Every so often I read about a headteacher caving in to students ‘demanding’ their rights, or demanding something or other. The usual technique is to go from zero degrees to boiling in no seconds flat, bunking off lessons to ‘protest’. My response would be to (a) suspend the lot of them
Read MoreGet off of my lawn
One of the few good things about the emphasis on ‘coding’ now is that as most people acknowledge that they know nothing about it, they leave the people teaching it in peace.
Read MoreOn this day: 27 December 2019 and 2022
On the ICT & Computing in Education blog I had one of my peridodic digs at politicians. Over on my Eclecticism newsletter I wrote about my writing process.
Read MoreAh, those were the days -- not
Here at Freedman Towers I have been trawling through the archives, hoping to salvage something of my legacy to donate to the nation, or indeed the world. Anyways, all joking aside, I came upon this email I wrote…
Read MoreBlast from the past: the homework excuse management system revisited -- now with comments!
I have republished this post, or a version of it, on my Substack newsletter. The comments are interesting!You can use a spreadsheet to solve even relatively trivial problems — but why should you do so?
Read MoreFirewall Foibles, And How I Survived Them Revisited
It was when my wireless router told me that there was no printer on the network that I finally flipped.
Read MoreWhat? You mean...
This is a blast from the past. But kids are kids.
Read More#Flashback Friday: Sexism in computer stores
In 1994 I set out with my wife to discover the best place to buy a computer system -- and discovered a lot of sexism along the way.
Read More#Flashback Friday: Review of The Long Tail
The “Long Tail" has been lauded and quoted at length. But what does the book actually say, and how does it stand up to scrutiny. In this lengthy review I give it a cautious "thumbs up".
Read MoreAn article about data
Elaine keeps telling me to remember to clock in and out at stations, even if the barriers are open. She’s right.
Read MoreComputers in Classrooms #10: The end of the line
Here’s a rum thing. While trawling through the Freedman archives looking for something exciting to read (actually, an excuse for not getting on with the work I’m meant to be doing), I came across this old newsletter.
Read MoreEducation jargon: a natural consequence of government edtech initiatives?
When it comes to jargon, the Building Schools for the Future programme in England takes a lot of beating. I’ve railed against the Department for Education for its awful predilection for driving agendas forward and delivering targets or whatever, but really they’re just amateurs at this stuff.
Read MoreDid you know Google was a search engine, preparing for Bett 2001, plus guidance that has stood the test of time
Back in the year 2001 Google was still very much the new-ish kid on the block.
Read MoreBlast from the past: the homework excuse management system revisited
You can use a spreadsheet to solve even relatively trivial problems — but why should you do so?
Read MoreThe problems with rubrics
Rubrics look like an easy way to tackle assessment. But they can be deceptive in that respect, and can cause the unwary to slip up.
Read MoreReports of the death of the textbook have been exaggerated
Is the demise of the traditional textbook really something to be welcomed?
Read MoreThe blog is dead. Long live the blog
From an educational point of view, we should encourage students to work out which form of writing is most appropriate for the job in hand, not encouraging them to drop one type of writing all together.
Read MoreThe dysfunctional departments for education
Sometimes, it's easy to start to wonder if, as those in high places seem to be losing their grip on sanity, or at least reality, whether the fault really lies with yourself.
Read MoreResearch, teacher training, teachers' email addresses -- in the year 2000
“It seems to me that the folks at the Teacher Training Agency have not so much *lost* the plot as are still looking for it.” Another delve into the edtech issues of the day in the year 2000!
Read MoreBroadband in schools -- circa 2003
If you look up broadband in schools, the story these days is that the provision is deemed “inadequate”. I think that’s a lot to do with how aspirations have risen over the past couple of decades, and is therefore a good thing.
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