Browne’ of the ‘Scottish Tourist Board’ asking them to help with developing tourism brochures, leaflets, guides and maps for the Stirling area. The class then became more of an ‘office’ for tourism. The children received the letter half way through the topic; they were very excited and became hooked on the idea of who Mr Browne was (this mystery person had them very intrigued). There was some correspondence between the class and ‘Mr Browne’ by letter and he ‘visited’ our classroom one afternoon at the end of last term and left a note in our visitors book.  

As part of the topic the children created a film advertisement and a brochure with a Digital Artist on tourism in Stirling. We visited the Wallace Monument and Stirling Castle on a class trip, we built a small medieval castle from large pieces of cardboard in our classroom, we made poster presentations and displays on Medieval Life, Feudalism, Medieval Jewellery and Armour and Heraldry. The class also created a Timeline wall with lots of information about the Wars of Independence. During our Open Afternoon, they hosted a cafe to raise funds for SCIAF and they did a table quiz with parents as well as presenting all of their work and showing the advertisement.

P5's Tourist Brochure

The role of Mr Browne in all of this was to give them a focus on the tourism side of how to learn about the Wars of Independence, as a foreigner or local tourist to Stirling. He asked them to help advertise the area by creating posters, leaflets and presentations about it, on behalf of the ‘Scottish Tourist Board’. The children were so fascinated by Mr Browne that I thought having a Glow Meet would be a great way of giving them a chance to talk to him whilst still keeping it all a bit mysterious and exciting. They still believe that they were asked by the Scottish Tourist Board to do this work!!

Bernadette talks about this in the following video:

Bernadette Cassidy: Why we used Glow Meet (0:56)
Your Tourist Board needs you! – P5 Social Subjects topic

Glow Meet with ‘Mr Browne’
Bernadette arranged for someone to play the part of Mr Browne, and agreed a time for the Glow Meet to take place. Mr Browne was actually in ‘Riverside’, home to the Stirling ICT team, and bore a remarkable resemblance to the husband of one of the team members!

P5's Tourist Brochure

The room he was in had been decorated to look like it might be a tourist office, as it had posters and leaflets on the wall behind him. The leaflet produced by the children was on display there, adding authenticity to the set.

‘Mr Browne’ had been briefed on the work that the pupils had done and questions thought up by the pupils had been sent to him ahead of time, so that he had time to prepare his answers!

Mr Browne uploaded images to the whiteboard in the Glow Meet room, which he used during the Meet to ask pupils about aspects of the Scottish Wars of Independence.

The pupils did a lot of research and preparation for the Glow Meet, and during the event, they took turns in coming to the web cam to ask their questions. They also took part, in two groups, in a quiz set by Mr Browne.

The Glow Meet session was recorded, and the pupils were able to watch this back later, which really thrilled them.

For the Open Afternoon, the classroom was transformed into a ‘Tourist Office’ which was split into different areas. In one area was a model of a Medaeval Castle built by the pupils; in another was a lego model of the Wallace Monument that they had made; in the middle of the room was a suitcase, filled with the clothing and other items that the pupils felt should be packed by visitors planning to visit the Stilring area. The pupils acted as Tour Guides for the afternoon and were able to share lots of information about Wallace and Bruce with the visitors who included parents/guardians and family as well as pupils from other classes. There was also a café selling homemade Scottish shortbread in the Tourist Centre, as the pupils all felt that this was an essential element of any good tourist experience!

The pupils’ research, preparation and participation in the Glow Meet itself allowed Bernadette to incorporate a range of Literacy and English experiences and outcomes into the topic work:

LIT 2-09a When listening and talking with others for different purposes, I can:

• share information, experiences and opinions
• explain processes and ideas
• identify issues raised and summarise main points or findings
• clarify points by asking questions or by asking others to say more.                                                        

LIT 2-10a / LIT 3-10a I am developing confidence when engaging with others within and beyond my place of learning. I can communicate in a clear, expressive way and I am learning to select and organise resources independently.

