Last week I sent out an absolutely huge edition of the Digital Education ezine – see Digital Education Ezine April 2015 – and then waited for the number of subscribers to go up and down. And what happened? Absolutely nothing. My immediate response was to feel a bit despondent.
Read MoreDigital Education Ezine April 2015
At last! Or, to use the vernacular, woo hoo! The latest edition of the Digital Education ezine is now out. It contains a round-up of products seen at Bett, articles on girls and women in technology, loads of links and book reviews. Here’s a detailed list of the contents:Coming soon: a bumper edition of Digital Education
The next edition of Digital Education is super-huge. To give you some idea of just how big, there are 16 guest contributors. This is what’s covered:Lovelace, Babbage and Me
What’s the connection between Ada Lovelace, Charles Babbage, and me? Well, it’s a bit tenuous. Apart from the obvious, that we all liked computing (in effect), it is that they appear in a new graphic novel, and I love graphic novels.My funky new newsletter button
I decided to change the sign-up button for my newsletter, Digital Education. Why? Why not? This is what it looks like now:Practical advice for parents to keep their children safe online
"It’s true to say that the vast majority of children, whilst at different levels of risk, will not come to harm. But what can we as parents do to give ourselves a level of assurance that our children are safe and know what to do if they get into an unfamiliar situation, or one that makes them feel uncomfortable?" Alan MacKenzie gives some practical advice. Young people and the internet
“Young people can be sensible online – if they want to be”, says Ellie Gregson. Ellie offers a teen’s-eye view of staying safe online.Lazy e-safety messages are no help to our children
"Until adults move on from the dismissive and patronising position of ‘the online world isn’t real or valid’ we will continue to fail in the quality of the support we offer our children."
Simon Finch suggests a much more useful approach.
Internet Safety
Being safe on the internet is vital. If you’re concerned about being safe on the internet or just want a few ideas of how to be safe you have come to the right place!
Internet safety articles
Before the half-term break in the UK we had Safer Internet Day. A special edition of my ezine, Digital Education, was published, containing a range of articles about e-safety. Four of those will be published next week on this blog. There are articles of use to parents, teachers and students. Here is the list of articles, and when they will appear.
Read MoreSend in the e-Cadets! Making kids responsible for e-safety
I came across the eCadets scheme recently, and mentioned it in the special e-safety edition of Digital Education. I thought it sounded very interesting. With schools looking for more sustainable eSafety solutions I caught up with the co-founder of the innovative eCadet scheme, Henry Platten, to find out how to create a lasting eSafety legacy in your school. Ever come across those schools where the e-safety “policy” consists of a Local Authority template with the blanks filled in with the school’s name, and stuck in the bottom of a filing cabinet in the headteacher’s office? Well, the e-Cadets scheme aims to change all that by giving the children themselves responsibility.Safer Internet Day
In time for Safer Internet Day, we published a special e-safety edition of Digital Education, the ezine for those with a professional interest in education technology. Here is some information about three of them.
Read MoreDigital Education e-Safety special: Out now!!
This is a bumper edition that contains loads of articles, including contributions from Rose Luckin, Maddi Holt, student Ellie Gregson, student Caleb, pupil Anna, Alan Mackenzie and Simon Finch. Read on for the full list of contents.Digital Education, with e-safety supplement:
I thought you might like some information on the forthcoming edition of Digital Education, which includes a special e-safety supplement. It contains the following articles:Taking stock of the new Computer curriculum: 5 key questions
Now that the new Computing curriculum in England has been running for nearly a term, it's a great time to stand back and take stock. Actually, I recommend doing that even if you are not in England and/or have not needed to change anything. Here's a list of 5 questions you might care to ask yourself:Should philosophy influence educational policy?
You might think that philosophy has little to do with education in general or Computing in particular, but the concept of “smart thinking” espoused in the following article by Mel Thompson certainly has resonance with “computational thinking”.
Read MoreEducation Technology Research Focus: Steve Wheeler
Steve publishes the Learning with E's blog. The articles are not only very thought-provoking, they often also include references so you can follow up the reading for yourself. At the moment, Steve is writing a great series on learning theories. I asked him to tell me about his current research.Digital Education Ezine now out!
Today I published a short, one page newsletter. It’s a great read (he says modestly), with some interesting links and free resources. Here’s what it contains:Should the Government decide what resources you use to teach computing?
The Government has laid down what must be taught in the National Curriculum. Should they now start telling teachers how to do their job?Digital Education December 2014: Double issue, Free resources, 50% discount on ebooks, 75+ links and 10 guest contributors
The Spectator does it. The Economist does it. Even children’s comics do it. So I thought: Let’s do it. Let’s make a Christmas double issue of the Digital Education newsletter.
I’d like to be able to say I’d planned it that way right from the start, but that would be something of (to use Winston Churchill’s wonderful expression) a terminological inexactitude. In truth, the November edition was delayed due to a family illness, so it made sense to bring out a bumper edition now so people who subscribe have plenty to keep them going until January! I’ve included articles on a wide variety of topics: