Windows Live Writer

While not normally wnating to give succour to Microsoft, I am going to try out this new tool they are offering. At the moment it looks a bit like a DTP program but will reserve judgement.

Here is what the interface looks like.

Glow

The last glimmer of Glow in Dundee has faded. The pilot has gone.

Where to now? We have all made our comments and I am sure that RM will do what they can to take them on board, but Sharepoint will always have constraints. They will not be able to completely eradicate some of the clunkiness and unfriendliness of the Glow groups.

Can we work with what we have got? I would say yes. The Glow groups have loomed large because that is all there is at the moment. However I suggest that the Glow group should be thought of as a community rather than as a simple discussion area. For Example, a class is set a project to do either in teams or individually. The Notice page is then used by the teacher and perhaps by pupils to set out the task and its parameters. Pupils use the discussion page to explore the topic with the other class or team members. The “Useful links” can be supplied by the teacher and added to by pupils and all relevant documents can be stored in the document area by pupils. In this way the work is structured and the Glow discussion area is limited to the class and is manageable in spite of its limitations. Add in email, IM, Chat, Video conferencing, file transfer, web authoring, the national resources and content and pupils and teacher have a rich environment under one portal which in many ways they can regard as their own domain.