Bett2020: Story-telling with Dipongo

February 6, 2020

An interesting variation on the story-telling app.

Bett2020: Robotics

February 6, 2020

I have my doubts about whether building a 3d model is helpful beyond a certain age, but it has a certain appeal.

Bett2020: Safeguarding

February 6, 2020

Some time ago I compiled a list of ways in which pupils could be unsafe online. The list was extremely long….

Innovation fund cover, by Terry Freedman

Constraints can be good for innovation - Updated!

February 4, 2020

UPDATED! Constraints may not always be a bad thing, and sometimes can even be positively advantageous.

Bett2020 Neo Learning Management System

January 29, 2020

Reflections on the Neo Learning Management System, and on implementing a learning management system in general.

Terry catching up -- or trying to! By Terry Freedman

Articles update

January 29, 2020

So many articles (to write), so little time! I’m in the process of writing up my experience of the Bett Show this year: products and reflections. It’s going to take me a while to do, even after setting myself a limit of 100 words per article. So, in the meantime, are a few pieces to be getting on with

Bett2020: Eye Gaze UPDATED!

January 25, 2020

A short account of a talk about Eye Gaze, which helps teachers to know what pupils with PMLD are looking at, and what they are ignoring.

Bett 2020 Seminars on day 4

January 24, 2020

Here’s a quick reminder of the seminars I thought looked interesting on the last day of Bett 2020.

Bett 2020 Seminars in the afternoon of Day 3

January 24, 2020

Here’s a quick reminder of the seminars I thought looked interesting in the afternoon of Day 3 of Bett 2020.

Bett Seminars in the morning of Day 3 of Bett 2020

January 23, 2020

Here’s a quick reminder of the seminars I thought looked interesting in the morning of Day 3 of Bett 2020.

Virtual Reality Headset, by Terry Freedman

A good application of Virtual Reality (I think)

January 23, 2020

Using the MEL VR headset and software at Bett2020, I entered the molecule of a diamond, followed by that of a pencil.

Bett 2020 Seminars in the afternoon of Day 2

January 23, 2020

Here’s a quick reminder of the seminars I thought looked interesting on the latter half of the afternoon of Day 2 of Bett 2020.

Listen up! The audio side of Bett 2020 -- UPDATED

January 19, 2020

UPDATED and CORRECTED! News about Bett Radio and the EdTech podcast at Bett2020.

Coming soon: my seminar recommendations for Bett 2020

January 18, 2020

I’ve gone through the Bett seminar programme, and highlighted the ones that I’d go to if (a) I could be in several places at once (I’m working on that) and (b) needed to know about a much wider range of issues than any person does.

27 Things to do before Bett 2020

January 17, 2020

As a Bett veteran, I’ve learnt quite a bit over the last 30 or so years about how to make the visit to Bett as useful as possible. Here are 27 tips you may find useful.

Bett 2020

January 16, 2020

A heads-up about a pdf guide to Bett. Three articles in particular are worth perusing.

After the rain, by Terry Freedman. This photo conveys how I felt after my first visit to the Microsoft shop.

A disappointing experience at the Microsoft shop in London

January 14, 2020

Perhaps I was just unlucky when I visited the Microsoft store in London, and that had I visited at some other time my experience would have been better, but I have no intention of finding out.

More corporate gobbledegook from the Department of Education

January 13, 2020

More corporate guff from the Department of Education. Why can’t they use appropriate language?

New Year Puzzles: a coded message, the next decade in ed tech, and possible good news regarding government employees

January 6, 2020

If it takes someone at least three years to become a good teacher, what can a civil servant achieve in eighteen months?

Recent book reviews

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?

Review: The Great Formal Machinery Works: Theories of Deduction and Computation at the Origins of the Digital Age

If you’re of a mathematical bent this could be just the book to delve into.

Review: How to lie with statistics

Although this book is over 60 years old, it is remarkably apposite for our times -- and especially in the fields of educational research and assessing pupils' understanding and progress.