To borrow from Dr Johnson, I find that most innovative ideas in Computing I read about are both new and exciting. Unfortunately, the ones that are new are not exciting, and the ones that are exciting are not new. It’s all very well “pushing the boundaries”, but all that does is give you more of the same.
Read More
Innovation fund cover, by Terry Freedman
Constraints can be good for innovation - Updated!
UPDATED! Constraints may not always be a bad thing, and sometimes can even be positively advantageous.
Read MoreCreating a culture of innovation, part 1: Conferences and exhibitions
How, as leader of Computing in your school, do you create a culture of innovation, ie of trying out new things? This is what we explore in this new ten-part series.
Read More5 minute innovation in education technology
What can you do in five minutes that is different? How can 5 minute innovation be useful in education technology?
Read MoreT is for … Tablets
I think all sweeping generalisations are bad, including the one I am about to make. But you know what? I think I’ll make it anyway, and here it is:
A school that says they are implementing a tablet programme is doomed to failure.
You can substitute “ipad”, “Bring your own device” or some other similar kind of term for “tablet”, the result is the same.
Ed Tech Innovation–#2: Create a poster
Here’s the second part of this mini-series of ideas to try out in the new school year. I’ll bet your room is festooned with posters of one kind or another. (I know my own classroom had posters with instructions, ephemeral posters relating to the current topic, posters depicting the history of email, and so on.)
So, you won’t mind creating one more then, will you?!
Ed Tech Innovation–#1: Introduce a new routine
With the new school year about to start or, in some parts of the world, already underway, I thought a new mini-series containing some ideas to play with might not come amiss. Here’s the first one, about classroom routines.
How do you start your lessons? Do they always start in the same way? There’s certainly a lot to be said for having a well-established routine, but it’s not a bad idea to shake things up a bit now and again.
4 Ways to come up with innovative ideas for teaching education technology
To borrow from Dr Johnson, I find that most innovative ideas in ICT I read about are both new and exciting. Unfortunately, the ones that are new are not exciting, and the ones that are exciting are not new. It’s all very well “pushing the boundaries”, but all that does is give you more of the same.
In my opinion there are four main ways of generating ideas that are both genuinely new and genuinely exciting. Here they are.
My bookshelf
Here are thumbnail sketches of a few books which I've come by recently. Taken as a whole they cover:
- The future of cities: should we build cities around airports instead of away from them?
- Schooling in the digital age: is it as much to do with politics as technology?
- Useful educational resources for the iPad.
- Learning and innovation in ICT: a European perspective.
Hope you find these useful.