LIT 2-15a I can make notes, organise them under suitable headings and use them to understand information, develop my thinking, explore problems and create new texts, using my own words as appropriate.

LIT 1-20a/LIT 2-20a I enjoy creating texts of my choice and I regularly select subject, purpose, format and resources to suit the needs of my audience.

LIT 2-23a Throughout the writing process, I can check that my writing makes sense and meets its purpose.

LIT 2-24a I consider the impact that layout and presentation will have and can combine lettering, graphics and other features to engage my reader.

LIT 2-25a I can use my notes and other types of writing to help me understand information and ideas, explore problems, make decisions, generate and develop ideas or create new text.              I recognise the need to acknowledge my sources and can do this appropriately.

LIT 2-26a By considering the type of text I am creating, I can select ideas and relevant information, organise these in an appropriate way for my purpose and use suitable vocabulary for my audience.

ENG 2-27a I am learning to use language and style in a way which engages and/or influences my reader.

LIT 2-28a I can convey information, describe events, explain processes or combine ideas in different ways

They also, of course, covered many Social Studies Experiences and Outcomes, including:

SOC 2-01a I can use primary and secondary sources selectively to research events in the past.

SOC 2-02a I can interpret historical evidence from a range of periods to help to build a picture of Scotland’s heritage and my sense of chronology.

SOC 2-03a I can investigate a Scottish historical theme to discover how past events or the actions of individuals or groups have shaped Scottish society.

SOC 2-06a I can discuss why people and events from a particular time in the past were important, placing them within a historical sequence.

Using Glow and in particular Glow Meet, helped pupils engage with a range of Technologies experiences and outcomes too:

TCH 1-04a / TCH 2-04a I explore and experiment with the features and functions of computer technology and I can use what I learn to support and enhance my learning in different contexts.

TCH 1-08a / TCH 2-08a I am developing my knowledge and use of safe and acceptable conduct as I use different technologies to interact and share experiences, ideas and information with others.

Many other experiences and outcomes from other curricular areas, such as Expressive Arts, were also covered throughout all of the topic work, making this a truly integrated learning experience for the pupils.

The entire Glow Meet with Mr Browne lasted for around 45 minutes. Let’s take a look now at excerpts from this.

Excerpts from P5’s Glow Meet with Mr Browne

Excerpt 1: A question from Emma (3:29)
Your Tourist Board needs you! – P5 Social Subjects topic
Excerpt 2: A question from Martin (3:08)
Your Tourist Board needs you! – P5 Social Subjects topic
Excerpt 3: A quiz from Mr Browne (7:45)
Your Tourist Board needs you! – P5 Social Subjects topic
Excerpt 4: Pupils reciting Scots wha hae (1:54)
Your Tourist Board needs you! – P5 Social Subjects topic
 

Bernadette tells us what the pupils got out of this event:

Bernadette Cassidy: What the pupils got out of it (2:10)
Your Tourist Board needs you! – P5 Social Subjects topic

Ingredients

What did Bernadette Cassidy need to do to hold the Glow Meet with ‘Mr Browne’?
- Have a Glow Group
- Add the Glow Meet Web Part to the Group
- Have a web cam, microphone and speakers

We’ve already seen excerpts from the Glow Meet in the video above, so how could you replicate this? Watch the following ‘how to’ videos to learn how to set up and use Glow Meet within your own Glow Group:

 How to set up a Glow Meet in a Glow Group (5:36)
Your Tourist Board needs you! – P5 Social Subjects topic
How to join and take part in a Glow Meet (3:38)
Your Tourist Board needs you! – P5 Social Subjects topic
How to use the video, audio and chat facility within a Glow Meet meeting room (6:19)
Your Tourist Board needs you! – P5 Social Subjects topic
How to use the shared whiteboard in a Glow Meet meeting room (8:25)
Your Tourist Board needs you! – P5 Social Subjects topic
How to record a Glow Meet (2:09)
Your Tourist Board needs you! – P5 Social Subjects topic
How to play back a previously recorded Glow Meet (3:22)
Your Tourist Board needs you! – P5 Social Subjects topic

Impact

Perhaps the main impact that holding the Glow Meet had, was the enthusiasm and excitement that it created amongst the pupils in the class. They became thoroughly engaged with the research they did, knowing that it would be looked at by the ‘Tourist Board’, and being able to talk to Mr Browne himself made it even more of an important task for them and gave them a real purpose for their learning. The topic became much more than simply learning about events from history.

