As ChatGPT is on everybody’s lips at the moment, I thought I’d revisit an article I wrote several years ago.
Read MoreBack to the future: a data security issue? Updated
An interesting and lighthearted look at some of the problems arising from the Back to the Future movies.
Read MoreFirewall Foibles, And How I Survived Them Revisited
It was when my wireless router told me that there was no printer on the network that I finally flipped.
Read MoreReview: My secret #edtech diary (full review)
It is a sad confirmation that the trope that education lacks any sort of collective memory is in fact well observed.
Read MoreImage by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
What? You mean...
This is a blast from the past. But kids are kids.
Read MoreReview: Teaching Machines: The history of personlized learning
Here is a very strange paradox. On the one hand, everyone agrees that a key ingredient for success in life is having great teachers. On the other, there’s a relentless narrative that education is somehow broken and that fixing it entails replacing teachers or transforming some or all of what they do.
Read MoreSnow on tracks by Terry Freedman
A brief interlude
Here in England it’s cold, though not quite as cold as it has been, and walking and cycling are treacherous.
Read MoreReview: Breaking the news -- exhibtion
It is easy to believe that ‘fake news’ is a modern phenomenon, brought about by social media and promulgated by politicians. Yet as the British Library’s event, ‘Breaking the News’ exhibition demonstrated, fake news – or that unforgettable phrase ‘alternative facts’ – have been features of news reporting for at least 500 years.
Read MoreGood news regarding the Government's plans to make the Oak Academy an arms-length body
The Oak provided useful resources during the lockdowns, and continues to create them. But there are four things wrong with the DfE's plan…
Read MoreReview: The Complete Learner's Toolkit (Full review)
I was underwhelmed by a book with lofty ambitions that delivers little more than a compendium of interesting lesson ideas.
Read MoreReview: YEAR ONE: Lighting the path on your first year in teaching
I reviewed this book for Teach Secondary magazine. I’ve included both the review I sent in, and the lightly edited version that was published in the magazine.
Read MoreReview: The Fundraising Handbook by Lindsey Marsh
One of the chief banes of my life as a head of computing in a comprehensive school was acquiring enough money to develop the subject and to improve the experience of using education technology for everyone across the school.
Read MoreTerry Freedman and bookcase, by Terry Freedman
Fake news?
I’ve compiled a number of reviews of non-fiction books that either deal with helping people detect untruths (such as in so-called scientific research) or presenting something as true when, in fact, it isn’t.
Read More7 questions about blogging (Updated)
You can build up a body of work without having to try going through gatekeepers.
Read MoreSomeone suffering from FOMO, by Terry Freedman
7 incredibly useful links
These links were first highlighted in the Digital Education newsletter.
Read MoreImage by Megan Rexazin from Pixabay
Don't insult my students!
I used a computer simulation called Running the British Economy, which I sort of changed to Ruining the British Economy. The aim of the simulation, as envisaged by its creators, was to create a situation in which the economy was running really well. Based on the Treasury economic model, it was ideal for showing in real time the effects of pursuing various macroeconomic policies.
Read MoreMy worst experience of tutoring
A nasty thing happened after I'd met a potential client.
Read MoreReview: The Power of Learning Networks
I suspect that this book won’t be on the education secretary’s recommended reading list for schools.
Read MoreQuick look: Strange Code
Strange Code looks at esoteric languages and also atypical languages, which are those that are not mainstream.
Read MorePicture credit: Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
Authority or power?
The best distinction between authority and power that I’ve seen was in a politics book…
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