8 Ways to make physical computing work in a NORMAL classroom

June 9, 2025

If you insist on getting the kids to make or use physical computing kits/robots in the classroom, here arte 8 suggestions for making sure it’s all useful.

Robotics is STILL a waste of time

June 6, 2025

I’d rather teach pupils to program without going through the intermediary process of building a robot or anything else. Despite all the hype, I regard it as a massive waste of time.

Bett2020: Robotics

February 6, 2020

I have my doubts about whether building a 3d model is helpful beyond a certain age, but it has a certain appeal.

8 Ways to make physical computing work in the classroom

June 9, 2019

If you insist on getting the kids to make or use physical computing kits/robots in the classroom, here arte 8 suggestions for making sure it’s all useful.

Is robotics a waste of time?

June 6, 2019

I’d rather teach pupils to program without going through the intermediary process of building a robot or anything else. Despite all the hype, I regard it as a massive waste of time.

Recent book reviews

One for your Geography colleagues perhaps? Review: A Little History of the Earth -- two reviews in one!

For your English colleagues: A Word for all Seasons -- two reviews in one!

For your maths colleagues: The Mending of Broken Bones: A Modern Guide to Classical Algebra -- two reviews in one!

I submitted my review of this book to Teach Secondary magazine, an educational magazine in the UK. The first review below 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.

For your History colleagues: The Worst Exhibition in the World: Degenerate Art, 1937 -- two reviews in one!

Is The computing Curriculum Too Masculine? Revisited 16 years later!

One of the apparently insoluble problems of the age is how do you encourage more girls to take up Computing? I think a lot can be done, and have done so myself, but I wonder how far a lot of the effort fails to get to the heart of the issue, which could be the curriculum itself, the way it is taught, or a combination of the two?

Book review: The best writing on mathematics, 2016

I think this could be an excellent resource for teachers of mathematics.

For your Eng Lit colleagues? The Penguin Book of the International Short Story -- two reviews in one!

I submitted my review of this book to Teach Secondary magazine, an educational magazine in the UK. The first review below is what the magazine published. The second one is what I actually wrote!

Two reviews in one: Turner and Constable: Rivals and Originals -- art and history

One for your colleagues, perhaps: art, art history, ploitics with a small ‘p’.

Two reviews in one: State of Ridicule: A History of Satire in English Literature -- politics, history, English

One for your colleagues, perhaps. Sperrin has provided a wealth of information that can be used to provide a rich experience for students of politics, history and English literature.

Two reviews in one: A Little History of Mathematics