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

Erm, which way now? The contradictions in the Educational Excellence Everywhere policy are somewhat disconcerting. Picture from Pixabay.com CC0

Educational Excellence Everywhere, and the Computing curriculum

March 17, 2016

A new Department for Education policy document has been published. What does it have to say about Computing?

"If you're not one up, you're one down" Photo by Valerie Everett

What I've been reading: The "Upmanship" books

March 16, 2016

The "upmanship" books of Stephen Potter took a tongue-in-cheek view of education, amongst other things. Although he was writing a generation ago, there is still much in what he wrote to make us smile today.

Technology plays a big part at this year's Education Show Photo from pixabay.com CC0

Learning through technology at the Education Show

March 15, 2016

Here's a quick look at some of the education technology that will be on show at this year's Education Show.

David Brown gets to the heart of the matter

Ofsted's views of the Computing curriculum

March 14, 2016

David Brown, Ofsted's National Lead for Computing, answers some common questions.

For those not in Britain, Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, aka the inspectorate.

Here's an important call to action: fill in the survey!

The future of ICT: a survey

March 13, 2016

Please take a few minutes to make your contribution to the discussion on the future of ICT by filling in this incredibly short survey by Kay Sawbridge.

15 reasons to use education technology in your classroom

March 11, 2016

Here's a list of benefits of using education technology in lessons.

A survey about the demise of the ICT qualification

March 10, 2016

Kay Sawbridge has created a short survey. If you have been affected by the scrapping of the ICT qualification in England, please fill it in.

STEM and Governmental micromanagement

March 9, 2016

The Department of Education's recent "clarification" on the deployment of exclamation marks has taken micromanagement to a new level. They've issued edicts on textbooks and worksheets, now exclamation marks. Will they turn to the Computing curriculum next?

What I've been reading: Perfect ICT Every Lesson

March 7, 2016

Perfect ICT every lesson? It's an ambitious title. Does the content deliver the promise though?

Should kids dictate the lesson? Photo from Pixabay.com CC0

6 reasons that computing lessons shouldn't be driven by kids

March 4, 2016

The idea of allowing kids to decide what they learn in Computing lessons is simply wrong.

7 Books for Computing teachers

March 3, 2016

As it's World Book Day, what are my recommendations for books for teachers of Computing? This is by no means a definitive list -- think of it more as a starter.

7 reasons to visit the exhibitions area at ed tech conferences

March 2, 2016

Next time you're at an education technology conference, don't ignore the exhibition area.

A new front page for Digital Education

March 2, 2016

What do people think of the new Digital Education front page? Is it a case of "nice read, shame about the face"?

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?