User login
Frequently Asked Questions
This is the page where the questions asked by Dundee staff and pupils will be posted with suitable answers.
The questions are arranged in categories. Clicking the category will let you see the individual questions and clicking on a question will let you see the answer. Sometimes there will be a short video which you can view with a further click.
Some problems have occurred several times so these have been gathered together under Known Problems. Please look through these first to see if the problem you have has already been identified.
You may need to scroll down the page to see all the questions and answers.
Known Problems (5)
Problems highlighted by users which have been referred to the Glow Team.
Non-teaching staff were excluded in error but should be able to access the VLE some time soon.
This has now been fixed so please report any problems to Lesley Leith.
The fault is connected to Internet Explorer version 7 where you cannot see the Print button. Right click on the email window and choose print from the menu or use CTRL + P.
Internet Explorer version 7 also hides the File Menu. Press ALT to reveal it.
This fault has been reported but should now be fixed. Log any problems with Lesley Leith
Not to be too technical this sometimes occurs when the computer has stored too much information about past access to Glow. Following these instructions may resolve the problem.
Make sure there are no Glow sessions logged in.
Clear out temporary internet files from Internet Explorer.
This is in Tools, Internet Options - General Tab - Browsing history.
Click on delete then delete temporary internet files and cookies.
Flush dns on the PC.
From start - run - type "cmd" in the run box.
The DOS window will pop up.At the command prompt type "ipconfig /flushdns" then press enter. (Don't include "" in either command.)
This should solve the problem
Glow Functions (7)
The different parts of the Glow portal and how to navigate
Staff passwords must contain 8 characters (pupils just 7) with at least one lower case letter and a non alpha-numeric, e.g. $,@,_ or even a space. The £ sign is not acceptable.
For example asdfqwe?
The Staff or Pupil Home page which is what you see as soon as you log in has a link to Glow Mail towards the bottom of the page. It also indicates if there is new mail waiting for you.
Yes, you will see exactly what you see when you are logged into Glow in school. Of course you will not see the school network so any files saved in school will need to be taken home on a USB drive.
News appears in several places. Most of the news you should read will appear on your Staff or Pupil Home page when you log in. Your school may also put news on the establishment page usually just called <the name of your school> Site.
You may also find news on the first page of any Glow Groups you are a member of.
Administrators of all sites should target news to you if it is important that you see it. It will then appear on your Home page.
Specifically this is there to report any content which should not be on the page to be viewed by pupils such as pornography or strong language.
The Glow online Learning in Context video clips are a good place to start. Click here to link to them. It is best to practice in your own My Glow before doing it for real.
This video is a suggested way to work with discussion boards.
Glow Login (0)
Problems about usernames and passwords.
Password Problems (2)
Creating suitable passwords and other issues
Be very careful typing in your password . It is case sensitive. If you have used a £ sign this could be the problem. The £ sign is not an acceptable non-alpha-numeric character.
If you have just changed your password there can be a delay before it can be used.
There is also a problem with some user profiles in Dundee. Try logging into Glow on a machine which another user has logged onto the Dundee schools network. If you get into Glow that way, report it as a fault with Ext 8000, the IT Service Desk.
Staff passwords must contain 8 characters (pupils just 7) with at least one lower case letter and a non alpha-numeric, e.g. $,@,_ or even a space. The £ sign is not acceptable.
For example asdfqwe?
Glow Mail (2)
Questions relating to Glow Mail
When the email is open there is a link at the top right hand side of the window called Add Contact (see picture). This stores the email address of the sender in your address book.
The fault is connected to Internet Explorer version 7 where you cannot see the Print button. Right click on the email window and choose print from the menu or use CTRL + P.
Internet Explorer version 7 also hides the File Menu. Press ALT to reveal it.
Copyright (1)
Issues surrounding Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
This is a very complex subject but basically anything that you have not personally created will be the intellectual property of somebody and therefore subject to copyright.
For more guidance follow this link. The PowerPoint presentation has notes attached which explain the slides.
File Operations (2)
Uploading files, editing files, deleting files
There is no limit to the size of individual files which can be uploaded but they are all subject to limits for the different sites.
Pupil personal sites are limited to a total of 20 Mb
Staff personal limit is 100 Mb
School or Local Authority limit is 400 Mb
This is for all the pages and all the libraries on each site.
It is good practice to use the document and image upload procedures. The Document Manager in a text editor web part is still subject to the overall limit for the site and is not really intended for uploading. As its name implies it can be used to manage documents already in a site document library.
This fault has been reported but should now be fixed. Log any problems with Lesley Leith
Glow Groups (5)
A general explanation of Glow Groups
Firstly, any people who you wish to admit to a Glow Group must be Glow users and you must be an adminstrator of that group.
You need to know the establisment they belong to. Add them as a member of the Glow Group in the usual way. Then let them know the url (address) of the Glow Group. As members of the group, when they click on the url link they will be taken to the Group.
However they will not see the group listed in their own "My Glow Groups" so if they will be visiting the group more than once it is best that they add the url link in a convenient web part in their "My Glow" group.
Glow Groups can fulfil many different functions within Glow. Groups could be used by online communities of people with shared interests, as meeting places, as a virtual classroom and as shared areas for learning and collaboration.
