Keeping your media safe

April 28, 2025

Cloud services have their place, but schools should still think carefully about how they can keep the media they produce safe, secure and on-site.

Author reading to a school assembly. Image generated in Ideogram.ai

Get the most from visiting authors

April 25, 2025

You might think an author visit wouldn’t be of much use in a subject like Computing, but you’d be mistaken.

Sometimes (often), 'good enough' is better than 'ideal'

April 24, 2025

Sometimes (often), 'good enough' is better than 'ideal'. Yes, it sounds paradoxical, and counterintuitive, but sometimes even the presumed ‘ideal’ is not, erm, ideal.

History lesson, by Terry Freedman.jpg — History lesson, by Terry Freedman

Two more for the archive

April 22, 2025

I’ve just published a couple of documents in the Digital Education Supplement. This is a collection of free resources for subscribers to my newsletter, Digital Education, which is also free.

Should the Computing curriculum be ditched?

March 28, 2025

This is a serious question. What is the point of teaching kids computer programming, when AI can do all the hard work?

The DfE's foray into AI for education: the good news and the (potentilly) bad news

March 20, 2025

We don’t have very long to wait before the educational AI projects funded by the Department for Education are unveiled, if all goes to plan. But I have some concerns.

The KCL Report on the future of Computing Education

October 1, 2024

The Computing curriculum report from Kings College makes some great recommendations for fixing the failures of the current curriculum.

The future of AI in Education: notes on a Westminster Education Forum Conference

September 30, 2024

A few months ago I attended a Westminster Education Forum about the use of AI in Education. I spent quite some time going through the transcript and making notes, but then I thought: why not use AI to do the work?

EdTech Guide 1: 55 things to do at the start of the school year

September 10, 2024

This guide was first made available to subscribers to Digital Education, my free newsletter.

EdTech Diary: Expectations

September 5, 2024

I want to be able to have as much access to technology when I'm in a school as what I enjoy in my own home. I don't think that is too much to ask, but maybe that's me.

Edtech Diary: Wake up and smell the coffee

August 28, 2024

When I worked as a Technology Coordinator, a large part of my job was to encourage teachers in all subjects to make use of educational technology in their lessons and, even better, to build it into their schemes of work. It was something of an uphill struggle sometimes...

How to make your classroom a stimulating environment

August 16, 2024

FREEBIE! Having been going through my files and digitising them, I came across this little booklet I created back in 2005.

10 ways to make an impact

August 11, 2024

The way some people describe Computing makes it sound (let's be honest here) dead boring. The subject gets reduced, in effect, to 'coding'.

Review: The Collaboration Book – 41 Ideas for Working Better

June 27, 2024

Most people would agree that collaboration is a good thing – so how can we collaborate more effectively in school settings?

Get off of my lawn

April 9, 2024

One of the few good things about the emphasis on ‘coding’ now is that as most people acknowledge that they know nothing about it, they leave the people teaching it in peace.

Why you should collaborate on a Computing scheme of work (Updated)

March 29, 2024

In the article 12 Characteristics of a good Computing Scheme of Work I said that people should work with other people on their Computing scheme of work. Why?

Book stack with cat -- Terry Freedman.png

Quick looks: The collaboration book

March 20, 2024

I’ve just sent Teach Secondary magazine my review of this book, so I can’t say much before that’s published.

Review: Iterate: The secret to innovation in schools

February 16, 2024

Having endured some fairly dreadful ‘initiatives’ in my time, delivered from on high with the directive to ‘make it work’, I approached Iterate with some trepidation.

Pragmatism (Updated!)

December 27, 2023

Updated! It’s fine being a visionary, but somewhere along the line someone has to actually do something.

50 features of excellent ICT and Computing lessons

November 28, 2023

What makes an excellent ICT or Computing lesson? In this document I've tried to encapsulate the answer to that question.

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