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

On this day #1: Assessment

September 30, 2020

Why bother with theories of assessment? Surely all that matters is whether or not it works?

The importance of making mistakes and dealing with them properly

September 27, 2020

What does dealing with mistakes “properly” mean in practice?

15 ways to keep on being a learner

September 27, 2020

Learning is necessary, useful and pleasurable! Here are 15 suggestions for continuing to learn, ranging from some pretty easy almost costless ways to a major commitment. Hopefully there’s something for everyone in this article.

My best IT training days -- index

September 26, 2020

Technology goes wrong from time to time, but isn’t it wonderful when the technology and the training go well?

My worst IT training days -- index

September 25, 2020

We all have the occasional awful experience when giving training. Here are mine!

The myth of the unchanging classroom

September 24, 2020

Is it really true that classrooms haven’t changed since the year 1600?

Authors of education books earn a fortune!

September 23, 2020

Is it true that education authors earn a fortune?

Chairing discussions online

September 21, 2020

Is it rude to not respond to people in an online discussion?

An ed tech slap on the forehead moment: Something I didn't think of but wish I had

September 20, 2020

Dang! Why didn’t I think of this great idea for inspiring confidence in technophobic colleagues?

Achieving stuff straight away in Computing lessons (Updated)

September 18, 2020

Why shouldn’t you start your course with lots of apparently useless techniques?

Automatic Writing part 2

September 17, 2020

What might it be like to be able to write an article straight from your head?

Automated writing part 1

September 17, 2020

The Guardian newspaper has published an article “written” almost entirely by AI. How worried should writers be?

Which online platform?

September 15, 2020

Google Meet, Zoom and Google Classroom are all viable contenders for the task of teaching your classes online. But which one is best?

Encouraging colleagues to use education technology

September 15, 2020

How can you make online learning more attractive to colleagues?

Footprints -- Covid19, by Terry Freedman

Teachers' experiences in the time of Covid

September 15, 2020

What has been the experience of teachers during this pandemic? An interim report will be discussed in a couple of virtual symposia.

The blame game

September 14, 2020

When it comes to responsibility, what can we learn from politicians and others?

Click the cover to see this book on Amazon UK (affiliate link)

Review: Learning Theories for Everyday Teaching

September 11, 2020

Is this book useful as a quick way in to educational research that’s relevant to classroom practice?

Review: The Fourth Education Revolution

September 11, 2020

Will robots and AI take over from teachers?

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?