We all need a break from work, so why not curl up with a good book? — ICT & Computing in Education

We all need a break from work, so why not curl up with a good book?

March 20, 2025

A Town Without Time is a new book by Gay Talese. Talese is one of the “new journalists”. New journalism is reportage that uses fiction techniques to tell the story, and doesn’t insist on complete objectivity — in the sense that the write might be part of the story and reporting on it first hand.

Anyway, this is a great boook, full of interesting and wonderfully-written stories, and the publisher has made a copy available to win as a prize. Full details here:

Start the Week #91

Recent book reviews

Review: The Bookshop, The Draper, The Candlestick Maker: A History of the High Street

Taking readers from the Middle Ages to (more or less) the present day, Gray charts how the places where we do our shopping and what we buy have changed over the centuries.

Review: Extraordinary Learning For All

As a source of potential ideas and inspiration, the book could be very useful indeed.

Review: Bad Education: Why Our Universities Are Broken and How We Can Fix Them

One has the impression that the main role of the university these days is to maximise profit, while that of the majority of teaching staff is to ensure the ‘correct’ views are passed on to students. All the while, students’ main concern seems to be to seek protection from anything that might make them feel unsafe.

Review: Next Practices - An Executive Guide for Education Decision Makers

Is a 2014 book on managing the computing provision in a school still worth buying?

Still relevant (sadly): How to lie with statistics, by Darrell Huff

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.

Quick looks: Bad Education: Why Our Universities Are Broken and How We Can Fix Them

It was a great source of pride to me, getting hundreds of students through their A levels and encouraging them to go to university. But for some time I have asked myself a question: would I recommend this route now?

Review: The Bright Side: Why Optimists Have the Power to Change the World

At first glance, you might take this to be one of those books full of affirmations and anecdotes designed to lift your mood.

Review: Small Habits Create Big Change: Strategies to Avoid Burnout and Thrive in Your Education Career

My review of this for Teach Secondary magazine has just come out. Here is the published version, followed by the copy I submitted, which is slightly longer because it has a little more detail.

Review: Productive Failure: Unlocking Deeper Learning Through the Science of Failing

My review of this for Teach Secondary magazine has just come out. Here is the published version, followed by the copy I submitted, which is slightly longer because it is a little more detailed.

Review: AI Snake Oil: AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference

My review of this for Teach Secondary magazine has just come out. Here is the published version, followed by the copy I submitted, which is slightly longer because it has a little more detail.