I had reason this week to set up a three-way video conference with two other directors of education from other parts of Scotland. I have to say that this was my first experience of using such technology for such a purpose and I’m now officially a fan. If they had come to visit me it would have taken the best part of day’s travel time and a combined journey distance 0f over 900 miles.
I asked my colleague David Gilmour to describe the techie bit; but I’m seriously thinking about using this for some face-to-face meetings in East Lothian. Anybody out there interested in taking part in my first GLOW MEET Listen and Learn?
GLOW MEET
It’s a very up-to-date, good quality web conferencing system which enables Glow users to hold online meetings between any number of participants, in any location. It’s used to link classes hundreds of miles apart, offer national teacher CPD sessions and simply to share events and performances within individual schools. It can be used from any computer on the web, in or out of school.
Often people think it’ll be awkward to use, but the new version, based on Adobe Connect, is proving easy to use and popular with staff. There’s no longer any need for special software to be installed, and no complicated start-up wizard to get through.
Most of the time, people just use it in a Skype-like way, with voice, video and perhaps a simple chat box. But it’s capable of much more than that: participants can share presentations, sketch on a whiteboard and even share a view of applications running on their desktop. The meetings can be recorded, too, for replay in the Glow Group or for sharing more widely as a simple video.
What do you need to take part?
You can join a Glow Meet with as little as the URL of the right Glow Group, and your Glow username and password. If you want to talk, or to be seen, you’ll need a microphone and webcam, but they’re not essential. You click a link, Adobe Connect starts up, and you’re in.
Here’s a “Getting Started” guide: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/GlowingHelp/?p=3079, or contact David Gilmour or Shirley Lawson in Curriculum ICT at East Lothian Council.