Bernadette talks about the impact she feels it had:

Bernadette Cassidy: Impact (2:01)
Your Tourist Board needs you! – P5 Social Subjects topic

 Find out how Bernadette evaluated elements of this topic using a Glow Survey in the  ‘Using a Glow Survey to evaluate ‘Connecting the Learning’ shared homework tasks’  cookbook

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!

Many schools have been hit with staff absence due to the flight suspensions caused by the Volcanic ash situation. Teachers – and pupils – have been stranded abroad at the start of the new school term. One teacher found that she could still provide learning activities for her class though, despite being stuck in Portugal.

Context

Bernadette Cassidy teaches Primary 5 at St Mary’s Primary school in Bannockburn, Stirling.
When she discovered she would not be able to return in time for the start of term, she realised that she could still provide support for her class and let them know which activities they should be doing, by using the class’s Glow Group.

From Portugal, Bernadette logged on to Glow and used the ‘News’ web part to let the pupils know that she would not be able to return for a few days.

She then added a new page to the Primary 5 Glow Group. The page is called ‘Classwork week 19th April’. 

Bernadette added some text editor web parts with information about the tasks the pupils should work on

Relevance: Literacy
Bernadette has embraced the flight situation to provide meaningful literacy activities for the pupils.

As a Talking and Listening exercise, the pupils have been asked, through instructions in the text editor web part to:

“Imagine you are on your way home after your holidays but when you get to the airport you find out your flight is cancelled.
Now you have very little money left in your wallet and nowhere to stay. Discuss with your partner what you would do in this situation. Write a helpful list of advice.”

Following on from this, the pupils have been given a writing activity, where they are required to write a letter of complaint to the airline:

“Once you have arrived home after a 2 day delay from your cancelled flight, you decide to write a letter of complaint to the airline.
You need to introduce yourself in your letter, explain why your flight was cancelled, what you had to do to get accommodation and food for two days and how you feel about the situation.
Remember, this should be a formal letter so you need to include the correct layout and format as well as the correct formal language in your letter.”

These activities really embrace the Curriculum for Excellence principle of Relevance. They also enable Bernadette’s pupils to engage with the following Literacy and English Experiences and Outcomes:

LIT 2-02a When I engage with others, I can respond in ways appropriate to my role, show that I value others’ contributions and use these to build on thinking.
LIT 2-09a When listening and talking with others for different purposes, I can:
• share information, experiences and opinions
• explain processes and ideas
• identify issues raised and summarise main points or findings
• clarify points by asking questions or by asking others to say more.
LIT 2-22a In both short and extended texts, I can use appropriate punctuation, vary my sentence structures and divide my work into paragraphs in a way that makes sense to my reader.
LIT 2-23a Throughout the writing process, I can check that my writing makes sense and meets its purpose.
LIT 2-26a By considering the type of text I am creating, I can select ideas and relevant information, organise these in an appropriate way for my purpose and use suitable vocabulary for my audience.
LIT 2-28a I can convey information, describe events, explain processes or combine ideas in different ways.
LIT 2-29a I can persuade, argue, explore issues or express an opinion using relevant supporting detail and/or evidence.
ENG 2-30a As I write for different purposes and readers, I can describe and share my experiences, expressing what they made me think about and how they made me feel.

Relevance: Social Studies
 Bernadette has of course also taken the opportunity to explore some Social Subjects issues connected with the Volcanic eruption.

In a second text editor web part, she has tasked pupils with some Geography and Media Studies research.

