Edinburgh Glowing March 27, 2007
Posted by Brian in : Edinburgh, GLOW, Uncategorized, digital imaging , 1 comment so far
I didnt manage to log on to the Glow portal last night.
I had quite a bit on my mind so went for a walk in Holyrood park which is close to where I stay.
Turning the corner I was confronted by a glorious sunset.
I happened to have a digital camera on me so I whipped it out and took a few pictures. It looked to me as if Edinburgh was Glowing.
How appropriate
Click on either of the pics for a larger image
The Portal Opens March 26, 2007
Posted by Brian in : Uncategorized , 3comments
I received my log on and password for the 2nd trial of the GLOW portal today.
I logged on and, as asked, changed my password. It was easier this time to come up with a password that conformed to the guidelines than the previous trial.
I am interested how the social network tools will work so decided to check out Glow chat which will enable Glow users to chat to one another.
In order to use the chat tool I first had to create a Glow group. It only took a couple of clicks to do but I had trouble adding other Glow mentors to the Glow group, an error message saying the action had “timed out” kept popping up.
Following the quick start guide, contained within Glow, I tried to enable chat by adding the chat element from the “add web parts” function in the menu. Alas this came up with the same “timed out” message.
I guess that these problems will be ironed out in the fullness of time, but I found it quite frustrating.
I don’t know if its the speed of our connection here but it seems to take a while to get anything done on the portal. In this part of the trail the portal can be accessed remotely so i’ll be having another go a bit later on today and see if its any faster outwith the school.
So far the only thing I have managed to get working for me 100% is the ability to change the theme, which at least has made it a bit easier on the eye.
There’s still an awful long way to go before Glow is ready to be rolled out. I am sure that with continued hard work from the mentors, and all the others involved in the project, the evolution of one of the most ambitious initiatives worldwide will continue and at the end of it all Scotland will have yet another first to present to the world.
The Chalkwell Mystery - MGS Science Transition March 23, 2007
Posted by Brian in : Uncategorized, digital imaging, edubuzz, social media , 3comments
The Chalkwell mystery is the name of the science transition project produced by Musselburgh Grammar science department.
The project entails P7’s from our feeder primaries getting to solve a mystery through forensic science.
Before visiting school pupils watch a short film starring 1st year pupils who themselves solved the mystery last year.
On their visit to the science department the pupils carry out various scientific experiments to determine who carried out the ghastly deed.
Previously, the film had been placed on to a DVD and a copy sent to each of the feeder primaries. This year I suggested it may be an idea to use social media and place the clip on google video so that each of the primaries could view it that way. This was somehow interpreted as “yes I will film it, edit it and upload it to google video”. Not that i minded, it was great fun.
The excellent script and direction were provided by Ms Moore of our English department and the whole project was overseen by Mrs Goodbrand our head of science.
After filming yesterday, I edited and added the titles last night then uploaded it onto google this morning. You can see a couple of the screenshots on this page.
As its East Lothian policy to have parents/guardians permission before posting images on the internet, until all the slips have been returned the Chalkwell mystery will remain private and unlisted by google.
The permissions forms for East Lothian are available from the edubuzz website by clicking HERE
Many thanks to all who took part especially the actors who played their parts splendidly.
As soon as its ready for release I’ll post a link so that you too can have the opportunity to see what happens in the Chalkwell mystery.
Glowing again March 21, 2007
Posted by Brian in : GLOW, Uncategorized , add a comment
Yesterday the East Lothian Glow mentors met for the morning at Prestonpans education centre.
There was an update of the project from Karen Robertson and then after discovering I was a Crane we got a sneak preview of the Glow portal in its new guise.
My first impression was that it looked exactly the same as it had in phase one which, for me, was a bit of a disappointment as I had previously had difficulty navigating my way through the different levels.
Tess managed delve a little deeper into the portal later on that day and came up with some impressive screenshots.When the theme is changed it does give the site a much better look and feel, but we shall have to see if the tools such as video streaming, glow chat and secure file transfer will be available when the portal is accessible to mentors at the beginning of next week.
