Bett 2016 -- Photo by Terry Freedman (c) 2016

12 things to do now that Bett 2016 is over

January 26, 2016

Now that Bett 2016 is over, it's time to get down to work and capitalise on the experience! Here are 12 ways you can do so.

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.

Review of Thinking Allowed on Schooling

January 15, 2016

Thinking Allowed is a godsend to all those people in education who think that many of the policies and ways of doing things don't really work, but are not really in a position to say so.

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!

We need more teachers, and not just master teachers. Picture from www.pixabay.com CC0

5 reasons there is a shortage of Computing at School Master Teachers, and what we can do about it

January 12, 2016

Over three years since the new Computing curriculum in England was mooted, and more than a year since it came into being, there are still not enough teachers who feel competent and confident to teach it. This is not least in part due an insistence on an elitist approach to training them. In this article I suggest a few possibly more fruitful approaches.

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.

Learning together. Photo from www.pexels.com CC0

My best and worst IT lessons #3: Internet training

January 11, 2016

"An incomprehensible error message scared the living daylights out of the teachers on the training course, all of whom thought it was their fault."

What I learnt about running a succesful course for teachers.

Books for teachers of Computing and ICT

January 9, 2016

News about the ever-expanding Books Recommendations page on the ICT & Computing in Education website. This complements the book reviews that I publish fairly regluarly.

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.

*From The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage (c) S. Padua*

Win a copy of The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage

January 6, 2016

Enter for a really easy competition to win one of three copies of The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage. Entries close on 10th January 2016.

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.

Review of Ada's Algorithm: How Lord Byron's Daughter Ada Lovelace Launched the Digital Age

January 4, 2016

Ada's Algorithm goes into minute detail about Ada Lovelace's life, and her influence on the development of Computer Science.

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.

Recent book reviews

Review: Social Media for Academics

This book is very readable, and if I sound surprised that is because it’s not always true of academics!

Quick looks: VIBE Coding by Example

For the time being, this book is free in Kindle format.

Review: The Game Changers: How Playing Games Changed the World and Can Change You Too

Despite the relative paucity of immediately obvious National Curriculum links, teachers will find several of sections of this book to be highly engaging.

Review: The Dictators: 64 Dictators, 64 Authors, 64 Warnings from History

In some respects one could view this book as a single warning repeated 64 times.

Review: The Bookshop, The Draper, The Candlestick Maker: A History of the High Street

Taking readers from the Middle Ages to (more or less) the present day, Gray charts how the places where we do our shopping and what we buy have changed over the centuries.

Review: Extraordinary Learning For All

As a source of potential ideas and inspiration, the book could be very useful indeed.

Review: Bad Education: Why Our Universities Are Broken and How We Can Fix Them

One has the impression that the main role of the university these days is to maximise profit, while that of the majority of teaching staff is to ensure the ‘correct’ views are passed on to students. All the while, students’ main concern seems to be to seek protection from anything that might make them feel unsafe.

Review: Next Practices - An Executive Guide for Education Decision Makers

Is a 2014 book on managing the computing provision in a school still worth buying?

Still relevant (sadly): How to lie with statistics, by Darrell Huff

Although this book is over 60 years old, it is remarkably apposite for our times -- and especially in the fields of educational research and assessing pupils' understanding and progress.

Quick looks: Bad Education: Why Our Universities Are Broken and How We Can Fix Them

It was a great source of pride to me, getting hundreds of students through their A levels and encouraging them to go to university. But for some time I have asked myself a question: would I recommend this route now?