What a fantastic way to go with GLOW – do you think its possible fpr them to do it this way because of their background in blogs?
I’m getting increasingly concerned about this LA centralisation (see the post on the GLOW blog about the Aberdeen training for a small example of this) and the restrictions it’s having, particularly on inter-authority and inter-organisational discourse. Well done to ELC for this user-centred approach. A model for us all perhaps..

Jaye

Here in the North we don’t even know when they are going to start rolling out or even join the network unlike Highland next door who seem to be getting things together. GLOW mentors are so fed up they are quitting rather than hang around. Indeed ours quit a month ago and we haven’t bothered getting a replacement since there will be no point in having someone do the courses etc for years…..the autority seem to be of the opinion – wait four years for the new schools to be built (3 of them). Funny that since GLOW doesn’t need new infrastructure as such. It is SO frusrating to read Jaye’s research and other blogs especially Don L’s in East Lothian and dream that one day we will all be equal and given GLOW… sob!

Jaye – I don’t think it’s so much background in the case of ELC (although that will play a part). I would argue that it’s far more attitudinal – ELC seem to place a very high regard on individual professionalism, and encourage creativity at every opportunity. I would argue that is a model for us all?

delta – great to hear from you. It can seem frustrating if there is no word on progress, but I can assure you progress is being made in the north. Moray have been sent a customer agreement and are hoping to start training in the new year? It may seem like a long time to wait, especially if you want to use Glow now, but it undoubtedly won’t be 4 years in the waiting.

Yes, absolutely agree. ELC is becoming more and more an increasingly attractive place to work in education. The way I see it, that has a to do with the fact that they appear to have a vision for where education should be and that this involves room for collections of individuals rather than an imposed corporate model.
A model for us all indeed…

@Jaye: You’re on the right track, there is a guiding vision. The experience with the blogs was guided by a set of principles derived from research by Don.

Also, my PowerPoint from a “Making Glow Happen” talk I did at SLF2008 sets out some lessons learned from edubuzz which we’re applying to Glow.

Because that has proved successful with the blogs, and with other improvement work, we’re now adopting the same basic approach with Glow.

It’s well established that people will adopt technologies if they find them easy enough to use, and if they’re helpful. With Glow there’s an extra hurdle to overcome in helping people to rearrange the mental furniture to get an idea of what it’s all about, to enable them to decide if it’s helpful or simple enough to use.

In most workplaces, people acquire this kind of knowledge by situational learning. They notice people doing things and have “I never knew you could do that!” moments. Once they know what’s possible, they can then start asking questions about how to do stuff.

Teachers are in the worst possible situation for that, as they effectively work alone. That was the thinking behind the screencast, and it seems to have helped in that it has already prompted a few contacts.

Sorry to put a damper on this but ..
I am a Glow Mentor in East Lothian and am also feeling extremely frustrated.
I feel I’m working a bit in a vacuum, despite David Gilmour’s rapid respnse to queries. I’ve had the 2 days training and spend time as often as I can with another Mentor revising what we did then. But the slow roll out of log ins means that the people I want to include in Glow Groups – primary and support for learning staff in particular – are still not able to access the Glow Groups I plan.
Here, too, Mentors are disappearing (mainly through retirement) and we are a very disparate group who never meet and who are, presumably, doing wonderful things.

I am very positive about Glow and know that the issues are not of any educationalist’s making. I just wanted to point out that all is not as sunny as it may appear even in ELC!

thanks for setting the record straight Hilery. I know from other conversations that there were a number of issues of a technical nature concerning account provisioning and the MIS, but what concerns me more is the gap between training and having access to Glow – all the more frustrating as I’ve just completed training in Orkney who at the end of their training got their live logins and immediate access to their mentor group containing real live activity. Without this, I would argue it’s almost pointless to have the training. I would (and do!) urge any LA coming online with Glow to hold back unless they can give their mentors immediate live access. Things are moving in the right direction now though in ELC – perhaps we could get the mentors back together for an update, or focus meeting?

That would be wonderful!
Thanks Andrew

Andrew
I too agree with Hilery and feel that while the initial training was very inspiring I’m not sure where it has led us exactly. I wonder how ‘ready’ the bulk of the teaching population are for Glow unless they can find a specific use. A think a little more direction on this area could help. I think to be realistic local authorities in the future will not necessarily have the budgets or manpower to keep the momnetum going.

Hi Lynne – there’s nothing worse than training before you have access (actually, I almost stopped typing that sentence at ‘training’!) I couldn’t agree more about specific use though. If it’s not possible to find a use for it, then people won’t use it – pure and simple. What I’d like to see is people sharing how they are using it – that way newcomers will have loads of suggestions?
Regarding LAs in the future – I would argue that LAs shouldn’t budget to keep momentum going – if users see benefits then they will continue to use it and hopefully share it with others. A centrally supported model is not remotely sustainable – a model where we each support each other is?

Here in Angus we’re brining schools into Glow in phases but anyone who wants a username and password and is keen to Glow can have one!!

Lynn – Hurrah! Great to hear you’re taking this approach in Angus

I thought Glow was going to (and hope that it still will) connect Scotland, allowing the sharing of ideas, breaking down barriers etc.
I realise that I have come late to this post but am really disappointed to see Aberdeen City being discussed in this way again. This starts to sound like a LA competition!
I can’t see what the ICT people in Aberdeen are doing that is different from other authorities. They are rolling out the logins and offering training and support. As it seems in many other authorities, we can have access if we want.
The so called ‘template’ is a couple of photos on a page and a few empty glow groups that we have been told to change or delete as we wish! How can that stifle creativity?
I hope that we can all move on (despite teething problems) and help and support rather than criticise.

Shirley – I too hope that Glow will allow people to share and connect! I’m troubled by your comment about both ‘Aberdeen City’ and any notion of ‘LA competition’. First of all, the blog post doesn’t mention Aberdeen City. One commenter has mentioned another post elsewhere on the web. I think your comment would have been far better placed on that site, where your comment would have contributed to the discussion? No one that has commented here is being negative about the project – indeed, they have all contributed greatly to the development (and rollout!) of Glow.

You’re right that this might not have been the best place to comment.
I just wanted to set the record straight that there is also very positive work going on up here in Aberdeen both by the ICT team and the mentors although we are still at fairly early stages.

Shirley – thanks. There is great work going on up there! It would be great if it was easier to find out about it though, wouldn’t it? It would be great for those that want to see what people are up to and make connections if it were easy to see what people were doing in different locations and to find things of interest? Look how easy rss and a connected, sharing community has made this through the edublogosphere…

I agree and I hope that it will become easier to see what others are doing in Glow as that would be a huge strength. Blogging and web2 has allowed me and my pupils to collaborate, share and ’see’ excellent things going on in other classes across the world.