When I was studying for my first degree at university, the hardest essay I was ever set in the whole three years was “Explain the competing theories about capital in no more than 500 words.” In this article, I explore how you might use this “less is more” approach in school.
Read MoreCreating a culture of innovation, part 1: Conferences and exhibitions
How, as leader of Computing in your school, do you create a culture of innovation, ie of trying out new things? This is what we explore in this new ten-part series.
Read More5 minute innovation in education technology
What can you do in five minutes that is different? How can 5 minute innovation be useful in education technology?
Read MoreT is for … Tablets
I think all sweeping generalisations are bad, including the one I am about to make. But you know what? I think I’ll make it anyway, and here it is:
A school that says they are implementing a tablet programme is doomed to failure.
You can substitute “ipad”, “Bring your own device” or some other similar kind of term for “tablet”, the result is the same.
Ed Tech Innovation–#6: Do some thing for yourself
Here’s a novel idea. Teachers are always focused on what (more) they can do for their kids, but sometimes they would be better off doing something for themselves instead. It may be counterintuitive, but sometimes that can often mean doing better or more things for the kids anyway. Here are some ideas you might like to consider.
Ed Tech Innovation–#5: introduce a new project
Will this school year be the same old, same old as far as ICT is concerned? If you’re in England, you may be introducing a new scheme of work, but that doesn't necessarily mean very much – it could just be another case of old wine in new bottles.
Ed Tech Innovation–#4: Introduce (a) competition
A short while ago I looked at the value of setting competitions and of celebration (see Lessons from the world of sports: #8 The rule of celebration). In this, the fourth part of the mini-series about returning to work and starting the new school year, I’d like to explore this theme from a different angle or two.
Ed Tech Innovation–#3: Set the 5 minute test
When I was studying for my first degree at university, the hardest essay I was ever set in the whole three years was “Explain the competing theories about capital in no more than 500 words.” To give you an idea of what that means, 500 words is approximately a side of A4 – not exactly loads of space to summarise what has taken scores of economists and thousands of trees. In this, the third part of this mini-series, I explore how you might use this “less is more” approach in school.
Ed Tech Innovation–#2: Create a poster
Here’s the second part of this mini-series of ideas to try out in the new school year. I’ll bet your room is festooned with posters of one kind or another. (I know my own classroom had posters with instructions, ephemeral posters relating to the current topic, posters depicting the history of email, and so on.)
So, you won’t mind creating one more then, will you?!
Ed Tech Innovation–#1: Introduce a new routine
With the new school year about to start or, in some parts of the world, already underway, I thought a new mini-series containing some ideas to play with might not come amiss. Here’s the first one, about classroom routines.
How do you start your lessons? Do they always start in the same way? There’s certainly a lot to be said for having a well-established routine, but it’s not a bad idea to shake things up a bit now and again.