Pupils have been asked to use their map skills to explore the places in Europe that travellers who are stranded may have to go to in order to be able to return to the UK. The maps skills task says:

a)Primary 5, as you know I am stuck in Portugal. As there are no planes travelling between alot of European countries at the moment I need to travel by land and sea back to Scotland. I buses and trains by land and I will need to get a ferry from France to England. Using an atlas, find out how many countries I will need to cross before I get back to Scotland.
b) My friend, Clare, is also travelling back to Scotland but she was on holidays in Estonia. She will be meeting me at the ferry in France, a place called Calais outside Paris. Using your atlas again, find out how many countries Clare has to cross before she gets back to Scotland.

Again, this provides a completely relevant context for learning for the pupils, and gives them a real purpose for developing their map reading skills.

The pupils  have been asked to work in pairs, developing their communication and collaboration skills, to find out more about volcanoes. The results of their research should be made into a short report or presentation, again supporting literacy skills. Pupils are asked to upload their completed work to Glow, so enabling them to see one another’s research and develop their knowledge further:

“In partners, find out as much as you can about Volcanoes and write a short report in a Word Document or using PowerPoint which includes information about:
What is a volcano?
What happens when they erupt?
Why do they erupt?
What damage can they cause to the land, air and sea?
When was the last volcano eruption?
Other information you are interested in.
Remember to include some pictures and design your report well.
Upload your report to Glow.”

The final social studies task involves researching the media coverage of the travellers stranded abroad:

“There are lots of people all across Europe in the same situation as me. Can you find a newspaper article on the internet or in your newspaper at home about the problems that have been caused. Write a short paragraph telling me why you have chosen that article and what you think you would do in this situation.”

These activities all contribute to the pupils’ exposure to the 2nd level Social Studies experiences and outcomes as well as further literacy outcomes:

SOC 2-07b I can describe the physical processes of a natural disaster and discuss its impact on people and the landscape.
SOC 2-09a Having explored the ways journeys can be made, I can consider the advantages and disadvantages of different forms of transport, discussing their impact on the environment.
SOC 2-14a To extend my mental map and sense of place, I can interpret information from different types of maps and am beginning to locate key features within Scotland, UK, Europe or the wider world.

LIT 2-15a I can make notes, organise them under suitable headings and use them to understand information, develop my thinking, explore problems and create new texts, using my own words as appropriate.
LIT 2-16a To show my understanding across different areas of learning, I can identify and consider the purpose and main ideas of a text and use supporting detail.
LIT 2-25a I can use my notes and other types of writing to help me understand information and ideas, explore problems, make decisions, generate and develop ideas or create new text.
I recognise the need to acknowledge my sources and can do this appropriately.

There is, of course, ample opportunity for purposeful use of ICT through the research activities and use of Glow itself. This helps pupils engage with the following Technologies experiences and outcomes:

TCH 2-03b Throughout all my learning, I can use search facilities of electronic sources to access and retrieve information, recognising the importance this has in my place of learning, at home and in the workplace.
TCH 3-04a I enhance my learning by applying my ICT skills in different learning contexts across the curriculum.
All of the activities are providing a rich, relevant and stimulating learning experiences for the pupils.

Ingredients

What did Bernadette need to do to add the learning activities to the Glow Group for the P5 pupils to access?
• Add a new page
• Add in the text editor web part and use it to type in the instructions

In the following videos we will look at what the Primary 5 Glow Group, then find out how to replicate some of the elements within it.

What does Primary 5 Glow Group look like? (3:20)
Teacher stranded abroad? – No problem, use Glow!
How to add and rename pages (3:08)

Teacher stranded abroad? – No problem, use Glow!
How to use the text editor to add information and instructions (3:59)
Teacher stranded abroad? – No problem, use Glow!

Impact

The use of Glow has enabled continuity of learning for the P5 pupils in St Mary’s, despite the absence of their class teacher.

