All of the tools mentioned are free of charge, or have a freemium pricing model. This is important because as a school teacher, Richard understands the importance of affordable solutions.
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Digital Education next issue: contents finalised -- finally!
Here’s what’s coming in the next issue of my free newsletter, Digital Education.
Read MoreReview: Teaching in the Online Classroom
An excellent observation is that even small changes can have profound effects.
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Review: Organise Ideas: Thinking by hand, Extending the mind
This book is by no means an easy read, but it’s worth persevering with. It explains why graphic organisers or, more accurately, word diagrams work, drawing on various cognitive-related theories to do so.
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Review: The System: Who Owns the Internet, and How It Owns Us
This book will help teachers to address the parts of the Programme of Study concerned with computer systems, communications and online safety.
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On this day: applying computational thinking in the "real world"
I don’t think I’ve come across any examples of how pupils might use computational thinking in a broader context, or how it applies beyond the relatively narrow confines of computer science.
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New York Times Journal. Photo from Jane13 on Pixabay.
Coming soon in the Digital Education newsletter
Here at Freedman Towers we’re all working away at producing the next issue of the Digital Education newsletter. (The photo above is not an entirely accurate portrayal of the team, which comprises Mrs Freedman, myself, one cat and two kittens.)
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Image by Please Don't sell My Artwork AS IS from Pixabay
Mixed blessings: primary schools can teach secondary schools a thing or two!
Much as it pains me to say this as an ex-secondary school teacher, most of the really innovative and exciting stuff I’ve seen in education technology and computing has taken place in primary schools.
Read MoreHow to convince colleagues to use education technology in their lessons
If you’re the education technology lead in your school, and your job involves encouraging other teachers to use education technology, what’s the best approach?
Read MoreNew year, new start
There is something heroic about working away on a computer while the rest of the world sleeps, with only a cup of tea and a distant street lamp to keep one company. But the health benefits of caffeine-fuelled nights are yet to be discovered.
Read MoreResources, copyright, useful tips for using education technology in the classroom
This issue of my Computers in Classrooms newsletter, dates from 2001. I am reproducing these newsletters partly in order to make sure that some of the history of using education technology is preserved, and partly because some of it is still relevant. That applies especially to the Tips section.
Read MoreReview: Audio for Authors (Yes, it IS relevant for teachers!)
Many moons ago I started my own podcast. It was called Terry Freedman’s Education Technology podcast, and it consisted of useful hints and tips for teachers of Computing and related subjects. I have to say that I found it hard going.
Read MoreThe value of case studies
Could it be worth compiling case studies of success stories of people who have used education technology or completed a Computing course in your school?
Read MoreWanted: ex-teachers -- by the Department of wishful thinking
The Department of Education in England is hoping to recruit an army of retired teachers to help plug the gap when teachers fall in from Covid. Here at Freedman Towers we’ve been waiting for this for the past 18 months.
Read MoreThe hazards of writing software manuals
Writing software manuals or books, or even mini tutorials on how to do something in a particular program comes with a huge occupational hazard.
Read MoreOfsted, National Curriculum and other edtech stuff
This newsletter, from 2001, demonstrates four main things….
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Image by Gerd Altmann
What are good communications (and what should your strategy include)?
When I took up a senior management position in a local authority, an irate headteacher phoned me on my second day. She had had her laptop taken away for repairs two weeks ago, and had heard nothing since. I told her I’d look into it. I had the following conversation with the relevant team…
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On top deck of a number 8 bus, by Terry Freedman
A Touch of Humanity (updated)
It is a sad but incontrovertible fact that one of the unfortunate effects of technology is that it provides some people with the excuse they need to abrogate all sense of personal responsibility or discretion.
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Christmas at Selfridges, by Terry Freedman
End-of-year message from ICT & Computing in Education
Unfortunately, my end-of-year message got a bit mangled, but I’m posting it here anyway. See if you can figure out what it is supposed to say.
Read MoreTiny Noticeable Things: The Secret Weapon to Making a Difference in Business, and leading Computing in a school
The original version of this article was first published on the Bee Digital marketing website in August 2021, and was aimed at businesses. In this updated version I’ve added some thoughts on how the ethos of the book might be adapted by leaders of Computing or co-ordinators of education technology in schools.
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