One Door Closes……. March 20, 2007
Posted by Brian in : JMH, Uncategorized , 1 comment so far
Yesterday I managed to attend my first, and what subsequently turned out to be, my last, Exc.el meeting. There had been two previous meetings of this open forum but I hadn’t managed to get down to John Muir house in time.
Basically Exc.el represents a long term commitment by East Lothian Council to develop and promote excellent teaching and learning. One of the most innovative and exciting aspects of Exc-el is that its success depends on every member of the education community, from parents and teachers, to support staff and administrators being able to contribute to the web site. Without the input of the vast variety of education professionals present within East Lothian it quite probably may have sunk without trace.
In fact the opposite is true. Due to its success it will very shortly evolve into edubuzz.org a necessary step because of its near exponential growth from a standing start to hosting over 660 blogs and registering around 4000 hits a day on the website in 18 months or so.
With interest from other local authorities in Scotland, the rest of UK and a multinational audience waiting to see what we do next, there really couldn’t be a more exciting place to be involved in education today.
Edubuzz.org will continue to develop and evolve but it can only do so with the continued input and support of those interested in developing the learning and teaching process.
If you want to get involved visit the edubuzz website, find out what its all about and you too can have a say in the future development of the teaching and learning experience in East Lothian.
If you work outwith East Lothian and like what you see then contact the edubuzz team HERE to see how Edubuzz could help change the evolution of your local authorities education service.
So its goodbye exc.el and hello edubuzz.
I cant wait !!
Scottish Technicians Advisory Group March 15, 2007
Posted by Brian in : SSERC, STAG, Uncategorized , add a comment
On Wednesday I jumped on the train and headed over to SSERC for the quarterly meeting of the Scottish Technicians Advisory Group.
As usual there was a lot on the agenda to get through all of which was tackled with the usual aplomb.
During the meeting Brian Richmond (CPD project manager) gave an update on the Scottish Executive funded report into CPD and related activities for technical support staff. Brian informed us that the project is now coming to a close after two years of intense activity and it will be up to the Scottish executive whether to grant further funding after the publication of report.
Brian, Phil Muggins (CPD project officer) and the rest of their team have worked tirelessly to ensure the success of such an important initiative. Members of the advisory group have also been involved and its due to everyones hard work that there are now two fully SQA rated courses :-
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Safe use of fixed workshop machinery - rated level 5 with 2 credit points.
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Safety in microbiology for schools - rated level 6 with 3 credit points.
A further course in Electrical safety and portable appliance testing has been submitted and is awaiting credit rating.
Other courses are still in the process of being developed :-
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Chemical handling course - has been trialled and is being prepared for submission to the SQA.
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Management of health and safety (for senior and aspiring technicians) - material has been developed and is about to be trialled prior to submission to the SQA.
Further courses at the early development stage include:-
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Chemistry for non chemists.
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Biology for non biologists.
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Physics for non physicists.
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Basic electronic repairs.
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Basic ICT troubleshooting.
A total of 476 training days have been provided and Technicians have attended from all over Scotland from Shetland in the North, Dumfries & Galloway in the south and all parts in between.
In Brian’s words “the closure of the project should be seen as the end of a beginning - much work remains to be done”.
All involved in this project deserve a hearty pat on the back not only for their hard work but for raising expectations throughout technical support staff in Scotland.
It would be a crying shame if no further funding was forthcoming to continue such a worthwhile and aspirational project
John Muir House March 15, 2007
Posted by Brian in : Uncategorized , add a comment
On Tuesday afternoon I made my way to council headquarters at John Muir House, in Haddington, for a meeting with Derek Haywood.
At the tail end of last year I had been successful in raising a few points, on behalf of technical support staff, at the councils Joint Consultative Group.
The JCG acts as a forum for employees to raise issues regarding their employment at senior management level. It provides a means of regular consultation between the Department of Education and Childrens services and employees, providing a forum for the discussion of matters of mutual interest providing that no question of an individuals pay, wage , grading, discipline or promotion or efficiency shall be within the scope of the Departmental Joint Consultative Group.
Derek and I explored different options to resolve the issues raised and I am hopeful that some progress has been made in some respects of leadership, communication, the employee development and review process, the recruitment process and also on the subject of building in some flexibility into the working patterns of technical support staff.
