A wonderful romp through educational history. If you think our current concerns are new, this book will make you think again.
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What I've been reading: 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.
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"If you're not one up, you're one down" Photo by Valerie Everett
What I've been reading: The "Upmanship" books
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.
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Perfect ICT Every Lesson
What I've been reading: Perfect ICT Every Lesson
Perfect ICT every lesson? It's an ambitious title. Does the content deliver the promise though?
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Remember these?
7 Books for Computing teachers
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.
Read MoreWhat I've been reading: Delete
We live in an age where it's impossible to forget anything. Is this a good thing?
Read MoreWhat I've been reading
A must-read for anyone who has taught in "challenging" schools!
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Books for teachers of Computing and ICT
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.
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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
Read about a proofreading tool that works on the web -- and maybe win a free subscription.
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Ada's Algorithm
Review of Ada's Algorithm: How Lord Byron's Daughter Ada Lovelace Launched the Digital Age
Ada's Algorithm goes into minute detail about Ada Lovelace's life, and her influence on the development of Computer Science.
Read MoreBook review: Don’t Change the Lightbulbs
This book collects together the thoughts and observations of over 71 people in education. These are each a little longer than the bite-sized comments typical of Twitter – I understand that they were curated from Google+ discussions. Being longer than 140 characters makes them "meaty" without being too long.
Read MoreIn total around 70 topics are covered, not all of them curricular.
Review of the Association for Information Technology in Teacher Education (ITTE) Conference
ITTE held its annual conference recently, and I bought a ticket and went along. As far as the ITTE conference is concerned, I was a newbie, and so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I do recall dragging my carcass to the local station in sweltering heat, mumbling to myself something along the lines of “Please let the trains be cancelled; I’d rather be in the garden.” Well, that proved too much for Transport for London to arrange, and so I made it to the conference.My impressions of Bett 2015
By Ben Davies
The trip to the Bett Show has always stirred feelings of both excitement and anxiety and this year's trip was no different. The excitement stems from the chance to spend the day immersed in education technology
Digital Education Ezine April 2015
At last! Or, to use the vernacular, woo hoo! The latest edition of the Digital Education ezine is now out. It contains a round-up of products seen at Bett, articles on girls and women in technology, loads of links and book reviews. Here’s a detailed list of the contents:Review of Business for Authors
You might think that a book about making money from your writing other than from royalties has nothing much to do with teaching Computing, but it definitely has, for a number of reasons.Review of Go On, Bore ‘Em: How to make your ICT lessons excruciatingly dull
Whether you're a newly qualified teacher starting out on your career, an experienced classroom practitioner, or somewhere in between, you will find something to take away from Terry Freedman's digital publication Go On Bore ‘Em, says Ben Davies.Review of Comic Strip Creator
I thought I’d explore Comic Strip Creator, which is a program you can use to create comic strips, funnily enough. Here are my initial thoughts:Book review: Go on, bore ‘em: how to make ICT lessons excruciatingly dull
Michelle Liga writes...
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Mr. Freedman uses his extensive experience to write a clear and concise booklet on the different ways he has observed teachers instructing their students straight into boredom purgatory. But, he also explains how the lesson could have been changed to make it more interesting.
Review of Go On, Bore ‘Em: How to make your ICT lessons excruciatingly dull
Book review: Go on, bore ‘em: how to make ICT lessons excruciatingly dull
by Jacqui Wilson
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I received a very nice review from Jacqui Wilson, a classroom teacher in Tasmania. Is a book about what made ICT boring still relevant if the focus is on Computing? Well I think so, because the issues I highlighted with respect to ICT are in danger of arising again with respect to Computing. Anyway, read what Jacqui says about the book.