A girl had been made to leave her lesson, and wanted to help me teach spreadsheets. My mind said “No way”, my intuition said “Why not?”
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What?! by Terry Freedman
Item 327 -- Get rid of to-do list
The problem I find these days is that there seems to be a mismatch between myself and event organisers as far as planning ahead is concerned. For example, I am sometimes invited to conferences with 1 week’s notice: my diary contains bookings for almost the whole of next year.
Read MoreThe trouble with technology
To the adage "Never work with children or animals", I would add, "or technology" -- which is somewhat worrying given that I have been involved in educational technology for over 20 years.
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Exclamation mark, by Terry Freedman
Was it something I said? When an elevator speech falls on deaf ears
In one of my teaching jobs, I had to listen to a parent while he went on and on about how kids should taught how to take computers apart in their Computing lessons. When I pointed out that the course was about being literate in the uses of computers and also how to program them, rather than how they're made, he insisted that digital literacy could only be taught by taking computers apart.
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admin burden, by Terry Freedman
My worst IT training days #4: Too much admin on a course
How the admin involved in a course led to its being abandoned by one group of trainers.
Read MoreSolving the driverless car problem Part 1
The problem referred to in the title may be summarised as: who ya gonna kill? The car is hurtling along the road when a child steps out in front of it. The car is faced with a dilemma: kill the child, or the pedestrian waiting to cross the road, who would be in the car's path should it swerve to avoid the child. Guest contributor Lance Sharpe considers the problem from an Economist’s perspective.
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Psion 5 and KIndle Fire, by Terry Freedman
Note-taking then and now
It’s 20 years since I last used my Psion 5 Organizer. How does it stack up now?
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Big Data, by Terry Freedman
Data for its own sake is pointless
Unless data can be turned into information, what’s the point of collecting it?
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R.I.P 2018, by Terry Freedman
Education Technology 2018: A Personal Retrospective
The 25 articles listed in this post represent the main issues that were exercising my mind in each month of 2018. I was, of course, thinking about more than only 25 topics, but these are my personal favourites. A couple of themes seem to crop up more than others, these being automation (for example in marking), and better teaching or use of computing and technology. I hope you find them interesting, useful or both.
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Wordle of the Ofsted annual report.
Evidence-based education revisited
A reflection on the contents of the 2017-18 annual Ofsted report as summarised in a word cloud.
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With apologies to Edvard Munch
Safer Internet Day: Can social media companies be trusted?
Are social media companies doing enough to keep children safe?
Read MoreQualitative data is important too
I'm a great believer in using different kinds of data to measure how well pupils are doing, not all of which are quantifiable in the usual sense.
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