E-safety update

November 9, 2018

This article contains details of 8 reports and 4 sets of resources concerning e-safety.

Microsoft's Future Decoded

November 2, 2018

The most fascinating thing for me about the Future Decoded conference was the present!

My (somewhat jaded) view of most high-profile Government ed tech initiatives

The trouble with government education technology initiatives

October 12, 2018

A possibly cynical take on government-funded initiatives for education technology in schools.

What I've been reading: The Teacher's Guide to Tech 2018

October 2, 2018

Read this article for a review of this book — and a nice surprise!

The Homework Excuse Management System, by Terry Freedman

Blast from the past: the homework excuse management system

September 25, 2018

You can use a spreadsheet to solve even relatively trivial problems — but why should you do so?

My best IT training days #1: The Science Department

September 13, 2018

As a complement to my series of articles about my worst training days, I’ve started a series about my best ones. I believe we can learn from both sorts. In this article, I relate an experience of running a twilight training session for a secondary school science department.

Thumbnail sketch: Bad Choices: How Algorithms Can Help You Think Smarter

August 29, 2018

Here is a short review of this book about algorithms.

The cover of the latest issue of Digital Education

Digital Education AI edition

August 8, 2018

The latest issue of the free newsletter Digital Education is about to be published. It has a special focus on artificial intelligence, and there’s a chance to win a book in a prize draw. Read on for more details.

Illustration from pixabay.com Licence: CC0

20 Characteristics of Excellent Computing Or ICT Teachers

July 20, 2018

The people who say we can deal with the lack of Computing teachers by using ‘facilitators’, or getting the kids to learn from each other, don’t know what they’re talking about. A good ICT or Computing teacher, by which I mean one that understands what real teaching is, will do everything a so-called ‘facilitator’ would do, and more.

Arduino: The ultimate guide to Arduino, including projects, programming tips & tricks, and much more!

July 17, 2018

Here’s a quick look at a book which takes you through the Arduino.

Who are you REALLY meeting?

July 3, 2018

Is the person you’re talking to online who they say they are? Here’s a short video that ou could use to discuss this topic with your classes.

Digital Education: new issue almost out

June 22, 2018

Another information-packed issue of my newsletter, Digital Education, is on its way. There’s a qualifications freebie, news of some brilliant events, and a prize draw, amongst other things.

New ed tech qualifications list

June 20, 2018

I’ve updated my list of ed tech-related qualifications. Please read on for details of how to get it.

Teachers? We don't need no teachers!

June 14, 2018

There are too many people saying teachers aren’t necessary, or that we don’t need them to have any initiative, much less knowledge. They are wrong.

A great example of virtual reality

June 5, 2018

Dinosaurs in the Wild is a fascinating virtual reality experience. Well worth going to if you can, especially if you can take some pupils with you. It’s a great educational experience.

There's more to ed tech than automation

May 1, 2018

Is adopting automation always a good thing when it comes to ed tech?

Picture from Stencil.  Licence: CC0 — Picture from Stencil. Licence: CC0

5 ways to develop critical thinking in ICT and Computing

April 4, 2018

How do you encourage pupils and students to think critically in the context of educational technology? Although we can devote a lot of time and energy to setting up the "right environment", I can't help thinking that really it all comes down to some pretty simple questions, and very straightforward approaches.

6 articles with ideas or resources for the classroom

March 9, 2018

A collection of hopefully useful links for the ed tech teacher.

Ask them to explain what they think they've learnt. Picture by Kidaha on Pixabay.com CCO

7 questions to ask pupils during lesson observation

March 2, 2018

If you're observing a lesson, here are seven questions to ask the pupils.

Review of Enhancing Learning and Teaching with Technology

February 5, 2018

David J Longman reviews this new collection of essays on the theme of what the research says about using technology to enhance learning and teaching.

Recent book reviews

Review: Power Up, by Matthew Lane

This book looks at the maths concepts — and, to some extent, the physics concepts — hidden in popular video games.

Review: The Shortest History of AI

How is it that ChatGPT, Claude and other Al models appear to perform so well at certain complex tasks that some people become convinced that they're sentient — only for them to then promptly fail at simple tasks that even a child could handle?

Review: Teacher Geek

Every so often I like to take a look, or another look, at a book published a while ago, and today I’ve been looking at Teacher Geek, by Rachel Jones.

Review: Teach Fast

The book contains some interesting ideas.

A question of leadership

I have somewhat dichotomous views of this question of whether leaders make a difference, or much of a difference. I think my views can be classified as macro and micro.