Get Up and GLOW

Anyone else noticed that there are more and more blog posts referencing GLOW . There's a movement afoot. It is starting to catch hold?

As I have stated before I think GLOW is so exciting. Scottish education is going to be a torch bearer for the world...and we don't need any blue tracksuited guards to protect us.

I have just spent 2 days mucking around on GLOW in my capacity as GLOW Champion for TGS. My impressions are that it is a wee bit "clunky" I can do most of the sort of things on it that I do on my blog (embeddding, hyperlinking etc) but in a slightly different way. And somethings are not all that easy to do, but nevermind.
There are many out there who will say, and who have said, that all the various functions of GLOW are already out there on the web so why replicate them. I say yes indeed they are, but they are not under one umbrella AND they are not as secure as GLOW.
Glow is a safe and secure environment to help teachers teach, learners learn and, hopefully, parents parent (not sure about the last one but I wanted to keep the double alliteration.) I am getting to grips with GROUPS. I already love MEET, not too fussed about MESSENGER but willing to be persuaded, PORTAL is a potentially superb source of info and a timesaver. LEARN is not yet up and running here in the 'shire but it could obviously be awesome.

Those are the things that ROCK, now for a couple of things that SUCK(ish). I am sure that being champion of GLOW is going to be a lot of work (consequently I will get 2 days cover a term for the next year to work on GLOW stuff) but I don't get a laptop, the mentor does (as well as getting paid to lead twilight sessions.) I have accepted all this in taking on the role but it got me to thinking how in this aspect the education system in Scotland lags behind my homeland (England). Doon sooth I would be paid extra for taking on a role such as this as a form of encouragement, here we do it because we want to and in the hope that if it goes well this will reflect well on our cv when wanting promotion at a later date. Yes I know we get paid slightly more than our colleagues in England but the promotion opportunities are few and far between now (especially with the advent of the F-word (faculties)).

But anyway, incoherent and slightly irrelevant to the post grumble over.

Here is my clarion call to Scotland's teachers.

Comments

[AB]

Hi Adam - in many LAs, anyone taking twilight CPD sessions could be paid for them from the schools CPD budget. You could also set yourself up as a CPD provider and be recognised for it through 'CPD Find'.

I suspect, the bect form of support or championing of Glow will be done through informal links - where you answer a question merely because someone asks? This already happens at the moment, and is undobtedly the best CPD people can find!

I agree that there are some bits of Glow that are a bit 'clunky', but it's early days. Who knows what this kind of thing may look like in the future?

[Adam]

Hi Jo
Could be just a secondary thing then, or maybe things have changed since I last taught in england...10 years ago.
I'm doing a podcast with Doug Belshaw on sunday through a flashmeeting and I'm going to be talking about GLOW.
http://edtechroundup.wikispaces.com

[Jo R-J]

I'm fascinated and want to find so much more about GLOW.

PS - Also can I find out more about these English schools where people get paid more for these undertakings? Is it maybe just northern schools? It certainly doesn't happen down here in the 'proper' south (ie south of me is water then France) where we don't even have any TLR payments in small schools - and if you don't do it yourself it ain't gonna get done.