Glow and AifL – Assessment is for Learning

Glow provides a range of support for AifL - Assessment is for Learning, and for the communities that are part of it.

Fostering communities of practice

Glow offers a major venue for the development of communities of practice. Interest groups can serve as forums for interaction and discussion, and can be created at school, cluster or national level. These can be used as a focus for a range of topics - from the principles of AifL or for discussion on specific issues within any or all of the three strands (Assessment FOR Learning, Assessment AS Learning, and Assessment OF Learning) - or for discussion on specific issues, such as questioning or feedback.

Interest groups may be especially useful for fostering communication and discussion in disparate groups in key collaborative areas such as local moderation/sharing the standard.

Through the VLE, staff can share lesson planning with colleagues. This could include sharing learning intentions and success criteria and examples of questioning or discussion strategies used to explore learners’ understanding. Resources can also be shared, such as rubrics and self-assessment templates. Materials can easily be adapted or modified to suit the needs of individual requirements of pupils with a diverse range of abilities and needs.

Interaction between pupils and staff

The flexibility of the VLE allows planning for whole-class activities and for groups and individuals. Learning intentions and success criteria can be shared and displayed in a language pupils will understand. 

Using assessment information as feedback for improvement is an integral part of AifL. The VLE ‘assign and return’ function can provide support for staff-pupil 'dialogue' in this area. On completion of an assigned task, staff can add comments and recommendations on areas for improvement and use this as the basis for feedback discussion (‘two stars and a wish’). The VLE (comment book) allows recording of assessment information for both formative and summative purposes.

The Learning Space can be used for collaboration between staff and pupils, and as a tool to motivate pupils to become more integrated in the learning process. Pupils can focus on self-assessment, plan a task or explore how they may address success criteria. It can also be used as a forum for peer assessment. Writing, for example, could be uploaded for other pupils to read and comment upon.

Parents

Glow offers rich opportunities for increasing parental involvement. Parents will be able to view school and authority information about teaching approaches, development plans or the curriculum. 

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