“It never occurred to me at the time that we have zombies amongst us in the form of ex-Secretaries of State — not just in education, but in other areas too.”
Read MoreA zombie, by Terry Freedman
When technology goes wrong (Updated)
Just a couple of cogitations – hopefully worthy -- about technology and our relationship with it.
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I should have booked in person. Liverpool Street Station, by Terry Freedman
A web-based labyrinth that would have made Borges or Kafka delighted
Can using a computer be injurious to one's health? If you're trying to book a particular rail journey via a particular website in the UK, the answer is a resounding "Yes".
Read MoreGovernment education technology initiatives for schools: a modern example of Parkinson's Law?
As always the secret motto seems to be: “When in doubt, reorganise”. It doesn’t have to deal with the real problem, but it does have to look like activity.
Read MoreEducation jargon: a natural consequence of government edtech initiatives?
When it comes to jargon, the Building Schools for the Future programme in England takes a lot of beating. I’ve railed against the Department for Education for its awful predilection for driving agendas forward and delivering targets or whatever, but really they’re just amateurs at this stuff.
Read MoreHow to convince colleagues to use education technology in their lessons
If you’re the education technology lead in your school, and your job involves encouraging other teachers to use education technology, what’s the best approach?
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On top deck of a number 8 bus, by Terry Freedman
A Touch of Humanity (updated)
It is a sad but incontrovertible fact that one of the unfortunate effects of technology is that it provides some people with the excuse they need to abrogate all sense of personal responsibility or discretion.
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Christmas at Selfridges, by Terry Freedman
End-of-year message from ICT & Computing in Education
Unfortunately, my end-of-year message got a bit mangled, but I’m posting it here anyway. See if you can figure out what it is supposed to say.
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Wow! By Terry Freedman
Inspection of a Computing department in the form of a really bad TV documentary 2021
Fortunately, such an inability to explore interesting and sensible questions would not be found in a real inspection. Would it??
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The Homework Excuse Management System, by Terry Freedman
Blast from the past: the homework excuse management system revisited
You can use a spreadsheet to solve even relatively trivial problems — but why should you do so?
Read MoreUse a spreadsheet for literary criticism: it's more accurate
If book blurb writers had any sense, they wouldn’t put wordy descriptions on the back cover of books. They would put a graph there instead.
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Rules, rules rules. Photo by Terry Freedman
21 "laws" for computer users
The next time something goes terribly wrong when you’re using technology, console yourself that it’s happened to everyone!
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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Exasperated, by Terry Freedman
If Computing leaders were politicians
I was watching a debate in the House of Lords the other day, and I was very struck (I hesitate to use the word 'impressed') by how easily a particular government representative managed to fend off a whole variety of questions without saying anything of any value whatsoever.
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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.
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Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
Two unexpected consequences of installing a calendar archive
When I set up a calendar version of the archive on this site, it didn’t occur to me that this would give rise to two incentives.
Read MoreEducation according to Oscar Wilde
I did find it annoying, and frustrating, though when a parent would sometimes tell me that they left school at 15 with no qualifications whatsoever, but that “it didn’t do me any harm”.
I always wanted to say, “How do you know?”
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The ICT in Education website, 2000, by Terry Freedman.
There's nothing new about snowflakes
My first reaction when I see people ranting about some trivial thing on social media is to envy them for apparently having nothing terrible to worry about.
Read MoreThe dysfunctional departments for education
Sometimes, it's easy to start to wonder if, as those in high places seem to be losing their grip on sanity, or at least reality, whether the fault really lies with yourself.
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The scream by Terry Freedman