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 The Heriot-Watt University SCHOLAR Scheme is a VLE that I have been using with pupils for a number of years. On Friday I attended the Scholar Conference 2007 with my friend and colleague Jan Peaston. During the course of the day, speeches were given on ‘The SCHOLAR Model’ by Gerry Toner and ‘A Curriculum for Excellence’ by the very lively Professor Brian Boyd. There was a wide range of workshops available to the attendees on Friday. It was a hard choice, but I opted for ‘The power of E-Learning’- Leader Brian Dickson and ‘Visioning the Future’- Leader Mark Pentleton. 

 ‘The Power of E-Learning’

Brian Dickson is a Scholar consultant. During this workshop he presented some recent evaluations of ICT support for teaching and learning with particular reference to VLEs and SCHOLAR. With our ongoing work on Glow, this was particularly relevant. I felt very pleased as I sat quietly ticking boxes in my mind. There were a number of questions asked by the audience at the end, most of which could be answered in one word; Glow! 

‘Visioning the Future’

Mark Pentleton is a Consultant for East Ayrshire Council. During his seminar, he illustrated how Podcasting can be used to enhance teaching. Although his work is mainly focused on the use of podcasting in Modern Languages, it was interesting to see how he has used this type of media. You can find out more about Mark’s work via his website here.  

I thoroughly enjoyed this very informative event. In addition, as always, it is very useful to catch up with colleagues from around Scotland in person. It was great to meet up with Dave Dawson, Depute HT at Glenwood High School and also to spend a very refreshing lunch break with Marie Dougan, Programme Director of Glow. I was particularly interested to hear that Marie is a fellow biologist!  

I have only touched on what was covered during this conference, but if you are given the opportunity to attend such an event next year, I would highly recommend it.