You can build up a body of work without having to try going through gatekeepers.
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Reflecting, by Terry Freedman
I don't agree with Cognitive Load Theory (CLT). Here's Why
A question: is Cognitive Load Theory another example of the emperor’s new clothes?
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Who needs a robot assistant? Photo by Terry Freedman
On this day: Thoughts about Alexa
I can’t get used to just barking orders at someone. Whatever happened to courtesy?
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Take responsibility, by Terry Freedman
Responsible Use Policies
The general thrust of education these days is on student-centred learning. This is often expressed by depicting on the teacher’s role as being the guide on the side rather than the sage on the stage. Regardless of whether you agree that that’s how things should be (and as it happens I don’t!), the often-stated philosophy these days is that students know best.
But does stating that philosophy mean that it is observed in practice?
Read MoreAsk the expert: a Zen-inspired view
What can a Zen outlook teach us about education technology etc?
Read MoreChoosing the right education conference
Anyone who announces that we need change, but without going any deeper into it, is an idiot as far as I am concerned. Either that, or they assume that I am.
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Digital Functional Skills Qualifications
The Department for Education in England and Wales has issued the specifications for a new digital skills exam. Well, two cheers for that: it’s about time there was something from the DfE for young people which doesn’t expect them to develop a deep knowledge of computer programming.
Read MoreWhy your business needs an ebook
Ebooks are the perfect medium for “going niche”. In this article I look at the main benefits to your business.
Read MoreBritish Gas and the Internet of Things (Updated)
Most talks I have heard on the subject of the internet of things, by which is meant the connecting up of objects with people and other objects through wireless technology, have been completely daft.
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Cross-curricular ed tech evaluation, by Terry Freedman
9 criteria for evaluating a school’s education technology and 8 criteria regarding Computing provision
Whether you are moving to a new school, or staying where you are, it’s good to stand back and try to gauge what the school’s education technology and Computing are like. Why you would want to do that if taking up a new post is obvious: you want to see how the land lies so that you can start to identify any improvements that could be made.
Read MoreAre you serious?
We seem to be living in an age in which the more half-baked the idea, the more likely it is to find traction. I wonder, often, if this is because people think, “X has said this. X is an intelligent and wise person. Therefore this must be sensible.”
Read MoreAda Lovelace Day 2021
Imagine what Ada Lovelace might have achieved had Babbage actually built his “computer” and she hadn’t died at the age of 36.
Read MoreThe trouble with gurus
I once wrote a scathing (but, of course, very polite) article about something a well-known person had written. Later that day, I was going down an escalator at Waterloo Station, and he was coming up the other escalator!
Read MoreOn this day: Presentation: 10 stimulating ideas for the Computing curriculum
This is an article I originally published on 2 October 2017. The conference it refers to has been and gone, but I’ve added a few annotations relating to my methodology.
Read MoreTo put it Bluntly: Ofsted jargon revisited
Derek Blunt takes issue with inspectors' jargon. Should you ever find yourself looking for examples of what Kenneth Hudson referred to as “diseased English”, I think you could do worse than looking at Ofsted guidance or listening to Ofsted pronouncements. Ofsted is the name of the schools inspectorate in England,
Read MoreCase studies: A great tool in your marketing armoury
It’s all very well writing about the features and benefits of your product, but how do potential buyers know what it would be like to use in practice?
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What's the point of your product?
A few years ago I read a review of a new product in a popular technology magazine, and by the end of the article, I had a pretty good idea of whether or not the product was any good.
The only thing I hadn’t managed to find out was what it actually did.
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Question mark - Terry Freedman
National Coding Week: why?
I’ve always been of the strong opinion that (a) people should talk about programming, not coding, and (b) people learn best on a kind of need to know basis.
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My (somewhat jaded) view of most high-profile Government ed tech initiatives
The trouble with government education technology initiatives (Updated)
A possibly cynical take on government-funded initiatives for education technology in schools.
Read MoreTo be an ed tech maverick, you need to be sensible (updated)
What does it mean to be a maverick? To me, it means not going along with the general consensus about something, just because it’s a consensus. There is always a natural tendency to think “all those people can’t be wrong”, or “there’s no smoke without fire”, but in fact all those people could be wrong and there could be smoke without fire.
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