What does it take to become an expert? And what can the Computing teacher do about it?
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Photo by Terry Freedman
6 routines for Computing lessons Revisted
Routines are good, because pupils know what to expect. They are able to predict what is going to happen, and when. Some pupils, whose home lives are chaotic and unpredictable, may even feel safe because of routines. Here are some routines that I think are useful for Computing lessons.
Read MoreA rubric for assessment? What a joke! Revisted
A lighthearted look at rubrics as a form of assessment.
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Graphic by Terry Freedman
Professional Development in Technology (Updated)
The key question to ask about anything in education is “So what?”. If you can’t answer that question truthfully and convincingly in terms of students learning outcomes, then why are you undertaking that activity?
Read MoreOn this day: Set trivial assignments for students of Computing stuck at home
Why set students real-world, life-changing, humanity-saving problems when trivial challenges are likely to prove equally, if not more, useful?
Read MoreOn this day: City Learning Centres: The end?
On this day: Hazardous Environments
Hazardous environments: I like to think of this as being a metaphor for any situation in which one is challenged.
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On this day: reasons to use education technology in lessons
Sometimes you need to convince colleagues to think about using educational technology in their lessons, or to identify where in their scheme of work they could incorporate it.
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On this day: websites to stimulate computing project ideas
Enjoy exploring these websites for ideas for projects for Computing.
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On this day: a spreadsheet grade predictor
On December 7th, 2015, I wrote an article explaining how you could set up a spreadsheet in Excel to help you predict and analyse students’ grades.
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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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Push to open, by Terry Freedman
On this day: what the mind sees
Here’s a link to an article about the mind playing tricks.
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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 MoreThe problems with rubrics
Rubrics look like an easy way to tackle assessment. But they can be deceptive in that respect, and can cause the unwary to slip up.
Read MoreOn this day: 5 reasons to join Computing communities
Teaching can be a lonely profession, especially if, as is often the case, you are the sole teacher of ICT or Computing in your school. Whether you’re on your own or part of a team, I’d thoroughly recommend joining a community or several. Why?On 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.
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Archives, by Terry Freedman
On this day: my blogging course contingency plan
Like many other people, last year I was in the position of having to run my introductory course about blogging online. Just in case things went pear-shaped, I came up with a contingency plan.
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Archives, by Terry Freedman
On this day: words have precise meanings (or should have)
On 25 June 2020 I wrote about words and their connotations. That was in the middle of lockdown, and was prompted by a specific news story. But the general principle still applies.
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On this day, by Terry Freedman
On this day #22: When to be over-cautious
I’ve seen a lot of half-baked initiatives emanating from schools. As for governments, well it’s almost what we’ve come to expect.
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On this day #21: An interesting meeting at Bett
Gosh! It’s ten years since I wrote about meeting at Bett someone who had approached me for advice from the other side of the world. How far off those days seem right now.
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