Coming soon: a new edition of Digital Education

February 1, 2016

With reports on Bett 2016 from 12 people, plus a humorous but incisive article on Nicky Morgan's speech at Bett (by Crispin Weston), and articles on assessment, Stephen Potter, parental engagement, a competition and book reviews, the forthcoming edition of Digital Education promises to be a fine read! Sign up now (it's free).

ICT and Computing Qualifications Update

January 25, 2016

What's the latest position regarding which qualifications are available in ICT and Computing? This free document contains the information you need.

My best and worst IT lessons: why?

January 25, 2016

Why did I start the series called "My best and worst IT lessons"? Shelly Terrell interviewed me and asked:

What inspired you to share your best and worse lessons?

How can reflecting on our best and worse lessons enhance our teaching?

New publications from ICT & Computing in Education

January 19, 2016

Two new free publications are now available for subscribers to Digital Education.

Questions, questions, questions Picture from www.pixabay.com CC0

My best and worst IT lessons #7: What's the interest rate?

January 18, 2016

Whether or not you can easily look up the answers to questions is far less important than asking the right questions in the first place.

Suspicious enthusiasm? Picture from www.pixabay.com CC0

My best and worst IT lessons #6: Adorable spreadsheets

January 14, 2016

Why a lesson on spreadsheets became the highlight of the kids' day, and a nightmare to haunt me forever.

Modelling and reality. Picture from www.pixabay.com CC0

My best and worst IT lessons #5: Modelling

January 13, 2016

How objective are computers really? It's importtant to try to work out what is actually going on when it comes to modelling or running simulations.

Who's trackin' ya, baby?

January 13, 2016

What happens when you visit a website? Information about those pesky cookies.

My best and worst IT lessons #4: Murder Mystery

January 12, 2016

Flat file databases don't have to be boring: they can be an opporttunity for pupils to test their detective skills!

Read all about it. Picture from www.pixabay.com CC0

News about the Digital Education newsletter

January 11, 2016

What you may have missed in the pre-Christmas Digital Education newsletter, and what's coming up in the next one.

It's all about setting up the right conditions. Photo from Pixabay.com CC0

My best and worst IT lessons #2: The history lesson

January 8, 2016

What were the elements that made a history lesson (in a computer lab) about JFK so good?

Working together as equals can produce excellent results. Image from Pixabay.com CC0

My best and worst IT lessons #1: VBA conundrum

January 7, 2016

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.

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

January 5, 2016

Read about a proofreading tool that works on the web -- and maybe win a free subscription.

25 useful resources for teachers

January 3, 2016

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.

Flipped learning is not as simple as telling kids to watch a video or two.

Flipped learning - again

December 29, 2015

In order to implement flipped learning, you need to ensure that certain conditions are in place.

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 … — 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

December 21, 2015

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.

A Koan, Computing and QuicK Tips

December 18, 2015

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!

Back to the future: a data security issue?

December 16, 2015

When it comes to travelling backwards and forwards in time, there are a few cyber security issues to be worked out!

What everyone ought to know about school IT technicians

December 9, 2015

Please support your school IT technician. This video says it all.

Welcome back, VBA!

December 9, 2015

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.

Recent book reviews

One for your Geography colleagues perhaps? Review: A Little History of the Earth -- two reviews in one!

For your English colleagues: A Word for all Seasons -- two reviews in one!

For your maths colleagues: The Mending of Broken Bones: A Modern Guide to Classical Algebra -- two reviews in one!

I submitted my review of this book to Teach Secondary magazine, an educational magazine in the UK. The first review below is what the magazine published. The second one is what I actually wrote! In substantive terms there is little difference between the two, but you may find it interesting to see what the editor altered.

For your History colleagues: The Worst Exhibition in the World: Degenerate Art, 1937 -- two reviews in one!

Is The computing Curriculum Too Masculine? Revisited 16 years later!

One of the apparently insoluble problems of the age is how do you encourage more girls to take up Computing? I think a lot can be done, and have done so myself, but I wonder how far a lot of the effort fails to get to the heart of the issue, which could be the curriculum itself, the way it is taught, or a combination of the two?

Book review: The best writing on mathematics, 2016

I think this could be an excellent resource for teachers of mathematics.

For your Eng Lit colleagues? The Penguin Book of the International Short Story -- two reviews in one!

I submitted my review of this book to Teach Secondary magazine, an educational magazine in the UK. The first review below is what the magazine published. The second one is what I actually wrote!

Two reviews in one: Turner and Constable: Rivals and Originals -- art and history

One for your colleagues, perhaps: art, art history, ploitics with a small ‘p’.

Two reviews in one: State of Ridicule: A History of Satire in English Literature -- politics, history, English

One for your colleagues, perhaps. Sperrin has provided a wealth of information that can be used to provide a rich experience for students of politics, history and English literature.

Two reviews in one: A Little History of Mathematics