6 Outlandish things to do in your Computing lesson

June 9, 2025

Why not try something different in your Computing lessons? Here's a short list of suggestions.

On this day: Set trivial assignments for students of Computing stuck at home

May 28, 2025

Why set students real-world, life-changing, humanity-saving problems when trivial challenges are likely to prove equally, if not more, useful?

Free ebooks on teaching online

May 14, 2025

These pdfs, on converting a course to an online course, and tips for teaching online, were written a few years ago but still contain actionable suggestions.

Archival

May 4, 2025

I’ve created a special area of the Digital Educatioon Supplement, which is an online supplement to my newsletter, Digital Education.

History lesson, by Terry Freedman.jpg — History lesson, by Terry Freedman

Two more for the archive

April 22, 2025

I’ve just published a couple of documents in the Digital Education Supplement. This is a collection of free resources for subscribers to my newsletter, Digital Education, which is also free.

Should the Computing curriculum be ditched?

March 28, 2025

This is a serious question. What is the point of teaching kids computer programming, when AI can do all the hard work?

Safer internet day 2025

February 11, 2025

These resources cover various aspects of online safety, including protecting oneself from scams, understanding personal information sharing, and recognizing signs of online threats.

The human touch

October 3, 2024

I’ve been experimenting a lot with using AI, especially for summarising long documents. But the summaries lacked the human touch.

Using AI to mark students' work: postscript

September 16, 2024

I didn’t think AI's answer was good enough. I didn’t ask how ethical the proposals were. I asked it to mark an Economics essay.

Suggestions for using AI in education

September 11, 2024

I’ve been experimenting a lot with using AI. Not for creative writing I should add: I think AI has a long way to go before it will tempt me to eschew the likes of David Foster Wallace, Nabakov or Orwell. But for helping one think and, I’m sure, for admin, I think it’s a game-changer.

EdTech Diary: Talking the talk

August 23, 2024

Imagine the scene: a visiting dignitary, or an inspector, is shown into your classroom and, as is expected of anyone in that situation, walks around the room chatting to the pupils. She notices...

This is what Ideogrm.ai came up with in response to the prompt “Person using AI”.

Do kids still need to learn how to code?

April 30, 2024

A week or so ago we were chatting to a neighbour. She said she thinks her daughter, who looked about six years old, should learn how to code, as that’s the future. Didn’t I agree? I’m afraid I said that didn’t.

Get off of my lawn

April 9, 2024

One of the few good things about the emphasis on ‘coding’ now is that as most people acknowledge that they know nothing about it, they leave the people teaching it in peace.

12 Characteristics of a good Computing Scheme of Work

March 28, 2024

*UPDATED* What are the attributes of a good ICT and Computing scheme of work? Here's the list of characteristics I've always looked for.

AI discussion prompts from Wakelet

February 15, 2024

This resource comprises a number of prompts to kickstart a discussion in your classroom about AI and its effects in society.

Banal projects

December 7, 2023

Boring projects are the worst kind of thing to give students. My way of thinking is simple: if you can’t think of anything exciting, get them to come up with something themselves.

Fun, in the most patronising way you can think of

November 28, 2023

It’s almost unheard of for me to read advertorials or sponsored posts, especially when the words “Advertisement” appears in small print somewhere other than the headline. But the title made me curious.

50 features of excellent ICT and Computing lessons

November 28, 2023

What makes an excellent ICT or Computing lesson? In this document I've tried to encapsulate the answer to that question.

Authentic Learning and ICT (Update 2023)

November 28, 2023

To the casual listener, stride piano, boogie woogie piano and rock-n-roll piano all sound pretty much the same. Yet Fats Waller, perhaps the most famous stride pianist, detested boogie woogie.

Why Are ICT Lessons Boring? The Start of the Lesson (Update 2023)

November 28, 2023

If I had to choose just one causal factor to focus on, as to why students find ICT lessons boring, it would be the start of the lesson.

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.