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ICT & Computing in Education

Articles on education technology and related topics
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Harmonicas by Terry Freedman

Harmonicas by Terry Freedman

7 Ways of Making the ICT and Computing facilities More attractive to use

June 26, 2019

How can you encourage other teachers to use the ed tech facilities? You may not know this, but there is not a lot of difference between a Lee Oskar diatonic harmonica (the type used by blues and folk musicians) and a Hohner Blues Band harmonica. The Lee Oskar is said to have been engineered to give a “sharper” edge to the tone, which suits the blues sound, whereas the Marine Band, being slightly “softer”, works well for folk music too. Unless you’re a purist, there is probably not much in it. As someone once said:

“A difference is only a difference if it makes a difference.”

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In Leading & Managing Computing & ICT, Using and Teaching Computing & ICT Tags ICT Co-ordinator, ICT in Education, cross-curricular ICT, marketing, promoting
Trust Me, I’m Lying

Trust Me, I’m Lying

Quick look: Trust Me, I'm Lying

June 11, 2019

This book lifts the lid on the practices that various media use to promulgate fake news even while appearing to be squeaky clean.

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In Books in Brief, Quick Looks, Using and Teaching Computing & ICT, Digital Education Tags fake news, quick looks, review
Forward 10 places!

Forward 10 places!

8 Ways to make physical computing work in the classroom

June 9, 2019

If you insist on getting the kids to make or use physical computing kits/robots in the classroom, here arte 8 suggestions for making sure it’s all useful.

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In Using and Teaching Computing & ICT Tags robots, robotics, physical computing
Wait! By Terry Freedman

Wait! By Terry Freedman

Virtual reality: a solution desperately seeking a problem

June 7, 2019

A lot of Virtual Reality ‘solutions’ I’ve seen are just a massive waste of time and resources.

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In Using and Teaching Computing & ICT Tags Bett, virtual reality
Be aware! By Terry Freedman

Be aware! By Terry Freedman

Is robotics a waste of time?

June 6, 2019

I’d rather teach pupils to program without going through the intermediary process of building a robot or anything else. Despite all the hype, I regard it as a massive waste of time.

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In News & views, Using and Teaching Computing & ICT Tags robots, robotics, physical computing, maker, maker movement
Spreadsheet manual by Terry Freedman

Spreadsheet manual by Terry Freedman

Writing technology manuals for school: why, what and how

June 4, 2019

Do you really need software and hardware manuals in school? (Spoiler alert: yes.)

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In Using and Teaching Computing & ICT Tags manuals, instructions
Fake news, by Terry Freedman

Fake news, by Terry Freedman

Fake news: a role for the Department for Education?

May 31, 2019

Here is a very brief report of a conference about fake news, and an article about what the Department for Education could do to help tackle it.

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In Using and Teaching Computing & ICT Tags fake news, Westminster Forum

8 podcasts for primary school teachers

May 30, 2019

The headline is a bit of a misnomer: in fact, there are 7 podcasts for teachers and one for kids. But that would have made for a pretty awkward title!

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In Professional development, Reviews, Using and Teaching Computing & ICT Tags podcasts, primary school, elementary school
Filming in progress, by Terry Freedman

Filming in progress, by Terry Freedman

10 video channels for Computing teachers

May 29, 2019

UPDATED Here are ten video channels of potential interest to teachers of Computing.

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In Reviews, Professional development, Using and Teaching Computing & ICT Tags videos, video review

10 podcasts for Computing teachers

May 29, 2019

UPDATED Here are ten podcasts that will help you understand more about computing or give you some ideas of things you can discuss in your lessons

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In Using and Teaching Computing & ICT, Reviews, Professional development Tags podcasts

Podcasts and videos for Computing teachers: introduction

May 29, 2019

UPDATED This article introduces two further articles: 10 podcasts for Computing teachers, and 10 video channels for Computing teachers.

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In Professional development, Using and Teaching Computing & ICT Tags podcasts, videos
Partners. This illustration is from www.pixabay.com and has a CC0 licence.

