Searchable glossary containing hundreds of definitions and descriptions of education terms, acronyms and abbreviations used by the LTS online service and in Scottish education.
If there are any others you would like us to include, please send them to us using our feedback form.
| Wait time/waiting time |
A strategy, highlighted by Black and Wiliam, of allowing some time to elapse between asking a question and taking answers. The point is to enable pupils to think, and to link the question to schemata of knowledge they already possess, before having to articulate the answer. Also known as 'thinking time'. |
| WALT |
An acronym for ‘we are learning to’. developed by Shirley Clarke, WALT is Used to convey a learning intention. It sometimes characterised as an owl, or an animal. |
| Web 2.0 |
A term that refers to a supposed second generation of Internet-based services. These usually include tools that let people collaborate and share information online, such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies. Online application that allow users to do tasks that were normally done with desktop software such as word processing and picture editing can be carried out in a browser with Web 2.0 applications |
| web browser |
A web browser is an application program that provides a way to look at and interact with all the information on the world wide web. |
| White space |
The empty space that is kept around grouped items to visually separate them on a page. |
| Wiki |
A website, or collection of sites that can be edited by visitors (sometime requiring membership or permission). Often used for collaborative efforts." Wiki wiki" means "rapidly" in the Hawaiian language. Wikipedia is probably the most famous wiki. There are several websites that offer free wikis which anyone can set up these have been popular with schools and educationalists |
| WILF |
An acronym for ‘what I’m looking for’. An exemplification of success criteria, developed by Shirley Clarke. WILF is sometimes characterised as an animal or in comic human form. |
| work shadowing |
A programme designed to allow an opportunity for pupils to gain experience of the workplace. |
| Worship |
The act of communicating with one's God or gods, the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for one's God or gods. |
| WWW world wide web |
World wide web (or just plain web). An internet service which allows users to view and interact with documents, through graphical interface software called a web browser. |