Despite the relative paucity of immediately obvious National Curriculum links, teachers will find several of sections of this book to be highly engaging.
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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.
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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.
Read MoreOn this day: Set trivial assignments for students of Computing stuck at home
Why set students real-world, life-changing, humanity-saving problems when trivial challenges are likely to prove equally, if not more, useful?
Read MoreReview: Extraordinary Learning For All
As a source of potential ideas and inspiration, the book could be very useful indeed.
Read MoreCollective nostalgia about computer programming
Almost nobody needs a gasp of computer programming, and even fewer need to know how computers actually work.
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Illustration of algorithmic objectivity, generated in ImageFX
Computing discussion topic
A topic to discuss with your students perhaps: the hidden bias in algorithms.
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cartoon to illustrate a failed edtech project, generated in ImageFX
22 reasons that education technology projects fail
Why do some school and local authority initiatives, not to mention government initiatives, fail, especially when they concern education technology?
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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.
Read MoreOn this day: City Learning Centres: The end?
Some notes on failing in ICT and Computing
Failure seems to be the zeitgeist at the moment. How should schools deal with students’ mistakes?
Read MoreRules of Engagement Updated
Do we need gimmicks, new-fangled techniques to keep kids engaged in lessons?
Free ebooks on teaching online
These pdfs, on converting a course to an online course, and tips for teaching online, were written a few years ago but still contain actionable suggestions.
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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?
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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.
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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?
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Archival
I’ve created a special area of the Digital Educatioon Supplement, which is an online supplement to my newsletter, Digital Education.
Read MoreWhy I (almost) never revise old blog posts
One of the reasons I keep a blog is that it is still a great way of finding out what I think about things.
Read MoreOn this day: Do kids still need to learn how to code?
A week or so ago we were chatting to a neighbour. She said she thinks her daughter, who looked about six years old, should learn how to code, as that’s the future. Didn’t I agree? I’m afraid I said that didn’t.
Read MoreDigital literacy is about asking the right questions Updated
Being digitally literate is not just about knowing how to use programs or being aware of copyright law. It’s also about being able to ask the right questions. This is another reason to have a news section in your Computing lessons