Bernadette has been able to keep in touch with her class, even from such a remote location, and has been able to direct the learning activities in line with the planning she had already made – albeit for a different context than she might have had planned!

This has eased the burden on the school who are trying to put in place contingency plans for staff absence.

 Headteacher of St Mary’s, Theresa O’Hanlon, says of Bernadette’s endeavours:

“I think that what Bernadette has done is fantastic.  The activities that she posted on Glow for her children are actually covering Experiences and Outcomes which she has planned to cover this session.  This has helped to ensure continuity and progression for the children in the absence of their class teacher.”

Whilst enjoying this fantastic way of learning, the pupils will no doubt still be hoping for a safe and speedy return for Miss Cassidy!

Context
Alison was new to Glow and was initially unsure whether it could add to the ideas she already had when planning how to work with the children on their term’s history topic of The Highland Clearances. However, after some discussion with her Local Authority Glow Key Contact, she decided to create a Glow Group to enable the children to discuss their learning. Soon though, the Group became an integral part of the work that the class was doing and grew beyond Alison’s initial expectations!

As the history topic was on the Highland Clearances, Alison had decided to integrate this with some work on literacy, by reading “The Desperate Journey” by Kathleen Fidler. The book describes how the Murray Family is affected when they are driven out of their Highland home and have to make their way to Glasgow before eventually being given the chance of starting a new life in Canada.

By doing this work, Alison was looking, in varying degrees, to address the following Curriculum for Excellence Social Studies outcomes for ‘People, Past Events and Societies’:

SOC 2-03a I can investigate a Scottish historical theme to discover how past events or the actions of individuals or groups have shaped Scottish society.
SOC 2-04a I can compare and contrast a society in the past with my own and contribute to a discussion of the similarities and differences.
SOC 2-06a I can discuss why people and events from a particular time in the past were important, placing them within a historical sequence.
SOC 2-14a To extend my mental map and sense of place, I can interpret information from different types of maps and am beginning to locate key features within Scotland, UK, Europe or the wider world.

As well as contributing to the Social Studies outcomes, Alison was also able to embed the following literacy outcomes into the learning:

Listening and Talking
Lit 2-02a When I engage with others, I can respond in ways appropriate to my role, show that I value others’ contributions and use these to build on thinking.
Lit 2-04a As I listen or watch, I can identify and discuss the purpose, main ideas and supporting detail contained within the text, and use this information for different purposes.

Reading
Lit 2-16a To show my understanding across different areas of learning, I can identify and consider the purpose and main ideas of a text and use supporting detail.

Writing
Lit 2-20a I enjoy creating texts of my choice and I regularly select subject, purpose, format and resources to suit the needs of my audience.
Lit 2-23a Throughout the writing process, I can check that my writing makes sense and meets its purpose.
Lit 2-28a I can convey information, describe events, explain processes or combine ideas in different ways.
Lit 2-29a I can persuade, argue, explore issues or express an opinion using relevant supporting detail and/or evidence.

How did the Desperate Journey come to life for P6?
In order to bring the book to life for the children, Alison split up the class into ‘families’, living in the fictitious ‘Invercoe’. They were then, over the days and weeks, made to ‘live’ the experiences of the Murray Family in the book. Amongst other activities, the class experienced the following:

The Burning Party and Eviction
Alison arranged for a visitor come in and hold a ‘burning party’ (without real fire of course!) to clear the families from their homes. The pupils had to literally remove themselves from the classroom with all their possessions, to experience the reality of the evictions. This was very traumatic for some pupils who felt personally aggrieved at being evicted! Photos of this were posted in a Picture Library in the Glow Group, as well as on the classroom wall.

Emigrating
To simulate the process of applying for emigration, Alison arranged a Glow Meet session with the ‘Shipping Agent’ (Alison’s father dressed up!). Each ‘family’ of pupils had to sit in front of the web cam and be interviewed by the Agent to justify why they should be considered for emigration, arguing their case by citing their personal qualities and work skills. The pupils said that they found this a very nerve-racking experience, indicating that it enabled them to really empathise with the characters in the book, as well as having a deeper understanding of the lives of those involved in the Highland Clearances. The Glow Meet session was recorded and the pupils were able to watch this back, enabling them to see and discuss each ‘Family’s’ interview.

