Digital Trail

In June 2019, pupils from four Glasgow City schools worked with Global Treasure Apps and SCILT to create their own digital trail around The Ramshorn at the University of Strathclyde. Pupils from Glasgow Gaelic School, Holyrood Secondary, Shawlands Academy and St Roch’s Secondary were given a sneak preview of the SCILT and CISS new premises before the doors officially opened. On a guided tour of The Ramshorn and surrounding graveyard pupils learned about the history of the building, the famous people buried there and even heard some sinister tales.

Working in pairs pupils used what they had learned to create a question for the trail in a language other than English. Pupils worked in languages they are learning at school or speak at home.

After composing their question the pupils worked in the university computer labs to upload the text, photos and clues they had collected. Class teachers, and staff and students from the University of Strathclyde supported pupils with use of the target language.

Two young people from Hillhead High School had the opportunity to interview the University of Strathclyde Principal Professor Sir Jim McDonald, who spoke about the history of the university, and Glasgow Gaelic school pupils interviewed SCILT and CISS Director Fhiona Mackay. Both videos feature within the digital trail.

The project allowed the young people to showcase and build on their existing linguistic and digital skills, and demonstrated their relevance in a real life context. The project further offered the

opportunity to build links between schools and the university, and gave pupils the chance to work on a project in a university environment.

Pupils were delighted to see their work in action when they visited The Ramshorn in October, and were able to share the digital trail with a group of visiting Chinese school pupils.

The Ramshorn and Graveyard Digital Trail is available to download from Global Treasure Apps in Arabic, English, French, Gaelic, German, Italian, Mandarin, Polish, Spanish and Urdu. Find Global Treasure Apps on the App store or Google Play.