Flat file databases don't have to be boring: they can be an opporttunity for pupils to test their detective skills!
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Read all about it. Picture from www.pixabay.com CC0
News about the Digital Education newsletter
What you may have missed in the pre-Christmas Digital Education newsletter, and what's coming up in the next one.
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It's all about setting up the right conditions. Photo from Pixabay.com CC0
My best and worst IT lessons #2: The history lesson
What were the elements that made a history lesson (in a computer lab) about JFK so good?
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Working together as equals can produce excellent results. Image from Pixabay.com CC0
My best and worst IT lessons #1: VBA conundrum
In this new series I look at some of my best and worst lessons in ICT and Computing, and analyse what caused them to work -- or not.
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You could let Grammarly take some of the strain of proofreading. Photo by Pink Sherbert Photography https://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/
Review of Grammarly -- and a competition
Read about a proofreading tool that works on the web -- and maybe win a free subscription.
Read More25 useful resources for teachers
This article contains details of 20 websites for creating free cartoons and comics, plus Scratch, educational blogging, creating games, old sounds, and the international space station.
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Flipped learning is not as simple as telling kids to watch a video or two.
Flipped learning - again
In order to implement flipped learning, you need to ensure that certain conditions are in place.
Read More![ENIAC. U.S. Army Photo [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Picture credit for Eniac: This image is a work of a U.S. Army soldier or employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the …](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53b7d42de4b04cfc3188c6eb/1550079821886-TUICJIDYKXZIXMAK0OZX/ENIAC.jpg)
ENIAC. U.S. Army Photo [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Picture credit for Eniac: This image is a work of a U.S. Army soldier or employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain. URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eniac.jpg
Getting touchy and feely about Computing
Making it possible for students to come face to face with real things from times gone by can have an electrifying effect on them. This is especially so when teaching Computing.
Read MoreA Koan, Computing and QuicK Tips
News, reviews, two competitions, free resources, interesting reading, a new Computing scheme of work, and women in computing -- just some of the stuff featured in the new issue of Digital Education. Subscribe for free!
Read MoreBack to the future: a data security issue?
When it comes to travelling backwards and forwards in time, there are a few cyber security issues to be worked out!
Read MoreWhat everyone ought to know about school IT technicians
Please support your school IT technician. This video says it all.
Read MoreWelcome back, VBA!
To borrow from Mark Twain, reports of the death of Visual Basic for Applications as a viable programming language to teach in schools are exaggerated.
Read MoreHow to create a grade-prediction system in Excel, and save yourself loads of time
Spotting the unexpected results of mock exams of scores or even hundreds of students need no longer be a nightmare.
Read MoreLevels in Computing? I thought they'd gone!
Updated! When it comes to assessing ICT and Computing, it's worth pointing out that "solutions" which look both comprehensive and easy to implement are not necessary either, when you start to get down to considering them in depth.
Read MoreAn interview concerning the scrapping of ICT
Kay Sawbridge, Faculty Leader of Computing and ICT in a secondary school, has been very active in campaigning against the Government's decision to scrap ICT qualifications. It's a bad decision that could leave thousands of students "disenfranchised" in terms of what they choose to study, and will almost certainly adversely affect a disproportionate number of girls.
In this article, taken from the next issue of the Digital Education newsletter, I interview Kay.
Read More7 Ways to make IT real: 6 Use what you have
Make use of what you already have.
What you have, in fact, is your pupils and other members of staff. Even if you are in a small school, or a large school but with no team, you may still be able to give your pupils the experience of addressing real problems through computing and ICT.
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Fiction and computational thinking
Fiction and computational thinking go together in my opinion. Fiction presents exciting possibilities for teachers and students of computing.
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If the decision to scrap ICT qualifications has left you feeling frazzled, read on.
Approved ICT and Computing qualifications
UPDATED yet again! The decision to "scrap" the GCSE and 'A' level qualifications in Information and Communication Technology have dismayed a lot of people. In a spirit of pragmatism rather than defeatism, I've compiled a list of eligible alternative qualifications, which you can download from here.
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Open badges in a nutshell. (c) @bryanMMathers. Used with permission through a CC-BY-ND licence.
Personalising Computing assessment with badges
The attractive thing about badges is that a school can invent their own categories and achievement levels.
Read More10 good resources and 2 competitions for ICT and Computing teachers
Discussion lists, blog posts, teachers' guides and competitions are all featured in today's article.
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