This book by Mark Anderson, aka @ICTevangelist, is, I have to say, pretty good. Although it's not very long (129 pages before we get on to the references section), it packs in a lot of good, practical advice.
There are good sections on the SAMR and SOLO models, though Bloom's Taxonomy seems to have been omitted -- perhaps because it is already familiar to many teachers.
I liked the fact that the ideas are not only good, but doable. Also, it's good that Anderson provides information about useful programs along with their website addresses.
It's pocket-sized, and I think if I were new to use education technology in the classroom then I'd carry this around with me and dip into it every so often for inspiration.
I have to admit to having some doubts about this book even before I opened it. First, I was in the classroom for 22 years and in all that time I never once delivered what I considered to be a perfect lesson. If you're a teacher you will immediately identify with this: there is always something more you think you could have done, another tweak you could have made to that activity, a perceived missed opportunity for a great, if tangential, discussion.
I did once, as an Ofsted inspector, observe what I considered to be a perfect lesson, but even then that was my subjective interpretation of the Ofsted (England's inspectorate) criteria. So I wuld take the word "perfect" with a pretty large sack of salt.
Second, the tem "ICT" in the title is unfortunate, given that, in England at least, it is now regarded as a damaged brand. Given that the book was published in 2013, meaning that it was probably written in 2012, I think that could probably have been changed at the last minute (the title, not the brand).
Third, the frequent references to Ofsted, no doubt a strength when the book was first published, now date it to some extent because there has been at least one update to the Ofsted "rules" since then. In my opinion, lessons should be good in themselves, and achieve (for the pupils) what they were intended to achieve. If they do, then they should satisfy Ofsted criteria anyway -- and if they don't, then probably the criteria need changing.
Despite these initial doubts, however, I found that the advice doled out by the book still stands. Perhaps some of it will need to be adjusted in the light of the most recent update to the Ofsted criteria (substantially in September 2015, with a relatively inor update in January 2016), but that would be a matter of fine detail. On the whole, good practice should stand the test of time. Three years after publication, the advice given in this book still does.
To buy the book, click on this link, or on the book cover in the body of this article. Please note that each of these is an Amazon affiliate link, meaning that I will earn a small commission on the ourchase with no additional cost to you: a classic win-win situation!
Perfect ICT Every Lesson, by Mark Anderson
If you found this review useful, please consider subscribing to the Digital Education newsletter. Most issues contain book, software or website reviews -- and sometimes all three!
RELATED ARTICLES...
Although this book is over 60 years old, it is remarkably apposite for our times -- and especially in the fields of educational research and assessing pupils' understanding and progress.