Politics and education technology reviews

February 12, 2019

To what extent is bias in reviews unavoidable? And does it matter anyway?

Discipline in the classroom: what, why and how (Updated)

February 11, 2019

UPDATED What is classroom discipline? Why is it needed, especially in lessons where technology is being used? How can it be established?

Photo by Andras Vas on Unsplash — Photo by Andras Vas on Unsplash

What do kids get up to online?

February 4, 2019

Here are several research reports on kids’ behaviour online.

Digital Education: Safer Internet Day

February 3, 2019

With Safer Internet Day just around the corner, the latest issue of Digital Education contains several links to resources and reports.

What kind of ed tech house is your school?

January 31, 2019

If the ed tech in your school is horrible, and mistreated, then perhaps this article, inspired by a talk by A J Crabill, Deputy Commissioner for the Texas Education Agency, will help.

The 4 stages of Bett

January 30, 2019

The four stages of Bett, illustrated.

Bett 2019: some photos

January 27, 2019

Here are some of the photos I took at Bett 2019.

Pick up your free unofficial Bett guide at http://bit.ly/TFBett19 — Pick up your free **unofficial** Bett guide at http://bit.ly/TFBett19

Bett 2019 News Bulletin 2019-01-25

January 25, 2019

(Very) quick looks

Here are a couple of the things I’ve seen at Bett so far.

Robots

Kubo: teach younger children coding by placing physical objects (“tactiles”) on to a special board, thereby making a small robot travel. You can build up surprisingly complex programs. Concrete learning definitely has a place, though you will need to be very hot on classroom management to make sure bits don’t go missing.

DF Robot: They make and sell kits for the Micro:bit and other such devices. I liked the modular aspect: you can add sensors of various kinds, and there is an add-on which gives the Micro:bit internet access. Impressive.

More news soon, probably after Bett. Look out for more product reviews, and an interview with Mitch Resnick, probably in my newsletter Digital Education in the first instance.

In the meantime, I’ve compiled a list of hints and tips for Bett, along with the seminars I find most interesting, and various organisations’ ed tech predictions for 2019. You can download the free pdf from here:

http://bit.ly/TFBett19

Bett 2019 News Bulletin 2019-01-20

January 20, 2019

Read on for information about a free pdf guide to Bett and the Education show, and some news about a particular product.

The ways m-learning is transforming online education

January 18, 2019

Allowing students to use their phones certainly brings with it some challenges. However, the potential benefits are great.

The Education Show 2019

January 17, 2019

The Education Show is going on next door to the Bett show this year, on 24th and 25th January. Here are pointers about a few of the sessions going on.

Bett2019 Pointers: a personal perspective

January 16, 2019

There is tons to see and hear at the Bett show this year — even more so than usual I think. Here are the things I’ve earmarked for myself, based on the assumption that by next week I will either have mastered the technique of being in several places at once, or somehow acquired a team of ten people.

Getting the best out of Bett2019

January 15, 2019

Here are a few words about the revamped (I think) Bett show in London, and some tips on how to get the most benefit from attending.

Bett 2019 — Created in Canva by Terry Freedman

Bett 2019: Useful tips

January 14, 2019

My annual guide to Bett is out. Here’s how to access it.

Back to the education technology chalkface

January 6, 2019

This article contains a link to a humorous take on training days, looking back, looking forward and information about the forthcoming issue of my newsletter, Digital Education.

Education Technology 2018: A Personal Retrospective

January 4, 2019

The 25 articles listed in this post represent the main issues that were exercising my mind in each month of 2018. I was, of course, thinking about more than only 25 topics, but these are my personal favourites. A couple of themes seem to crop up more than others, these being automation (for example in marking), and better teaching or use of computing and technology. I hope you find them interesting, useful or both.

Evidence-based education revisited

December 23, 2018

A reflection on the contents of the 2017-18 annual Ofsted report as summarised in a word cloud.

Digital Education Bumper Holiday Edition

December 23, 2018

What’s in the latest issue of the Digital Education newsletter? Read on to find out.

‘The Press Association, London, by Terry Freedman

What ed tech consultants need to know, and other articles

December 20, 2018

What’s coming up in the latest issue of the Digital Education ezine.

Digital Education Prize Draw

December 17, 2018

The next Digital Education ezine has a great prize to be won: The Truth About Teaching, by Greg Ashman. Read on for more details.

Recent book reviews

Review: The Shortest History of AI

How is it that ChatGPT, Claude and other Al models appear to perform so well at certain complex tasks that some people become convinced that they're sentient — only for them to then promptly fail at simple tasks that even a child could handle?

Review: Teacher Geek

Every so often I like to take a look, or another look, at a book published a while ago, and today I’ve been looking at Teacher Geek, by Rachel Jones.

Review: Teach Fast

The book contains some interesting ideas.

A question of leadership

I have somewhat dichotomous views of this question of whether leaders make a difference, or much of a difference. I think my views can be classified as macro and micro.

Review: Making Good Progress?

Daisy Christodoulou carefully picks apart the pitfalls of various kinds of assessment, drawing on different subject areas to do so.

principles and practice of assessment.jpg

Review: Principles and Practices of Assessment

There is plenty in this book to like.

Review: Effective Teaching: Evidence and Practice

Although this is a few years old now (2018), it has stood the test of time.

Review: One for maths teachers

This wide-ranging book takes in probability, fractals, astronomy, Babbage, Lovelace and a host of other areas and people.

Reviews: Two for History teachers

Two books on the Nazi era.

Review: One for English teachers

No book about the craft of writing seems complete without a stern chapter on the importance of eschewing adverbs and adjectives - but what to put in their place?