Film archives are a tremendous resource for learning. They connect us to our past in an immediate and thrilling way, provoking thought, fuelling discussion and inspiring creativity. We can hear the deafening sounds of industry, see emotions of the workers, and bring history alive by reliving the experiences of the past through moving images.  With digital technology, archive films are now as accessible in the classroom as books and music.

Scotland on Screen is a partnership project between Creative Scotland, Education Scotland and the National Library of Scotland. This new website provides free access to films from the Scottish Screen Archive (Scotland's film archive - part of National Library of Scotland) with accompanying learning resources and Feature Resources for use in the classroom by students and teachers.  The materials can also be used by a range of educational instutions/providers and by the general public for research and enjoyment.  The films document over a century of Scottish lives on film, with particular reference to social, economic and environmental change.

As well as simply watching, pupils and teachers will be able to download, create and upload new material to GLOW as films or moving image essays. The material has been selected and tagged for its relevance to learning and teaching in Scottish schools, particularly the Curriculum for Excellence.

"When these gadgets are in the hands of the public, when anyone can photograph the ones who are dear to them, not just in their immobile form, but with movement, action, familiar gestures and the words out of their mouths, then death will no longer be absolute, final."

– French journalist after seeing the first Lumiere film show in 1895