It's all very well enjoying power, but ultimately power is only useful if it gets things done without unfortunate side effects.
Read MoreExplosive atmosphere, by Terry Freedman
The Bett Show. Photo by Terry Freedman
Bett 2022: What if you CAN’T go?
The Bett Show is the world’s largest education technology show. Sadly, the seminars are not going to be recorded this time. However, all is not lost. Here are some ways you can keep abreast of what’s happening.
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Image by Paul Brennan from Pixabay
The benefits of an open door classrooms policy
Should classrooms be open, in the sense that anyone might see what's going on, and perhaps even take part in them?
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Helping staff to develop and move on
You can’t hold on to good teachers forever. They will, at some point, wish to move on and seek positions of influence themselves.
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What does a Head of Department do?
If you’re the Head of Computing or Education Technology, you may also have a responsibility for the use and possibly even the co-ordination of the use of technology across the whole school.
Read MoreMaintaining Standards in digital literacy courses
So, you're responsible for the use of educational technology in the school, but its use and principles are taught across the curriculum rather than as a discrete subject. In other words, by non-specialists in all likelihood. How can you maintain high standards in the subject and the use of educational technology in such a situation? In this article I look at 14 suggestions.
Read MoreWhy your business or your education technology provision or your Computing department needs an ebook (or two)
If you, as a Head of Computing, or leader of Computing in a primary school, created an ebook containing your scheme(s) of work, information about the courses you offer, perhaps some staff biographies (with photos), that would be a great marketing tool.
Read MoreChromebooks for schools at cost price
Having known what it was like as a Head of Computing and ICT Co-ordinator desperately attempting to get hold of extra devices without blowing the whole of the school’s budget, I thought this was worth giving a closer look.
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Image by Please Don't sell My Artwork AS IS from Pixabay
Mixed blessings: primary schools can teach secondary schools a thing or two!
Much as it pains me to say this as an ex-secondary school teacher, most of the really innovative and exciting stuff I’ve seen in education technology and computing has taken place in primary schools.
Read MoreHow to convince colleagues to use education technology in their lessons
If you’re the education technology lead in your school, and your job involves encouraging other teachers to use education technology, what’s the best approach?
Read MoreNew year, new start
There is something heroic about working away on a computer while the rest of the world sleeps, with only a cup of tea and a distant street lamp to keep one company. But the health benefits of caffeine-fuelled nights are yet to be discovered.
Read MoreThe value of case studies
Could it be worth compiling case studies of success stories of people who have used education technology or completed a Computing course in your school?
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Image by Gerd Altmann
What are good communications (and what should your strategy include)?
When I took up a senior management position in a local authority, an irate headteacher phoned me on my second day. She had had her laptop taken away for repairs two weeks ago, and had heard nothing since. I told her I’d look into it. I had the following conversation with the relevant team…
Read MoreTiny Noticeable Things: The Secret Weapon to Making a Difference in Business, and leading Computing in a school
The original version of this article was first published on the Bee Digital marketing website in August 2021, and was aimed at businesses. In this updated version I’ve added some thoughts on how the ethos of the book might be adapted by leaders of Computing or co-ordinators of education technology in schools.
Read More7 Mistakes made by education technology leaders
So, you’ve landed a great new job, an important one at that, as an ed tech leader or co-ordinator. But in your eagerness to make an impact, are you making some fundamental mistakes? Here’s a quick guide about what not to do.
Read MoreThink you're too popular? Then hold back information
If you really want to make yourself unpopular, then not providing enough information is a sure-fire way of going about it. If you’re a teacher advising your Headteacher, you need to provide sufficient information – whether you’ve been asked for it or not.
Read MoreProvide timely information (even if it makes you unpopular)
You would think that providing timely information would be just the thing to get you applauded. However, as the song from Porgy and Bess tells us, it ain’t necessarily so. It really all depends on what the information is, and to whom you’re making it available.
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Burglar! By Terry Freedman
The Great Training Robbery
There must surely be few things more annoying than, having put a lot of work into a course, you discover that someone has ripped you off. They are using your materials in their course. They might even be selling your materials somewhere online.
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On this day: a spreadsheet grade predictor
On December 7th, 2015, I wrote an article explaining how you could set up a spreadsheet in Excel to help you predict and analyse students’ grades.
Read MoreReview: Teaching Machines
There seems to be no end of attempts to improve education by people who have either never worked in it, or not understood what they were looking at.
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