It is your own personal space on Glow which nobody else can see.
It can be used initially to experiment with the uses of Glow Groups generally.
However it can also be used to keep documents and resources you are working on and to create a personal list of weblinks. You might also use it to administer your classes by creating direct links to Glow Learn facilities. Personal contacts both home and school can be assembled in an address book. These are just a few examples of its many uses.
You can invite other people to view your group but this should be used very cautiously.
This video is a suggested way to work with discussion boards.
Probably the simplest way of using it is by copying and pasting code into the XML web part or the text editor web part. This may be called embedding code on some sites.
Firstly there are a couple of sites which generate code for you.
Quackit provides tutorials and code generation plus a very usual list of colours and their codes.
HTML Tutorials is also a useful site for people who know a little about coding
You Tube provides code for any video you have uploaded as does the site which creates Vokis.
Secondly here is an example of code which will create scrolling text:-
<div style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #cccc33" align=center><font face=Arial size=6><strong><br>
<marquee>The Heading<br></strong></font><br><font size=4>A sub-heading if required<br><br><font size=3>The body of the text goes here<br><br></font></font></marquee></div></strong></font>
This segment of code can be judiciously edited to provide your own message. In the first instance you can experiment with changing the small bits of plain language such as "The Heading".
Codes are placed in the XML webpart by pasting them into the Modify web part dialogue box in the first small space labelled XML Editor. It is best to use a text editor such as Notepad to edit any code.
Codes are entered in the text editor web part by clicking the button to Edit Content. At the bottom of the editor which you now opened is a button like this <>. This button allows you to enter HTML code.
Group Operations (6)
Using Glow Groups, the functions and technicalities
There are several stages to using streaming video. Before you start the process the video clip must be in the WMV format (the format used by Windows Media Player) or MOV as used by Apple's Quicktime.
You first upload your video clip to the Glow Video Streaming server. This can be done using a number of different FTP programs. We use Core FTP Lite which is free. This places the clip in your space, derived from your Glow username, on the server.
You manage the videos you have uploaded using the Streaming Video Management web part in your own "My Glow".
From there you can get the link to the actual file which you should paste in a suitable place such as a Glow Group so others can play the video.
There are three video clips and a short guide giving more details in the Glow FAQ glow group here
It is your own personal space on Glow which nobody else can see.
It can be used initially to experiment with the uses of Glow Groups generally.
However it can also be used to keep documents and resources you are working on and to create a personal list of weblinks. You might also use it to administer your classes by creating direct links to Glow Learn facilities. Personal contacts both home and school can be assembled in an address book. These are just a few examples of its many uses.
You can invite other people to view your group but this should be used very cautiously.
The Glow online Learning in Context video clips are a good place to start. Click here to link to them. It is best to practice in your own My Glow before doing it for real.
You will find the Glow team's glossary of web parts here.
The Glow team guide can be found here.
Membership (1)
issues about joining a group, creating members, etc.
There are Glow Groups at three levels - National, Local Authority and Establishment (School). Using the lefthand Navigation Bar you can go to each of these sites. Click on the page tab for Glow Groups and you will see a list of the Groups in that site. The list is split between the groups you are a member of and those you are not.
If you see a group you would like to join, click on the name and you will be taken to a an error page where you can submit a request to join.
Photo editing (1)
Follow this link http://www.picresize.com and follow the online instructions. As a rule of thumb, the width of any pictures should be set to 300 pixels before uploading.
SCA (4)
Concerns about the role of Site Collection Administrator
This has now been fixed so please report any problems to Lesley Leith.
There is no limit to the size of individual files which can be uploaded but they are all subject to limits for the different sites.
Pupil personal sites are limited to a total of 20 Mb
Staff personal limit is 100 Mb
School or Local Authority limit is 400 Mb
This is for all the pages and all the libraries on each site.
It is good practice to use the document and image upload procedures. The Document Manager in a text editor web part is still subject to the overall limit for the site and is not really intended for uploading. As its name implies it can be used to manage documents already in a site document library.
SCA Guide page 30 onwards implies that while you can alter the layout of role based pages, e.g. Staff Home, you cannot alter the content apart from the image. To target news to a role based page you need a Glow Group with the same audience where you can create the news and then target it.
Follow this link http://www.picresize.com and follow the online instructions. As a rule of thumb, the width of any pictures should be set to 300 pixels before uploading.
News (2)
How the SCA deals with targetted news
News appears in several places. Most of the news you should read will appear on your Staff or Pupil Home page when you log in. Your school may also put news on the establishment page usually just called <the name of your school> Site.
You may also find news on the first page of any Glow Groups you are a member of.
Administrators of all sites should target news to you if it is important that you see it. It will then appear on your Home page.
You must start with a Glow Group at school level. The membership should be limited to the users in the school who are PTs. See this clip about creating a Glow Group
The news item for PTs only is then created within this group and the box is ticked for it to be targetted to members. This item will then appear on the Staff Home page of all PTs.
Virtual Learning Environment (2)
Use of and problems with the VLE
This has been reported and should now fixed.
Non-teaching staff were excluded in error but should be able to access the VLE some time soon.