Research, Alternative Facts or Fake News? — ICT & Computing in Education

Research, Alternative Facts or Fake News?

May 14, 2018

Every so often there is a flurry of activity on the web as a result of a new report about the benefits or otherwise of education technology. How can you evaluate the claims being made? How can you know, or at least try to know, if the research itself is any good, or if it has been reported accurately?

I've created an infographic arising from the work I did for my chapter in Enhancing Learning and Teaching with Technology: What the Research Says, by Rosemary Luckin (Ed). (That's an Amazon affiliate link.) My chapter was entitled How research is reported in the news.

The infographic contains an 8-point plan about how to investigate the research for yourself. It's free to subscribers of my newsletter, Digital Education. Please go to the Digital Education newsletter page of this website to find out more, and to subscribe for free.

Recent book reviews

Backlist: The Written World

Writing was invented ‘only’ a few thousand years ago. It’s a fascinating story.

Backlist: What I'm reading: Bounce

What does it take to become an expert? And what can the Computing teacher do about it?

Backlist: The Fourth Education Revolution

The title of this book invites curiosity: what were the other three ‘revolutions?

A book review for your English department colleagues perhaps

Some of these stories are so richly told, it can almost seem as though you’re right there with him.

Review: Pen Names

OK, so this has nothing to do with education technology, but we all read (I hope!). A very interesting examination of the pen names some authors have adopted, and why.

Review: The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of History

There's a really interesting section in this book about how ceramic storage of data and information is probably the most likely medium to stand the test of time.

A book review for your biology colleagues perhaps

The subject under discussion here is how human physiology has developed in different ways, in response to different conditions around the world.

Review: Social Media for Academics

This book is very readable, and if I sound surprised that is because it’s not always true of academics!

Quick looks: VIBE Coding by Example

For the time being, this book is free in Kindle format.

Review: The Game Changers: How Playing Games Changed the World and Can Change You Too

Despite the relative paucity of immediately obvious National Curriculum links, teachers will find several of sections of this book to be highly engaging.