HoD — Terry Freedman's ICT & Computing in Education blog — ICT & Computing in Education

Head of department notes: who are the key people?

March 28, 2022

Is the most important person in your school or team is the one who has the key to the stationery cupboard?

Toxic leadership

March 17, 2022

It's all very well enjoying power, but ultimately power is only useful if it gets things done without unfortunate side effects.

Preparing for a head of department post doesn’t only involve reading. Picture credit: Reading (cartoon), by Terry Freedman

The benefits of supply teaching...

March 13, 2022

I don’t think I would go so far as to recommend supply teaching as a career option, even temporarily. However…

Open sign — Image by Paul Brennan from Pixabay

The benefits of an open door classrooms policy

February 7, 2022

Should classrooms be open, in the sense that anyone might see what's going on, and perhaps even take part in them?

Helping staff to develop and move on

January 28, 2022

You can’t hold on to good teachers forever. They will, at some point, wish to move on and seek positions of influence themselves.

What does a Head of Department do?

January 28, 2022

If you’re the Head of Computing or Education Technology, you may also have a responsibility for the use and possibly even the co-ordination of the use of technology across the whole school.

Recent book reviews

Review: The Illusionist Brain: The Neuroscience of Magic

I was surprised to read some of the clearest explanations of neuroscience I've yet come across.

Review: Nature's Memory

One would think that the stories told by the exhibits in natural history museums are reasonably objective and factual, but apparently not.

On this day in 2010: Review of the Dell Latitude 2110

“Oooh!” “Ah!” “Oh my!”. Such were the collective gasps emanating from the Freedman household when I unpacked the Dell Latitude 2110 Netbook I’d been sent to review. Slim, striking and silent (but enough about me), the Latitude certainly makes the grade as far as aesthetics are concerned. But how does it actually perform?

Quick looks: Listen in: How radio changed the home

Back in the 1930s, radio was the cutting edge technology in the home.

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.