Evaluation of Learning Without Frontiers Pre-Conference

I was looking forward to hearing some great presentations and startling revelations at the Learning Without Frontiers Conference. But I spent almost my whole time there talking to people. The way I figure it, if something is really good I'll get to hear about it anyway, so given the choice between listening to a talk, and discussing –and-catching up-and-networking type of activity, I choose the latter. At least, I did yesterday. So, how was it for me?
Read More

BETT presentation: sorted!

Woo hoo! I have now finished preparing my presentation, "20 must-have tools in 45 minutes". Except that it's now 31 tools in 60 minutes, with one "tool" that I'll mention in passing, plus a further 7 tools if there is time to go into them.

Like I said before (see link above), my presentation is for leaders and managers or would-be leaders and managers of educational ICT.

Hope to see you there.

Be organised, be informed and plan

The title comprises the theme I’ll be following in my seminar at the BETT show. It’s called “20 must-have tools in 45 minutes”, and is firmly targetted at leaders and managers of ICT or educational technology – or people who aspire to such a position. What that means in practice is that I’ve followed these principles:

Read More

More about the free leadership event

I recently wrote about Collaborate for Change. Here’s a very brief video about it, and an interview with Lord Jim Knight, the Schools Minister in the previous government in Britain, and  Dave Smith, organiser-in-chief. The interviewer in each case is Russell Prue, of Anderton Tiger Radio.

Read More

My personal BETT–Day 1

It’s coming up to that time of year, when companies unveil their new ed tech goodies, old friends and colleagues meet up, people give and attend talks and demonstrations, and we all go away either inspired or cynical, and completely shattered, in equal measure. Yes, it’s the BETT show, a 4 day conference-stroke-exhibition-stroke-meet-fest which attracts people from all over the world. This year it starts on the 12th January, ie next week, and I thought it might be useful to make my own suggestions about what you might like to see. These suggestions are all based on my knowledge of the people involved or past personal experience, so I don’t pretend to cover all possibilities: check out the BETT website for the full programme, and register for free in advance. Today, I’m looking at Day 1, Wednesday 12th January.

Read More

Christmas Greetings

I’d just like to wish readers of this blog and the Computers in Classrooms newsletter a happy and peaceful break over the next couple of weeks.

This is not (hopefully) the last post this side of the new year, but I wanted to make sure I caught people before they all disappeared! I still intend to write for this blog, as well as Writers’ Know-how and Technology & Learning. In fact, the weather is such (worst winter since 1962 apparently) that I may have no other choice: it’s hard to get out and do shopping and stuff in this weather. (I’m heartbroken).

But my most pressing piece of writing right now is my e-Christmas cards!

Time to grow up?

Here’s a thought. I like to think of myself as a glass half full type of person. So why all the doom and gloom about the apparent lack of Governmental support, in the UK, for technology in the classroom?

Read More

Join the discussion!

This evening, for the last time this term, Drew Buddie and I will be discussing matters ICT, from 7pm till 8pm, UK time (though as always we will leave the room open until 9pm). We will see what comes up, but one thing we may be chatting about is why I’ve decided to exclude links to Wikipedia in my articles, as far as I can, for now. Also, why I think it’s a good idea to close down the ICT facilities for the last week or so of term.
Read More

Is this the newspaper I’ve been looking for?

A short while ago I expressed the view that paper.li, the Twitter-based newspaper, was no longer for me. I don’t like the lack of control over what is published, and it started to look a lot like spam. I experimented with a couple of other similar services, and they did nothing much for me.

But Microsoft's Montage looks promising. Although you still don’t have control over what appears in particular streams, you do  have a say in what types of stream are featured, and (to an extent), the layout.

Read More

The sledgehammer as a tool for innovation?

Can the sledgehammer, an instrument usually associated with destruction, be enlisted as a tool of innovation? Educational Technology consultant Doug Woods puts forward a case for this unlikely-sounding approach. His position is that a good use for the sledgehammer would be to break up all the ICT suites (computer labs) that can be found in schools.
Read More

Prize Draw

In the very near future (read on) I will be running prize draws for the following: * MissionMaker. * Xobni Plus. * Global Conflicts subscription. * Scholastic’s Child Education Resource Bank subscription (UK residents only). * PIMS reporting software subscription.
Read More

Progress report on the writing website

A little while ago I reported in Computers in Classrooms and here that I had started a new blog. Called “Writers’ Know-How”, its mission, if I may use so strong a word, is to make technology for writers more accessible. Clearly, the term “writers” includes bloggers of all descriptions, and the focus on technology will have relevance to teachers too.
Read More