Terry Freedman's ICT & Computing in Education blog — ICT & Computing in Education

5 interesting technology sessions at the London Book Fair 2019

February 28, 2019

UPDATED! Here are 5 talks and one event at the London Book Fair that you may be interested in. Plus, a free personal selection from myself.

Conference: Next steps for education technology - improving educational outcomes

February 18, 2019

This conference, in London in April 2019, looks at a range of issues around education technology.

Reading efficiently is a must for teachers of Computing and information technology

February 16, 2019

With more and more to read, and with the ever-changing landscape of education technology, teachers of Computing and related subjects need to be able to read more in the same amount of time. Here are some tips that I’ve found useful.

Have Ada Lovelace in your Computing or education technology classroom

February 13, 2019

Help to bring education technology alive by introducing a letter from Ada Lovelace to Charles Babbage into your Computing or education technology classroom.

Politics and education technology reviews

February 12, 2019

To what extent is bias in reviews unavoidable? And does it matter anyway?

Discipline in the classroom: what, why and how (Updated)

February 11, 2019

UPDATED What is classroom discipline? Why is it needed, especially in lessons where technology is being used? How can it be established?

Digital Education Prize draw: Understanding How We Learn

February 10, 2019

The prize draw for subscribers to Digital Education is a book called Understanding How We Learn. It’s comprehensive, well-researched and readable. What else do you need to know?Read on for details.

Mitch Resnick at #Bett2019 — ink drawing effect. Photo by Terry Freedman

Interview with Mitch Resnick

February 8, 2019

What is a kindergarten approach to learning, and what are its characteristics? What are its advantages? Could adopting such an approach work in our education system? Here’s what Mitch Resnick said when I interviewed him at the January 2019 Bett show in London.

A new framework for judging teachers

February 5, 2019

Fears about the unintended consequences of the proposed new Ofsted framework — have your say — plus links to other articles about Ofsted-related fears.

Photo by Andras Vas on Unsplash — Photo by Andras Vas on Unsplash

What do kids get up to online?

February 4, 2019

Here are several research reports on kids’ behaviour online.

Digital Education: Safer Internet Day

February 3, 2019

With Safer Internet Day just around the corner, the latest issue of Digital Education contains several links to resources and reports.

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?