Overview
Fiona Meney is a Principal Teacher at Forehill Primary School, South Ayrshire. She has recently started to look at ways that Glow can be used to support teaching and learning in the classroom.
In this cookbook we will look at how Fiona has used Glow with Primary 6 learners to support teaching and learning and to introduce pupils and staff to Glow and its functionality to support Curriculum for Excellence. This cookbook will exemplify this good practice and show how to re-create it.

Context
Fiona has looked at ways that she can make learning more interesting and engaging for the learner and looked at how Glow could support pupils to communicate with each other and share their ideas and work collaboratively.  Fiona has responsibility for Primary 6 one day a week and decided that she would introduce the class she has and the other P.6 class to Glow, creating a joint Primary 6 Glow group.

She has created projects within the Glow Group which encourage independent working and thinking and allow pupils to support each other and contribute to the collaborative group. 

Fiona plans next year when these pupils are in primary Seven to have them as supporters for other pupils and staff throughout the school.

Watch Fiona as she describes her Glow Group and how she uses it to support learning.

Introducing Glow to Primary 6

Curriuclum for Excellence Outcomes and Experiences
*Using what I know about the features of different types of texts, I can find, select and sort information from a variety of sources and use this for different purposes. LIT 2-14a
*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 2-15a
*Throughout the writing process, I can check that my writing makes sense and meets its purpose. LIT 2-23a
*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 2-26a
*I can persuade, argue, explore issues or express an opinion using relevant supporting detail and/or evidence. LIT 2-29a
*I can use my knowledge of rounding to routinely estimate the answer to a problem then, after calculating, decide if my answer is reasonable, sharing my solution with others. MNU 2-01a
*Having determined which calculations are needed, I can solve problems involving whole numbers using a range of methods, sharing my approaches and solutions with others. MNU 2-03a

Ingredients

What did Fiona need to use to support this project.

1. Administrator rights to a Glow Group

All children had to have contributor rights to the Glow Group in order to collaborate within the group.

Recipe

*How to change discussions web part to peer assessment
Introducing Glow to Primary 6

*How to add multiple web links web parts for differentiated group work
Introducing Glow to Primary 6

*How to add a Voki
Introducing Glow to Primary 6

Impact
There have been a number of impacts from this project. The class teacher is now much more familiar with the components of Glow and now hopes to develop her skills to support teaching and learning. She also feels that the learners have now had a good experience with Glow and are capable of logging on and navigating their way through the web parts confidently so she would like to enhance their experiences.
Fiona feels that the learners are having an opportunity to learn in a style with which they feel comfortable and are skilled in. She hopes to continue to use Glow to support the learners in her class and to use their skill base to support children and staff in the use of Glow.

Watch Fiona talk about the impact of this project.

Introducing Glow to Primary 6

In session 2009-2010 Marie-Louise worked with Vicky Mackenzie from Lairdsland PS to create a Glow Group where learners could publish their results as part of a league. This league was named ‘EDC Brain Trained Weans League’ and is part of a Glow Group named ‘EDC Brain Trained Learners’.

What the league looks like

In this cookbook we’ll look at how Marie-Louise and Vicky use a range of web parts within the ‘EDC Brain Train Learners’ Glow Group to communicate with learners, enable learners to submit their score onto a league table and allow pupils to contact each other through the discussion forum and Glow Meet to share good practice and hints and tips with each other.

Context
Marie-Louise and Vicky were keen to provide a relevant and stimulating basis for covering the Curriculum for Excellence numeracy outcomes:
First Level
I can use addition, subtraction, multiplication and division when solving problems, making best use of the mental strategies and written skills I have developed.
MNU 1-03a
I can tell the time using 12 hour clocks, realising there is a link with 24 hour notation, explain how it impacts on my daily routine and ensure that I am organised and ready for events throughout my day.
MNU 1-10a
I have begun to develop a sense of how long tasks take by measuring the time taken to complete a range of activities using a variety of timers.
MNU 1-10c
I can convey information, describe events or processes, share my opinions or persuade my reader in different ways.
LIT 1-28a / LIT 1-29a
Second Level
Having determined which calculations are needed, I can solve problems involving whole numbers using a range of methods, sharing my approaches and solutions with others.
MNU 2-03a
Having explored the need for rules for the order of operations in number calculations, I can apply them correctly when solving simple problems.
MTH 2-03c
I can carry out practical tasks and investigations involving timed events and can explain which unit of time would be most appropriate to use.
MNU 2-10b
I can persuade, argue, explore issues or express an opinion using relevant supporting detail and/or evidence.
LIT 2-29a

Communicating with each other

In this cookbook, we will find out:
• What the ‘EDC Brain Train Learners’ Glow Group looks like
• How a Custom List web part has been used to create an active league
• How to replicate the league table
• What the impact was

Ingredients

What did Holy Family PS and Lairdsland PS need to do to create the elements of the Glow Group and give pupils and staff access to it?

1. Nintendo DS Handsets
2. Nintendo Brain Train Software
3. A Glow Group
4. The Custom List in a data sheet view web part

It was also necessary to ensure pupils had Contributor rights within the Glow Group to enable them to take part in discussions, add their results and upload documents.

In the next section, we’ll take a look at the ‘EDC Brain Train Learners’ Glow Group and learn how to recreate elements within it.

Recipe

The first video below shows the ‘EDC Brain Train Learners’ Glow Group and the uses made of a range of web parts. The videos that then follow show how the league web part can be recreated. Details are:

*What does the Brain Train Learners Glow Group Look Like?
Brain Train League Cookbook

*How to create a new page within a Glow Group
Brain Train League Cookbook

*How to create a league web part within a Glow group
Brain Train League Cookbook

*How to add an item on to the league part
Brain Train League Cookbook

*How to use the Filter Tool Within the League
Brain Train League Cookbook

Teacher’s Video in Impact of Glow
Brain Train League Cookbook

Brain Train League Cookbook

Brain Train League Cookbook

 
Product
The impact of using Glow to deliver this learning activity has been considerable.
The use of Nintendo Brain Train has shown an increase in children’s speed and accuracy of calculation in addition and subtraction and multiplication/division tables.
Within the Glow group the learners talk freely of how they have ‘become faster and better’ at their sums and how this game has helped them. They share ideas with each other to increase speed and accuracy and lower brain age.
Although the learners continue to strive for self improvement the use of a joint Glow group has resulted in learners being keen to work with each other and compete to be a part of the league. The element of competition and being part of a wider community is clear from their communications and eagerness to be part of the Glow group.

The Glow group has now been opened up to members within the Local Authority, East Dunbartonshire, and secondary and primary schools have joined. This has increased the range within the group. The link to the group is now available on the Local Authority site.