Scottish Cultural Heritage – Spinning
Alison covered other cultural elements to the pupils’ experiences, by inviting a local lady in to show the pupils how to use a spinning wheel. This was a lovely way for pupils to learn more about their Scottish heritage and certainly added much enjoyment.

Throughout all of the work on the Desperate Journey, Alison was able to integrate many elements of literacy.

For example, in character as their family member (Mother, Father, Daughter, Son, Grandmother, etc) each pupil kept a daily diary, writing about the experiences their family was having throughout the clearance process. This provided a rich source for imaginative writing. They additionally wrote sense poetry about living in the Highlands and produced some amazingly evocative poems.

Pupils also had to write a piece about themselves (their character self) for their family biography, which then formed a book containing details of every character within the class.

All of the writing was uploaded into document libraries within Glow.

Pupils also held debates within their ‘families’ about whether to move to the city or the coast and whether to emigrate or not – and if so, where to. This challenged and improved their talking and listening skills – as well as their geography!

They also made excellent use of the Discussion Board within their Glow Group to talk about their family’s plight and discuss how they should react to it. All posts were recorded showing their character name, as the Local Authority had given temporary permission for the pupils’ display names to be changed for this exercise. This made the posts seem more real, as pupils really got into character when posting! Alison was able to address punctuation and grammar within the discussion posts, highlighting where capital letters had been missed, or full stops omitted. She was also able to teach pupils about audience awareness and talk about whether it would be appropriate to use ‘text speak’ in posts, which pupils naturally tended towards.

In this cookbook we will look at
• The Desperate Journey Glow Group
• How to add and edit pages in a Glow Group
• How to add pictures in a table to the Text Editor web part
• How to create multiple discussion boards
• How to add and set up a Glow Meet
• How to join a Glow Meet

Ingredients
What did Alison Cassidy need to do to add the content to her Glow Group and enable the pupils to discuss their character’s plight?
• Create a Glow Group at school level
• Add all the P6 pupils in her class as members of the Group
• Create additional pages
• Create multiple discussion boards
• Use text editor to upload images
• Add Glow Meet to the Group.

In the next section, we will have a look at the Desperate Journey Glow Group, then find out how to replicate some of the elements within it.

The Desperate Journey Glow Group (5:40)
The Desperate Journey
How to add and edit pages (3:08)
The Desperate Journey
How to create new discussion boards (7:02)
The Desperate Journey
How to use the Text Editor  web part to upload an image (8:49)
The Desperate Journey
How to set up a Glow Meet (5:36)
The Desperate Journey
How to join and take part in a Glow Meet session (3:38)
The Desperate Journey

Impact
The entire Desperate Journey project had a tremendous impact on pupils’ learning. This was much enhanced by the use of Glow. Pupils were able to access the Glow Group from home, which enabled their parents to see the activities their child had been engaging with and assist them when they were continuing their learning in the evenings by posting to the Discussion Boards. Hear Alison and some of her pupils talk about their Desperate Journey in the following video clips.

Teacher Interview Part 1 (0:58)
The Desperate Journey
Teacher Interview Part 2 (1:34)
The Desperate Journey
Teacher Interview Part 3 (1:33)
The Desperate Journey
Pupils Part 1 – What is the Desperate Journey about? (1:11)
The Desperate Journey
Pupils Part 2 – Activities we took part in (0:39)
The Desperate Journey
Pupils Part 3 – Getting into character (0:47)
The Desperate Journey
Pupils Part 4 – Using the Discussion Boards (1:03)
The Desperate Journey
Pupils Part 5 – Glow Meet with the shipping agent (0:35)
The Desperate Journey
Pupils Part 6 – Home use (0:30)
The Desperate Journey