IIDI Professor Bill Buchanan joins ICT in Education Excellence Group

IIDI Professor Bill Buchanan joins ICT in Education Excellence Group.

Schools IT excellence group set up   

Experts consider digital communications for pupils

Education Secretary Michael Russell has appointed the Chief Scientific Adviser Professor Muffy Calder to convene an ICT Excellence Group to consider the future development of the schools’ intranet ‘Glow’.

The new ICT excellence group will draw on the experience and expertise of end-users, and educational technology experts to scope the long-term user-centred future of Glow.

Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Michael Russell said:

“It is crucial that the next generation of Glow allows schools to harness the power of technology for learning, to keep pace with rapidly evolving developments and speak the language that young people speak online.

“Professor Calder’s group will have the challenge of imagining a future for the service that can be customised to the individual requirements of our young people, is dynamic and can remain relevant for years to come. I look forward to receiving their advice later this year.”

Background

Glow is currently used by teachers, pupils and parents to support learning and share resources.

Developed in 2005 as an education intranet with a potential user base of 1.5 million users, comprising learners, parents and carers, teachers and other staff supporting education across Scotland.  It provides:

• A trusted and safe environment for online activity by pupils, practitioners and parents.
• A variety of online tools to enable national communication and enhance learning
• Access to a range of educational resources.
• Communities of practice that offer teachers opportunities to share and collaborate

The group members are now announced as follows: Prof Muffy Calder, Prof Ian Sommerville, Prof Mike Sharples, Mr Ewan McIntosh, Mr Charlie Love, Prof Bill Buchanan, Mr Hamish Budge, Prof Jeff Haywood, Mr Neil Winton, Mr Tony Rafferty, Mr Fraser Speirs, Mrs Jaye Richards Hill and Mr Martin Dewar who will facilitate the involvement of two school pupils in the group.

The group are:

-Prof Muffy Calder, Chief Scientific Adviser, Scottish Government
- Prof Ian Sommerville, Professor of Software, University of St Andrews
- Prof Mike Sharples, Professor and Chair of Educational Technology, Open University
-  Mr Ewan McIntosh, Director, NoTosh
- Mr Charlie Love, Teacher of Computing,  Cults Academy Aberdeen
- Prof Bill Buchanan, Professor in the School of Computing, Edinburgh Napier University
- Mr Hamish Budge, Education Support Officer, Comhairle Nan Eilean Sar, Isle of Lewis
- Prof Jeff Haywood, Vice Principal Knowledge & Management, CIO & Librarian, University of Edinburgh
- Mr Neil Winton, Principal Teacher of English, Perth Academy
- Mr Tony Rafferty, National Parent Forum of Scotland
- Mr Fraser Speirs, Head of Computing and IT, Cedars School of Excellence
- Mrs Jaye Richards Hill, Former Learning Community Principal Teacher
- Mr Martin Dewar , Digital Director, Young Scot (who will also facilitate the involvement of two school pupils in the group)
- Professor Stephen Heppell,  Chair in New Media Environments, Centre for Excellence in Media Practice, Bournemouth University

The Cabinet Secretary’s recent statement on the immediate future of Glow can be found here:

http://www.engageforeducation.org/2012/06/glow’s-next-phase/