Reflecting, by Elaine Freedman
A major thing that the Covid-19 pandemic has done is to give us all a huge kick up the backside. We’ve had the technology to enable working from home for years, but there was not much incentive to implement it very widely. It’s a testament to the commitment and flexibility of companies and educational institutions that the educational system didn’t simply collapse.
Read MoreIf you’re playing with a bunch of people and someone shouts out “Solo!”, you have a choice. You can either stop and mumble “Sorry, I’m not quite…., I don’t think…., perhaps we should…” — or you can throw caution to the winds, trust your instinct and enjoy the moment. There’s a lesson for teachers of Computing etc here.
Read MoreYou could imbibe the entire day’s news just by reading the first paragraph of each article in the newspaper. But what you would miss out on is any nuance or deep explanation. Unfortunately, when research in ed tech is reported in news outlets, the nuances and caveats, and useful information like sample size, are lost as well.
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Humble brag, by Terry Freedman
How to boast without boasting?
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Terry reflecting, by E Freedman
I believe in simple instructions. Here are the instructions I gave to a new cohort of teacher trainees, plus a short commentary on what went right — and what didn’t.
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Reflections
My reflections on a first session I taught on a teacher training course are still apposite today.
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Concerned, by Terry Freedman
I for one am heartily sick of people thinking that anyone can teach just because it involves, as they see it, standing in front of a class of kids and spouting forth.
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Think outside the box, by Terry Freedman
How might you use fiction as a vehicle for teaching computational thinking? Here are some ideas.
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MA Dissertation, by Terry Freedman
Is the pursuit of a PhD always the right option?
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Pay here, by Terry Freedman
Don’t work for nothing, and don’t expect others to. Be professional!
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Innovation fund cover, by Terry Freedman
UPDATED! Constraints may not always be a bad thing, and sometimes can even be positively advantageous.
Read MoreDoes it matter if articles are written by an algorithm?
Read MoreI'm a great believer in using different kinds of data to measure how well pupils are doing, not all of which are quantifiable in the usual sense.
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What?! by Terry Freedman
A girl had been made to leave her lesson, and wanted to help me teach spreadsheets. My mind said “No way”, my intuition said “Why not?”
Read MoreThe problem I find these days is that there seems to be a mismatch between myself and event organisers as far as planning ahead is concerned. For example, I am sometimes invited to conferences with 1 week’s notice: my diary contains bookings for almost the whole of next year.
Read MoreTo the adage "Never work with children or animals", I would add, "or technology" -- which is somewhat worrying given that I have been involved in educational technology for over 20 years.
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Exclamation mark, by Terry Freedman
In one of my teaching jobs, I had to listen to a parent while he went on and on about how kids should taught how to take computers apart in their Computing lessons. When I pointed out that the course was about being literate in the uses of computers and also how to program them, rather than how they're made, he insisted that digital literacy could only be taught by taking computers apart.
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admin burden, by Terry Freedman
How the admin involved in a course led to its being abandoned by one group of trainers.
Read MoreThe problem referred to in the title may be summarised as: who ya gonna kill? The car is hurtling along the road when a child steps out in front of it. The car is faced with a dilemma: kill the child, or the pedestrian waiting to cross the road, who would be in the car's path should it swerve to avoid the child. Guest contributor Lance Sharpe considers the problem from an Economist’s perspective.
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Psion 5 and KIndle Fire, by Terry Freedman
It’s 20 years since I last used my Psion 5 Organizer. How does it stack up now?
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