Review of J2Code

j2code 6As usual, I gave this application a workout without seeking help from a manual or anything like that – which is just as well because there does not seem to be a comprehensive manual.

There are three applications in one: JIT5, LOGO and Visual. This is quite useful because if you are familiar with LOGO but not JavaScript, you can start pupils coding in an environment that is familiar to you. Also, if you teach very young children, JIT5 is highly visual and colourful.

An advantage of J2Code as a whole over 2Code is that it covers the age range from Key Stage 1 (5-6 year olds) to Key Stage 3 (13-14 year olds).

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Review of The Thinking Teacher

thinking teacherWhen I first picked up this book I made an error of judgement. Noticing that it seemed quite slim, I thought I could finish reading it in just one or two sessions. However, what I had not counted on was the book’s living up to its title. In short, it made me think. It made me think about what the author was saying in its own right, that is whether or not I agreed with it. It also caused me to reflect on my own practice as a teacher and, now, as a consultant.
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Book review: Two girls, one on each knee (7)

ToC CrosswordYou could argue that crossword solving is a very good example of computational thinking. That is certainly what the security services thought during WW2 when they asked The Times to send them the names of anyone who could solve a cryptic crossword they’d supplied in 12 minutes or less. Those that did were invited to work at Bletchley Park, cracking codes for the war effort.
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Review of the Google Chromebook

DSC06547I’ve been looking at the Google Chromebook, and I have to say I am seriously impressed. There’s a lot of talk about tablets these days. I myself have promoted the idea of Bring Your Own Technology, which usually means a phone or a tablet. But the Google Chromebook is worthy of consideration, whether for yourself, or whether you’re considering taking your school into the mobile future.

In order to thoroughly evaluate the Chromebook from a school perspective, I not only used the device myself, but interviewed Bruno Reddy, Head of Maths at the King Solomon Academy in London, and Jaime Casap, Global Education Evangelist at Google.

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Report from the 3D print show

Richard Smith, of Igloo in Education and Amazing ICT, recently visited the 3D Print Show in London. What did he make of it?

Hi, Richard Smith here from Igloo in Education. I am delighted to have been asked by Terry to do a guest blog post on the 3D print show that took place in London from 7-9th November.

The venue of the event, the Business Design Centre in Islington, sent out a clear message out to visitors: 3D printing should be about innovative design and the encouragement of original business ideas. Of

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As I was saying…

I have two blog posts already started, and another two waiting to be transferred from my head to the computer and thence to the web. I have had to interrupt myself so many times because of work commitments that I have become impatient – with myself! Hence the title of this post which should read, in full:

As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted…

Anyway, while I am in the process of completing the aforementioned articles, I thought I would mention the Propaganda exhibition that is currently on at the British Library.

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3D Printing

Over the past few years I've written several articles about 3D printing and its potential application in education. I first came across a 3D printer at a City Learning Centre in London. That was 15 years ago at the time of writing, ie 1998. What I had not realised back then was that 3D printing had already been around for ages -- since the mid-1980s in fact.
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Lessons from Reviewing the new Computing Curriculum

discussionThis is not so much a review or even a summary of the recent Westminster Forum Conference called ‘Reviewing the new Computing Curriculum’ as a series of observations arising from it and related articles. The reason for that approach is that I’d like to make this article useful and interesting to as wide a range of people as possible, not only those concerned with the ICT or Computing Programme of Study in the National Curriculum in England and Wales.
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Review of Learn for Life News

Leon CychI recently discovered a fairly new educational technology and ICT news service. Published daily by UK ICT veteran Leon Cych, Learn for Life News is a welcome – and different –  addition to the plethora of information sources currently available.

Why “different”? Because it is not just another source of news but, as Leon himself describes it, filtered news. Leon is acting as a human filter of what is currently being discussed on the UK ICT grapevine.

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Mini-review of the Motivating Educators, Inspiring Learners Conference

russell“Well”, said Elaine as I bounced in last Wednesday evening. “You’ve got your mojo back.” This was quite true. Having spent a few hours reading various articles about why things can’t be done, or how there could be dire consequences if they were, I wasn’t in much of a frame of mind to attend a conference, especially one which seemed to be ‘motivational’. Quite frankly, when I’m feeling miserable the last thing I want is someone trying to cheer me up.

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Review of the Technology for Print Disabilities Training Day

informationWhen I was invited to attend the Technology for Print Disabilities training day, run by Dyslexia Action, I was filled with a sense of dread. True, it was free. But I’d have to leave the house at the crack of dawn, travel a couple of hundred miles, return well into the evening – and all for a topic which I assumed had only a tangential relevance to my day-to-day work. Nevertheless, applying the deep philosophical outlook I learnt listening to Fats Waller (“One never knows, do one?”), I said to myself, “OK, let’s give it a whirl.”
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