Comments on: One week left

By: ab

ab — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 09:17:22 +0000

I didn’t mean to suggest that it’s only the Glow groups that interest me, but as they are there in the present incarnation I had hoped there would be some discussion of their potential use.

Relationship to aCfE? Now there’s a starter for 10… and what, exactly, is aCfE then?

By: Bob Hill

Bob Hill — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 23:31:03 +0000

I don’t think, in spite of obvious differing viewpoints so far, that I am being disloyal to the spirit of the pilot when I say that the discussion group navigation and usage is clumsy. It is not as slick as many discussion boards which are about.

As I have now said in several places … the Glow groups are not the only thing that will be available in the final manifestation of Glow.

It would be very useful if mentors with blogs were to start discussing the pedagogy and uses of Glow and its relationship with aCfE.

By: John Connell

John Connell — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 20:55:33 +0000

Spark? Ouch!

By: ab

ab — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 13:55:07 +0000

I'm all in favour of a technical development process - at the moment I'm taking part in such for both Adobe and Microsoft. I also agree that now is not the time for speculation about what 'could be', but I think encouraging people to post about how they find the portal (even in this early testing stage) is a good thing to do.

One of the aspects that I held (or should that be hold?) most hope for was(is) the 'Glow groups', and I had hoped that this would spark (poor choice of word) imagination amongst our Mentors. When something catches my imagination, you've got to hold me back not to blog about it?

By: John Connell

John Connell — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 12:47:58 +0000

It’s also important to keep in mind the purpose of this phase of the Glow development – it is primarily about pilot-testing the environment. There is not much point in debating whether or not it will be better once it has access to all the content that has been promised for Glow – at this stage, the aim is a technical (both in the ‘technical’ and in the ‘educational’ sense) testing of the environment to see what works, what doesn’t, what could be better, and so on.

This, for me, is why Tess’s approach has been so good to follow. She has blogged very much on the specifics of the tasks she has been asked to undertake, and has not seen fit to speculate on the wider aspects that arise when you get access to an early version of a system such as this.

If, on the one hand, we think it’s important that people are open about their experiences in the pilot, and indeed to blog about it, we also have to be fair and see it for what it is at this stage: very much part of the technical development process for Glow.

By: ab

ab — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 11:30:04 +0000

It seems that you now have your access sorted out too Marlyn – I hope you enjoy the experience meeting new Mentors as well as ‘well kent’ Masterclassers?

By: ab

ab — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 11:25:55 +0000

To be fair, Robert and Alastair, the advice from the LA does not say “Do not speak freely about your experiences on the portal” – what it does say is that blogging is not the arena for “negative comments about the portal” – this, to me is completely different from not saying anything at all? For the Mentors in Argyll & Bute, they need to be aware that the purpose of a blog is to create audience and share their thoughts and ideas. When out and about as a Mentor once the portal is live for the world, they can point everyone in the direction of their blog to find up-to-date ideas and advice. What better way to start than by telling people about the portal as you investigate it and it develops? If you’ve got something interesting to say on a blog, then people come back and visit more often.

Alastair – I think I also still stand by my point. One of the brilliant things about blogging is that you can explain something to everyone else – take http://pocketables.net for example. Jenn reviews devices that I can only dream of owning (sigh!), and her explanations are very detailed. I am therefore in possession of a great deal of information without ever having put my hands on any of this technology.

Transfer this to Glow – as an early reviewer, it would have been very easy to walk a reader through your experience of Glow whilst still keeping negative remarks within the portal itself. My point that there really hasn’t been much discussion at all on the edublogosphere should be a concern for the powers that be.

I think that even though “this is not the real glow”, Robert you are quite right in that what could kill Glow would be lack of participation. If the mentors themselves do not see fit to even hint at how they would use this in a curricular context, then I would be very worried indeed as to the success of the project.

John – It does seem a confusing environment to be in if you have had no experience of Sharepoint, and I know they are working on how useable the final interface is. As Mentors, you will be charged with explaining and encouraging others with how to use it, so I suppose it is vital that you all get used to using it, and then being able to enthuse about it? It is a shame about the availability timing, as busy teachers can rarely find enough time to explore during the school day, but I understand there are huge technical issues at play here.

Roll-out is not really that far away, and for that reason also I find the silence quite troubling. This is after all, the biggest educational initiative we have and will be the vehicle for ACfE (whatever that is, but don’t start me on that one!) – so like it not, we need to start figuring out how best we can use it…

By: Marlyn Moffat

Marlyn Moffat — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 23:41:14 +0000

I currently have no access to Glow. Invalid user name and password and then account locked whilst I tried again. Have had a forwarded email to show that there have been requests and efforts to get it unblocked. I was able to see it for a few minutes on one occasion. The potential is enormous, so we have to be patient.

By: Tess Watson

Tess Watson — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 15:21:04 +0000

The trouble is that we can’t actually interact with other mentors through the portal just now (at least all my attempts have failed).We can however, search for each other. Had we been able to interact, I think more people would be blogging about glow. I myself have to rememeber that this is the trial of the glow portal. In the words of RM, ‘This is not the real glow’

Thank you for all your encouraging comments on work that Dave Rawson and I are currently doing at Knox Academy

By: Robert Jones

Robert Jones — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 09:10:43 +0000

I also disagree with your authority’s advice Alastair. What is the one thing that will kill Glow? Lack of participation. Glow needs mass participation, and mass participation needs mass awareness. Tess has done an amazing job, posting screenshots and writing up her experiences trialling the portal. Her blog has more information about what the glow portal is really like than anything on the official glow site (unless I’ve missed something – please put me right if I have). If we want to spread the word about Glow we surely want to encourage more blog posts like Tess’s. Advice that says “do not speak freely about your experiences on the portal” does seems rather counterproductive to me.