Tutorial 1:

Overview of the GLO Maker authoring tool

Version 2.0 | August 2009

Tom Boyle, Claire Bradley

Updates to this tutorial, other tutorials and guides and the GLO Maker software
are available from the GLO Maker website: http://www.glomaker.org

Copyright © London Metropolitan University 2009

GLO Maker has been developed by the RLO-CETL and Learning Technology
Research Institute (LTRI) at London Metropolitan University
Tutorial 1: Overview of the GLO Maker authoring tool

GLO Maker lets you create GLOs based on pedagogic patterns or ‘sequences’. Two
ready-made patterns are included in the tool, plus there is a ‘Freestyle’ option which
enables you to create your own learning design or pedagogic sequence.

When you create a new GLO, GLO Maker will ask you to choose one of the 3
patterns:
• EASA – ‘Explain and Show Amplified’ – based on learning objects that won a
European Academic Software Award. This design was developed originally to
help learners tackle skills or processes that they find abstract and often
threatening, e.g. mathematics or programming. The pattern, however, has proved
to be very flexible, and has been used to develop a wide range of learning objects.
• eMI – ‘Evaluating Multiple Interpretations’ – this design is suitable for a situation
where you want learners to have access to different perspectives on a common
theme, in order to foster critical thinking and deeper understanding.
• Freestyle – for you to create your own learning design.

The 2 ready-made patterns (EASA and eMI) can be used as they are or adapted to
your needs.

The GLO Maker ‘Create New Project’ screen showing the 3 pedagogical patterns

There are 3 main parts to the GLO Maker authoring tool:

• Planner – you use the Planner first to use, adapt or create a pedagogic sequence
• Designer – next you use the Designer to add content to your GLO and design the
individual screens or ‘slides’ within it
• Preview mode – lets you view or ‘preview’ your GLO as you are designing it.

Each of the 3 main parts will be described in more detail over the next few pages.

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Planner

You use the Planner first to use, adapt or create a pedagogic sequence.

The screenshot below shows the 3 main areas of the ‘Planner’ in GLO Maker.
• The area on the left shaded in red shows the ‘Palette’ of pedagogical functions for
the chosen pattern, in this example for the eMI (Evaluating Multiple
Interpretations) pattern.
• The area in the middle shaded in green shows the pedagogical sequence that has
been created.
• In the panel on the right shaded in blue there is a description of the pattern.

Designer button

Palette Pedagogical sequence Pattern description

When you have planned the structure or ‘storyline’ of your GLO, you move to the
‘Designer’ to start designing and adding content.

To go to the ‘Designer’, click on the Designer button on the button bar at the top of
the screen.

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Designer

The screenshot below shows the ‘Designer’ where you add content to your GLO and
design the screens or ‘slides’ within it.
Pedagogical sequence panel Tool bar Zoom control

Guidance
turn on /
off

Stage area

Properties panel

The Designer screen combines a number of areas and tools for designing a GLO:
• The Pedagogical sequence panel is on the left-hand side of the screen, and
displays the pedagogic sequence of the chosen design.
• Guidance about the pedagogical sequence can be turned on and off from the
buttons at the top of the panel.
• The Stage forms the main part of the screen, and displays the layout and content
for each slide within the GLO.
• There is a Tool bar for formatting text at the top of the Stage: tools for changing
the font, font size, applying bold, italic and underlining, changing the colour,
specifying the alignment, and for creating bullet lists.
• There is a Zoom control slider to the right of the ‘Tool bar’. Moving the triangle
to the right will zoom into the content on the stage and display it at a larger scale.
• The Properties panel is below the Stage at the bottom of the screen. The tools
provided in the panel change according to the type of component that is selected
on the Stage. In the example given here, a ‘text box’ is selected, so the ‘Properties
panel’ displays information relating to that text box: the position coordinates, the
width and height, and a button for including a border. For other types of

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 components, such as for images, videos or multiple choice quizzes, the available
tools will change according to the type of component.

GLO Maker components

A number of components are available within GLO Maker to enable you to

incorporate different media types and functionalities. These components are available:
• Access Views – allows you to create a slide where the user can access the views
of different commentators on a common theme, via audio and/or text
• Flash Animation – loads and runs Flash animations
• Image Loader – loads and displays pictures
• Image Magnifier – loads and displays high resolution pictures – you can zoom in
and out of the picture
• MP3 Player – loads and plays an MP3 audio file, and provides playback control
• Multiple Choice Quiz – creates a multiples choice quiz item with a question and
series of alternative answers with feedback
• Rectangle Shape – creates a simple rectangle shape
• Step-Through Component – allows you to create a ‘step-through’ sequence. You
can enter new text for each step in the sequence. This co-ordinates with a Flash
animation divided into a series of steps (through the insertion of a series of ‘stop’
commands)
• Text Area – create text with full formatting controls
• Video Player – load and play a video
• Word Assembly Quiz – create a quiz where the user has to assemble a series of
words or phrases in the right order.

The ‘Components’ pop up window

Components are added by clicking on the ‘Components’

button on the left of the ‘Properties panel’.

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Preview

From the ‘Designer’ you can preview what your developing GLO looks like at any
time, by pressing the ‘Preview’ button from the button bar at the top of the screen,
highlighted in red on the screenshot below. The buttons available vary according to
the part of the tool you are currently in, for example in ‘Preview Mode’ you can go to
‘Designer’, in ‘Designer’ you can go to both ‘Planner’ and ‘Preview’, and in ‘Planner’
you can go to ‘Designer’.
Button bar

At the bottom of the GLO is the navigation area, which displays which slide is
currently being viewed (in this example ‘Slide 2 of 5’), and has buttons for moving to
the ‘Next’ and ‘Previous’ slide.

The GLO Maker website

The GLO Maker website includes the GLO Maker software to download, and has a
number of tutorials and the full User Guide. See: http://www.glomaker.org
The website also has additional multimedia tutorials and guides to using GLO Maker
and the pedagogical patterns (not included in the User Guide). See:
http://www.glomaker.org/guides.html