The following events may be of interest to teachers.
Read MoreConference, by Terry Freedman
Photo by Honest Paws on Unsplash
Is honesty always the best policy?
Starting a new job as head of the Information Technology and Business Studies department in a school, I was filled with excitement, and a certain amount of anxiety — but not entirely for the usual reasons…
Read MoreThe state of Computing
Ofsted (the Office for Standards in Education) has published its first report in ages into Computing as a subject. I've summarised the findings, and added some links and comments on my own in italics.
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Follow the signs to a couple of new newsletters. Photo: Signpost pointing right, by Terry Freedman
New publications alert: If it don't fit...
After a year of weighing up the pros and cons I decided to start a couple of publications on Substack. One is about literature and life in general, and the other one is focused on education more generally
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Handshake, by Terry Freedman
Breaking the social media contract (Updated)
Why I’m unfollowing people more and more.
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Assessment machine, by Terry Freedman
Artificial Intelligence and marking: pitfalls (2022 Update)
If AI generates an essay, and another AI grades it, has anything useful actually happened?
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“Erm, what?” Photo by Tadeusz Lakota on Unsplash
The "voluntary" national tutoring scheme
The Department for Education’s newly beefed-up National Tutoring Scheme enables schools to arrange tutoring for their students at discounted rate is purely voluntary, but…
Read MoreA 21st century skills paradox (Updated)
Every time I attend an educational ICT conference, at least one of the speakers talks about how little we know about the future. But their argument doesn’t make sense.
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Lights and alleyway, by Terry Freedman
21st century skills do not exist; here are 9 skills that do (Updated)
Has there ever been such a frenzy of thinking and activity over a concept which does not even exist? I am referring, of course, to the ridiculous notion of so-called '21st century skills'.
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Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash
Is objectivity in book reviews possible, or even desirable?
You want the review to be fair, but you also want it to be honest. Maybe being honest is neither objective nor neutral.
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Just because everyone says something is good, doesn't mean it is.
Making and programming
Is 'making' really an effective -- or cost-effective -- way of learning programming?
Read MoreA new newsletter from me
My public writing tends to be mostly about education technology, and the craft of nonfiction writing. My interests are more varied than that brief description would suggest, but to avoid muddying the waters I either attempt to skew an article so that it fits into one of those categories, or not publish it at all. But now that has changed…
Read MoreThe Government’s Online Safety Bill – good news matters, but what else needs to be considered?
Mark Bentley shares his views on the Government’s Online Safety Bill.
Read MoreBett Bulletin (sort of): A new version of 2Publish is coming from 2Simple
Here is some news about an update to a program that enables children to write something and illustrate it. It was demonstrated at Bett.
Read MoreThe Online Harms Bill
The British government wants to make technology companies more responsible for policing online harms. It's one of those ideas that sounds great in theory but is fraught with difficulties.
Read MoreMy initial thoughts on the new education White Paper
You may not know this, but I really really try to greet pronouncements from the Department for Education in a positive manner. But, quite frankly, they make that impossible.
Read MoreArise, Sir Gavin
Just in case you weren't aware, the previous Education Secretary in England, Gavin Williamson, is going to be given a knighthood. Admittedly he had a rotten task, having to deal with education during a pandemic and lockdowns. Even so….
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Bett Bulletin: a heads-up guide
Unfortunately, I am unable to attend Bett this year. However, as I received a few kind invitations from companies to meet look at products, I thought I could at least pass the information on to you.
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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Coming up in Digital Education
Here’s what the next issue of the Digital Education newsletter contains….
Read MoreUse your face?
If an article is ripped off, it’s much easier to prove that it was originally published by you if your face is embedded in it.
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