Taking a course online

January 22, 2021

This morning I completed my magnum opus (nearly 3,500 words) on the process I went through when converting a course from one I’d taught in a physical classroom to one I could teach online.

Ofsted's guidance on "remote learning"

January 14, 2021

I think that this guidance is useful in making the idea of online teaching sound doable, but there are too few details or links to details that would make it truly useful.

Online preparation checklist for teachers

June 11, 2020

In case you’ve recently been asked to run a course online, here’s a quick 10-point checklist to help you prepare for your first online teaching session.

Recent book reviews

Review: Effective Teaching: Evidence and Practice

Although this is a few years old now (2018), it has stood the test of time.

Review: One for maths teachers

This wide-ranging book takes in probability, fractals, astronomy, Babbage, Lovelace and a host of other areas and people.

Reviews: Two for History teachers

Two books on the Nazi era.

Review: One for English teachers

No book about the craft of writing seems complete without a stern chapter on the importance of eschewing adverbs and adjectives - but what to put in their place?

Review: The Great Formal Machinery Works: Theories of Deduction and Computation at the Origins of the Digital Age

If you’re of a mathematical bent this could be just the book to delve into.

Review: How to lie with statistics

Although this book is over 60 years old, it is remarkably apposite for our times -- and especially in the fields of educational research and assessing pupils' understanding and progress.

Review of Blueprints

I submitted my review of this book to Teach Secondary magazine, an educational magazine in the UK. The first review is what the magazine published. The second one is what I actually wrote! In substantive terms there is little difference between the two, but you may find it interesting to see what the editor altered.

Filming in progress by Terry Freedman.jpg

On this day: Review of the Flip Video

This seems like a hundred years ago! Since the introduction of the Flip Pocket Video Recorder a couple of years ago, several variations on the theme have been put on the market, both by rivals and Flip themselves.

Review: Cabinet of Curiosity - Developing a Superpower

School life ought to consist of far more than just a utilitarian pursuit of exam grades over all other considerations.

Review: Dr Bot - Why Doctors Can Fail Us-and How Al Could Save Lives

In this comprehensive and highly readable Dr Bot, Blease tackles a wide range of issues, including some that are apposite for those working in schools.