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ICT & Computing in Education

Articles on education technology and related topics
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assessment and the black swan problem by Terry Freedman

assessment and the black swan problem by Terry Freedman

Assessing Computing and ICT: a selection of articles

May 4, 2019

Here’s a round-up of a few articles I’ve written about assessing Computing and ICT over the years. Although some of them were written a while ago, I believe they are still useful and relevant.

Featured
Updated: Reflections on assessing computing
August 10, 2026
Updated: Reflections on assessing computing
August 10, 2026

This article began life as three separate articles, partially in the form of a diary. The “Levels” it refers to have long since been consigned to the dustbin of history, and the agencies mentioned joined the choir celestial a long time ago. But still, I think the thought processes involved are still apposite, even if the contexts have changed.

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August 10, 2026
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June 1, 2026
Review: Making Good Progress?
June 1, 2026

Daisy Christodoulou carefully picks apart the pitfalls of various kinds of assessment, drawing on different subject areas to do so.

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June 1, 2026
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June 1, 2026
Review: Principles and Practices of Assessment
June 1, 2026

There is plenty in this book to like.

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June 1, 2026
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March 17, 2026
Paul Black
March 17, 2026

Paul Black, R.I.P.

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March 17, 2026
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August 13, 2025
Understanding exam grading
August 13, 2025

As the GCSE and ‘A’ Level results days are almost upon us, here are some useful guides as to what the gradings mean.

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August 13, 2025
A rubric for assessment? What a joke! Revisted
July 7, 2025
A rubric for assessment? What a joke! Revisted
July 7, 2025

A lighthearted look at rubrics as a form of assessment.

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July 7, 2025
Hot Potatoes Cloze Exercise
April 12, 2025
Hot Potatoes Cloze Exercise
April 12, 2025

A simple, and very old-fashioned looking, cloze exercise!

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April 12, 2025
The DfE's foray into AI for education: the good news and the (potentilly) bad news
March 20, 2025
The DfE's foray into AI for education: the good news and the (potentilly) bad news
March 20, 2025

We don’t have very long to wait before the educational AI projects funded by the Department for Education are unveiled, if all goes to plan. But I have some concerns.

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March 20, 2025
Reflections on assessing computing
August 10, 2024
Reflections on assessing computing
August 10, 2024

This article was originally published some time ago, when there was a previous iteration of the National Computing. However, although the context has changed, many of the issues remain, which is why I've decided to republish. I hope you find it useful. It has been lightly edited to remove dud links)

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August 10, 2024
Course evaluations and their pitfalls
June 21, 2024
Course evaluations and their pitfalls
June 21, 2024

I think evaluations are very odd devices to be honest. Someone once “marked me down” on her evaluation of a one day course I was running on the grounds that the traffic was terrible. I pointed out to her that I wasn’t in charge of local traffic conditions and that she should complain to the council.

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June 21, 2024
7 reasons that the FAIL acronym fails (Updated)
March 30, 2024
7 reasons that the FAIL acronym fails (Updated)
March 30, 2024

Failing is empowering.

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March 30, 2024
Testing pupils using stories (Update)
June 29, 2023
Testing pupils using stories (Update)
June 29, 2023

Here’s a different and more engaging way of testing pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding. This is an updated version of an article I wrote in 2020. This version includes some ChatGPT-generated additions.

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June 29, 2023
My issues with assessment by AI
September 13, 2022
My issues with assessment by AI
September 13, 2022

I have serious misgivings about the use of AI to assess students’ work.

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September 13, 2022
Job-seeking as a metaphor for assessment in computing
May 12, 2022
Job-seeking as a metaphor for assessment in computing
May 12, 2022

jobs lineWhen I saw several hundred people lining up for some sort of job registration recently, I immediately thought of the challenges of assessing pupils’ educational technology capability. A bit of a stretch? Not necessarily.

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May 12, 2022
In Assessment Tags assessing Computing and ICT, assessment
← Digital Exclusion and Digital EqualityThe new DfE education technology strategy: a textual analysis →
Recent book reviews
When.jpg
Review: When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing

Hopefully, neither you nor I will ever find ourselves in court, undergoing a medical procedure, or taking an important exam.

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finding fibonacci.jpg
Review: Finding Fibonacci: The Quest to Rediscover the Forgotten Mathematical Genius Who Changed the World

Finding Fibonacci is a memoir of the authors’ quest to find out about Fibonacci.

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The Teachers' Standards in Primary Schools.jpg
Quick look: The Teachers' Standards in Primary Schools

This is very well set out. It takes each standard, and gives you ideas on how to achieve it, and what success in this context looks like.

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How Computer Games Help Children learn.jpg
Quick look: How Computer Games Help Children learn

When I was teaching Econnures I realised that I could have taught quite a chunk of the synabus if I'd been able to run Sim City on the school network.

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Reinventing Project-Based learning.jpg
Quick look: Reinventing Project-Based Learning

I can verify from first hand experience that PBL kept students highly engaged, and helped them to develop skills such as working with others and independent research.

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The human touch.jpg
Quick look: The Human Touch

Although this book is published by the BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, the focus is not on IT at all.

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Better Living through science.jpg
Quick look: Better Living through science

I have often thought that I would have been much more interested in science at school, and been much more successful at it, had the teachers taught us anything of practical value.

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Tubes.jpg
Quick look: Tubes: Behind the scenes at the internet

We are all so accustomed to using the internet, searching the world wide web — "going online" — that most of us most of the time probably do not stop to consider the question: yes, but where exactly is it?

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profits, prophets.jpg
Quick look: Profits, Prophets, Coaches and Kings: (When) do leaders make a difference?

I have somewhat dichotomous views of this question of whether leaders make a difference, or much of a difference.

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Review: Power Up, by Matthew Lane

This book looks at the maths concepts — and, to some extent, the physics concepts — hidden in popular video games.

Read more →
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