Partners. This illustration is from www.pixabay.com and has a CC0 licence.

Can the International Society of Technology in Education's Standards in Computing be adapted for use in the UK?

May 9, 2019

This article details the steps that a few of us in ISTE, ITTE, TPEA and others have taken to investigate whether the ISTE Standards for Computer Science teachers, and their list of Computational Thinking Competencies, could be adapted for use in the UK. There’s also an opportunity for you to give us your opinions if you wish to.

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In News & views, Research, Using and Teaching Computing & ICT, Leading & Managing Computing & ICT Tags ISTE, ISTE Standards, ITTE, TPEA, collaboration, Standards

Book review: How to think like a coder

May 9, 2019

This book aims to teach you how to think like a coder, rather then merely learning how to code. How far does it succeed?

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In Bookshelf, Reviews, Using and Teaching Computing & ICT Tags Book review, How to think like a coder, coding, programming
BBC Basic screen, by Terry Freedman

BBC Basic screen, by Terry Freedman

Make your own: where programming is relevant, useful and fun

April 25, 2019

To learn programming, it’s best to have some real problems which need solving. This article looks at several examples of the applications I’ve created, and why.

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In Using and Teaching Computing & ICT Tags programming, Excel, spreadsheet, database, relational database, Access, Visual Basic for Applications, VBA, BASIC, BBC BASIC, project-based learning, problem-solving
Illustration: Death by PowerPoint, by Terry Freedman

Illustration: Death by PowerPoint, by Terry Freedman

Problems in the ed tech classroom #4

April 16, 2019

PowerPoint can be a very useful tool — if used with care.

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In 5 Minute Tip, Tips for teachers, Using and Teaching Computing & ICT Tags edtech, problems, PowerPoint, Death by PowerPoint
Spending checker, by Terry Freedman

Spending checker, by Terry Freedman

How to introduce primary school pupils to the basics of programming -- using spreadsheets

April 14, 2019

Spreadsheets have been dismissed by some people as boring, old hat, and about “only” office skills. Those people are wrong! In this article I look at how you can use spreadsheets to start teaching children about some programming concepts.

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In Using and Teaching Computing & ICT Tags spreadsheets, programming, primary, primary education
ed tech problems: no paper, by Terry Freedman

ed tech problems: no paper, by Terry Freedman

Problems in the ed tech classroom #3: printer paper

April 4, 2019

Something as simple as the printer’s paper tray being empty can cause mayhem. Here are a few suggestions for dealing with it.

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In Tips for teachers, Using and Teaching Computing & ICT Tags printer, print, printer paper, problems, ed tech facilities
Flipchart, by Terry Freedman

Flipchart, by Terry Freedman

Problems in the ed tech classroom #2

March 31, 2019

What kind of problems might you experience with an ordinary flipchart? And are flipcharts preferable to interactive whiteboards? Plus details of how to get hold of a free guide to getting the most out of your interactive whiteboard.

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In 5 Minute Tip, Tips for teachers, Using and Teaching Computing & ICT Tags education technology, edtech, ed tech, problems, flipchart
Photo by Nicole Honeywill on Unsplash

Photo by Nicole Honeywill on Unsplash

Creating multiple signatures in Gmail

March 26, 2019

If you wear several different hats, but don’t want several different email addresses, you can use different email signatures instead. But how do you do that in Gmail?

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In Using and Teaching Computing & ICT, Professional development, Writer tips Tags email signature, signature, Gmail
IWB marker pen by Terry Freedman

IWB marker pen by Terry Freedman

Problems in the ed tech classroom #1

March 19, 2019

In this the first article in this series, I look at the problem of permanent markers being used on the whiteboard. Believe it or not, there is a more useful response than “Aaaaaargh!”

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In Leading & Managing Computing & ICT, Tips for teachers, Using and Teaching Computing & ICT Tags problems, interactive whiteboards, interactive whiteboard pen, permanent marker pen
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