Although Derek is retiring very shortly after a long and distinguished career in education I am sure that he will strive to put in place foundations that will enable the technical support staff in East Lothian to deliver their full potential in enhancing the teaching and learning experience of our pupils.
Happy retirement Derek.
Professor Anne Glover March 14, 2007
Posted by Brian in : Uncategorized , add a comment
On Tuesday morning the science department at Musselburgh Grammar had a visit from the Scottish Executive’s Chief Scientific adviser Professor Anne Glover.
The chief scientific adviser’s role is
- to champion science in Scotland
- to represent those sciences not presently covered by the Chief Scientists in the Health and Environment and Rural Affairs Departments
- to lead on cross-cutting scientific issues across the Executive in partnership with the other two Chief Scientists
- to be the lead on the professional aspects of scientific staff within the Executive
- to represent Scotland in certain high level scientific committees in Whitehall
Unfortunately the technicians didnt get a chance to meet Anne but I am sure she enjoyed viewing our most excellent science classes.
Phixd March 8, 2007
Posted by Brian in : Uncategorized, blogging, phixr, social media, web 2.0 , 2commentsI had an email this morning from Thomas Winischhofer of Phixr.
I had reported in my last post that here in East Lothian I had encountered a problem when using Phixr, an online photo editing application.
He wanted to get to the root of the problem and fix it so that it could be utilized in the schools so asked me a few things about the set up of our computers.
After exchanging a series of emails the result is that Phixr is now functioning.
Its an excellent example of the power of blogging, the spirit of web2.0, and even though the application is free to use, absolutely amazing customer service.
Many thanks Thomas its much appreciated. I will certainly be recommending its use.
Digital Image Editing March 6, 2007
Posted by Brian in : Exc.el BLogs, GLOW, Uncategorized, digital imaging, social media, teachmeet, web 2.0 , 5commentsAt the last GLOW mentors in service day I was part of a team with Dr Robin Strain and Tess Watson tasked to come up with an in service on digital imaging.
The idea of the course is for staff to acquaint themselves with the hardware and software needed to start working with digital images.
Part of the course will cover basic editing of images. Not all the PC’s in East Lothian schools have editing software installed therefore for everyone to be able to carry out this function a good online editor had to be found.
There are a few out there so I thought I would run through the features of some of them and ask for any others that people would recommend.
A very basic picture editor that lets you resize, crop, rotate, adjust brightness, saturation and hue. Its advantages are that
- no registration required
- it has unlimited undo and redo.
- can handle large files (up to 10mb).
- imports from anywhere on the web.
- handles all file formats.
- can save edited photos to your own flickr account.
With its large, easy to use, buttons this could come in very handy in primary schools and will definitely merit a mention in the final in service presentation.
PXN8 is a very feature rich photo editing application and whilst it may not have the same visual appeal as Snipshot it does let you do a bit more.
- zoom in and out.
- use filters to enhance photos i.e remove red eye, whiten teeth.
- spirit level function to straighten up pictures.
- fun features such as snow, text and charcoal effects.
This is another excellent online application that should make the cut. It offers a bit more than snipshot and may be popular with those wishing to experiment with photo editing.
Phixr is an application that we came across on the day of the GLOW mentors in service and it seemed to tick all the boxes but recently I have had difficulty in getting it to work. It now works well due to the hard work and excellent customer service from the guys at Phixr.
- no need to register with session time of up to 2 hours.
- preview effects before applying.
- variety of effects and photo overlay option.
- email the photo from Phixr itself, or upload it to Flickr, FotoPic, Photobucket, Fotolog, Buzznet, DropShots and LiveJournal.
This was the leading contender. Problems with the website may, however,put this one on hold for the time being.
This is the leading contender thanks to the hard work put in by the guys at Phixr who have managed to get it working in our schools. Excellent customer focus.
If you want to try any of these site out then just click on their logo. Let me know what you think of them and which you think would be most apt for use in schools.
Also if you have come across a good photo editing site then please again let me know and the team will evaluate it for its inclusion in the forthcoming Teachmeet roadshows.
Happy editing.
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