Tuesday, March 20th, 2007...6:45 pm
On Your Marks, Get Set… Glow!
Following today’s meeting Dave and I met so we could make a start on organising usernames and passwords. After Dave established how to find these, I decided to do a bit of further investigation.
Initially, the portal looked like it hadn’t changed much. However, this afternoon I was able to browse the various pages and variety of links. So far, I can say there are many more established Glow groups containing relevant information. Within these Glow groups, it is then possible to set up sub-groups (i.e. Glow Group S3: Sub-group INT1 Biology, Sub-group SG Computing etc). These groups are empty at present as we have not catagorised our users yet. There is lots of information on the tools that we should be able to use during the Phase 2 trial, but I didn’t have enough time to investigate them further today. I can’t Glow from home just yet, but I have been informed that this should change on Monday the 26th of March. I will be able to Glow any time I like 
During the Easter Break, I am hoping to be able to interact with fellow mentors within the portal. We will not be using the portal with classes until after the break.
I promise to write more on all the new tools as I start to use them. One of the most significant changes I experienced today was the choice of themes that are available to Glow’s users. Theme 6 is my preferred choice. I am not sure why, but the portal was far easier to navigate using this theme.
So, this was John Connell and his team’s initial proto-type:
This was the Phase 1 trial:
Here we have Phase 2! (Theme 6)
INT 1 Biology Sub-Group:
My Personal Space:
Tools To Come:
Theme 4:
Theme 5:
I have one non-contact period tomorrow and I am more than likely to be taken for cover. I will try and investigate and experiment during lunch. More feedback to come.
Bring on Phase 2! My INT 1 Biologists are really going to enjoy this experience.
14 Comments
March 20th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
Tess, good to see you again today - thanks for posting these screen shots. Looks interesting. OB
March 20th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Looks very interesting Tess. I was initially a bit disappointed that the look was almost identical as the first pilot, but it looks better with the different theme. I am sure that with more input and feedback it will evolve into a very powerfull tool.
March 20th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Hi Tess good to see some more information on the portal I look forward to reading the blog to see how things go.
March 20th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
Thanks for posting all those shots, Tess. That looks a lot more exciting and, as you were promissed, “funky”.
I want my username and password NOW - but I will just have to wait patiently.
March 20th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
Great work Tess. Glad you had some time to Browse the portal. Not sure which theme I prefer at the moment. We are all just raring to go now.
March 20th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
Not so sure about theme 6? Bit too much “in the face” for me
March 20th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
Thanks for investigating this a bit more Tess. I’m glad there are more changes than we initially thought. It goes to prove that it is vital to have people pilot this phase who were involved in phase 1 - you’re off to a flying start. Looking forward to working with you on it.
March 21st, 2007 at 6:44 am
I think Robert Skey’s mockup is remarkably hitting the nail on the head, especially considering how far in advance of Bebo and MySpace it was originally created. I really hope that, with time, the interface moves closer to that.
March 21st, 2007 at 5:29 pm
Thanks for all the comments! I had a look at some of the webparts at lunch today. I am hoping it will be simple to activate them.
Tess:)
PS Dave R, you are boring. Theme 6 is well cool!!!!
March 21st, 2007 at 7:05 pm
[...] 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. [...]
March 21st, 2007 at 8:22 pm
[...] An interesting week and its only half way through. On Monday I attended the open exc-el group meeting at John Muir House (photographic evidence currently available on Ewan’s blog ) where the group morphed into the edubuzz open group. Tuesday morning at Prestonpans East Lothian Glow mentors got a first look at the new portal. Initial impression was that the look of the site hadn’t changed much. Thanks to further investigations by Tess at Knox Academy we now know that it has developed a great deal. I’m looking forward to being able to access the portal next week. Various colleagues in DGS and the Library Service are keen for a shufty as well. [...]
March 21st, 2007 at 9:06 pm
Nice work again Tess! I am looking forward to getting my login now
March 22nd, 2007 at 10:54 pm
A great set of pictures and write up. Very impressed by the write up in Connected (the LTS magazine) which hit my desk today. Good on you!
March 23rd, 2007 at 4:40 pm
I’ll be in work the first week of the holidays. It will be interesting, if the tools are up and running, so see how it copes with one person being in school communicating with another accessing the portal from home.
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