Scottish schools to suffer loss of key digital tools

Scottish schools are to lose offline access to key platforms like Microsoft Word and PowerPoint in a matter of weeks, it has been reported.

Next month, Microsoft licensing changes will leave Glow users unable to download the desktop application through their account, bringing a “significant” loss to education IT resources.

Glow is Scotland's national digital learning environment and up to now its Office A1 Plus licence has allowed users to access an offline version of Microsoft Office applications, which could also be downloaded and activated on personal devices free of charge.

These changes would come into force two weeks before students start the new school year.

Speaking to The Herald newspaper, teachers have said the loss of the software could cause “chaos”, and shared significant concern for those in the Highlands as well as island and rural areas.

Potential changes were first made public in a blog post from Glow in June, but a government spokesperson said they were first made aware of the situation in August 2023.

The Glow post confirmed the changes would impact staff and students, and possibly home and in-school devices.

It also said teachers and students would not be able to “activate products such as Word, Excel or PowerPoint desktop apps using their Glow M365 credentials”.

Those who already have the software activated will have access to a “reduced functionality mode” that will allow documents to be viewed and printed but will prevent editing and saving.

This would not be the first restrictions to come from changes in Microsoft licensing. In February, Glow users already had their storage capacity reduced to 100GB.

To date, the Scottish Government has not confirmed any potential impact from licensing changes.

However, a Scottish government spokesperson told Holyrood:

“Glow users will continue to have access to a range of Microsoft products from 1 August 2024. The recent global changes to licensing mean that these services will now be accessed via web browser rather than desktop application."

They added: “The Scottish Government will invest £10m this year for the provision of devices and connectivity to support digital inclusion for low income families struggling with the cost of living.”

Scottish Labour education spokesperson Pam Duncan-Glancy has now written to education minister Jenny Gilruth asking for “urgent clarity and action” from the government.

In her letter she went on to ask Gilruth to “make a statement from St Andrew’s House providing much-needed answers", given the Scottish Parliament is in recess until September. 

Duncan-Glancy has also submitted 12 parliamentary questions, including requests for confirmation on whether the government has carried out an equality impact assessment, information on the costs of maintaining existing IT services for teachers and students, and an assessment of the impact the loss of the digital tools could have on the delivery of education.