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

cover of VIBE coding by example — Click the image to see this book on Amazon (affiliate link)

Quick looks: VIBE Coding by Example

June 1, 2025

For the time being, this book is free in Kindle format.

Illustration of algorithmic objectivity, generated in ImageFX

Computing discussion topic

May 23, 2025

A topic to discuss with your students perhaps: the hidden bias in algorithms.

Review: The Language of Deception: Weaponizing Next Generation AI, by Justin Hutchens

May 17, 2024

AI might not be ‘intelligent’ in the strictest sense – but it can certainly appear to be, which is almost as worrying.

Articles about AI in the media

December 17, 2019

Journalism in the field of AI: is it biased?

AI-generated content: does it matter how articles are written?

December 16, 2019

Does it matter if articles are written by an algorithm?

Robot made of Lego, at John Lewis, Photo by Terry Freedman

AI: It was a very active and engaging and free way of learning, in some ways

September 16, 2019

I’ve been experimenting with AI-generated articles. I’m using an application called Story AI. You enter the first 40 words, and the AI does the rest. Here’s the result of the experiment.

Books in brief: Technically Wrong

August 17, 2018

This is one of a current spate of books about the in-built bias found in many automated processes.

The cover of the latest issue of Digital Education

Digital Education AI edition

August 8, 2018

The latest issue of the free newsletter Digital Education is about to be published. It has a special focus on artificial intelligence, and there’s a chance to win a book in a prize draw. Read on for more details.

Machine Learning and Human Intelligence, by Rosemary Luckin

July 10, 2018

Some notes about this new book, plus information about a special discount to subscribers of the Digital Education newsletter, and a great prize draw coming up.

Digital Education: new issue almost out

June 22, 2018

Another information-packed issue of my newsletter, Digital Education, is on its way. There’s a qualifications freebie, news of some brilliant events, and a prize draw, amongst other things.

What I've been reading: Weapons of Math Destruction

September 5, 2017

What's worse than being governed by algorithms? Not even knowing what the algorithm is doing. This very timely and readable book lifts the lid of what goes on in many walks of life.

What I've been reading: Thinking Machines

October 14, 2016

A really engaging exploration into the development of AI and the problems it has had to grapple with.

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?