My first encounter with (a) online insanity and (b) a silly rule

August 29, 2026

A call to technical support that was only successful once I’d stretched the facts a bit.

Oh, Brother

April 2, 2026

Several rebootings of everything, much swearing and 17 cups of tea later, it suddenly occurred to me…

Relax, by Terry Freedman. I’m trying to, I’m trying!

A call to Technical Support

August 28, 2019

A call to technical support that was only successful once I’d stretched the facts a bit.

How to fix a paper jam that doesn't exist

August 14, 2019

If your printer keeps telling you there’s a paper jam when there isn’t, you aren’t necessarily going insane. This suggestion worked for me.

ed tech problems: no paper, by Terry Freedman

Problems in the ed tech classroom #3: printer paper

April 4, 2019

Something as simple as the printer’s paper tray being empty can cause mayhem. Here are a few suggestions for dealing with it.

Recent book reviews

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Review: The Learning Rainforest: Great Teaching in Real Classrooms

This is a great book for dipping into in order to read about different teaching and assessment strategies, backed up by research.

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Review: Outstanding Formative Assessment: Culture and Practice

This book contains numerous assessment for learning techniques.

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Review: New Media in the Classroom: Rethinking Primary Literacy

This provides a great deal of information about the different aspects of "literacy” and how digital tools can be brought into the service of literacy in the primary school.

Review: Designing the internet of things

This book takes you through the process of designing connected devices from prototyping to launching.

Quick look: (Un)educated: My Life as a Teacher, and Why You Should Never Become One

“Some of it is laugh-out loud funny, but some of it, about his reference being spiked, made me angry …”

A Heads-up: Hot Type: The Magnificent Machine that Gave Birth to Mass Media and Drove Mark Twain Mad

This is about the invention of linotype, and its consequences.

Are we in, or entering, a post-literate society?

I know that there are people who think that Tik-Tok videos and other (very) short-form content is a kind of literacy that’s on a par with reading, but I have my doubts.

Review: Amazing Worlds

A very good showcase for what can be achieved from a partnership between imagination and AI.

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Review: The Batsford Book of Chess for Children New Edition: Beginner’s chess for kids

This book doesn’t have any education technology, but I think the game of chess is a worthwhile activity for kids for developing strategic thinking skills.

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Review: Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds: Move to Global Collaboration One Step at a Time (Pearson Resources for 21st Century Learning)

The authors of this book, ran several projects which entailed collaboration between students in classrooms in different countries.