On Wednesday 10^th December, pupils and teachers from six Scottish schools met the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning Angela Constance and Minister for Schools, Science and Scotland’s Languages, Alasdair Allan to talk about Glow and how they use Glow and digital technology in their schools.

Digital leaders from Glenburn Primary School, South Ayrshire talking to Angela Constance about how they support their teachers and peers in using digital technology.

There was a real buzz around the room as pupils spoke enthusiastically about digital technology and demonstrated the tools that they are using in their schools. Some of the reasons they liked Glow were:

• Pupils can talk to each other about what they did in class and share ideas
• They feel they are too young for social networks like Facebook or Twitter, so Glow provides an alternative way to chat
• Glow is a safe environment
• They liked the personalised launchpad as it gives easy access to their favourite apps
• The advice on Glow about not giving away personal details is useful (Community Rules)
• Teachers can upload revision videos to Glow. Accessing it from Glow varies the way pupils learn and revise
• Teacher can add comments to homework

Pupils from Kirkton of Largo Primary School, Fife showing Angela Constance their class site and blog (foreground)

Pupils from Preston Lodge High School, East Lothian chatting to Alasdair Allan about apps they use in the classroom (background)

The pupils were also honest about the drawbacks of using Glow, listing internet connectivity problems when they all log into Glow and the lack of devices in the classroom sometimes being an issue.

Gemma Sanderson, a teacher from Kirkton of Largo Primary School said: “Glow is so much better, I’m on it every day”. “The main thing for our school is that everything is in Glow – all in one place. Children like how everything is linked.”