The state of Computing

June 7, 2022

Ofsted (the Office for Standards in Education) has published its first report in ages into Computing as a subject. I've summarised the findings, and added some links and comments on my own in italics.

Inspection of a Computing department in the form of a really bad TV documentary 2021

December 13, 2021

Fortunately, such an inability to explore interesting and sensible questions would not be found in a real inspection. Would it??

The horror, the horror! N-Noooo!!!, by Terry Freedman

The inspector cometh

November 9, 2021

Being told that the inspectors are coming is pretty scary, but I would say that some people respond in ways that are counterproductive, including to their own health. These are the things I’ve either come across first-hand or experienced when I was an Ofsted inspector myself, or when I was being inspected.

To put it Bluntly: Ofsted jargon revisited

September 23, 2021

Derek Blunt takes issue with inspectors' jargon. Should you ever find yourself looking for examples of what Kenneth Hudson referred to as “diseased English”, I think you could do worse than looking at Ofsted guidance or listening to Ofsted pronouncements. Ofsted is the name of the schools inspectorate in England,

Judge not -- again

April 23, 2021

In my experience, an expectation of compliance was baked in to the system, and that really does mitigate against innovation.

Judge not, etc

April 3, 2021

A lot of inspectors judged how good the subject was being taught by how nicely formatted the kids' work was.

Ofsted's guidance on "remote learning"

January 14, 2021

I think that this guidance is useful in making the idea of online teaching sound doable, but there are too few details or links to details that would make it truly useful.

Ofsted: how is the new framework shaping up? Updated

December 13, 2019

The Westminster Forum has a conference coming up on 25th March 2020:

The new Ofsted inspection framework — implementation, impact on schools, and the next steps for the curriculum

Ofsted consultation on its proposed new Framework: my comments

April 3, 2019

There are only a few days to go before the consultation on the proposed new Ofsted framework closes. Here are my comments.

A new framework for judging teachers

February 5, 2019

Fears about the unintended consequences of the proposed new Ofsted framework — have your say — plus links to other articles about Ofsted-related fears.

Evidence-based education revisited

December 23, 2018

A reflection on the contents of the 2017-18 annual Ofsted report as summarised in a word cloud.

Educational research reading, by Terry Freedman

Evidence-based teaching: what's striking or new about it?

December 13, 2018

In the latest Ofsted annual report, teachers using an evidence-based approach is something that “strikes” the Chief Inspector. But what is remarkable about it?

Inspecting Computing in schools: 6 research questions

September 27, 2017

The schools inspectorate in England (Ofsted) aspires to become a research hub. How might or should this affect Computing?

Digital Education: what's in the latest issue?

March 21, 2017

Assessment, Book reviews, Ofsted: just three of the topics covered in the latest issue of our newsletter, Digital Education.

Articles on Ed Tech: Retrospective #5

September 23, 2016

Here are some articles you may have missed in the past week or so. Topics featured include inspection, book reviews and Word macros.

11 attributes of the ideal ICT and Computing inspector

September 20, 2016

If ICT or Computing is inspected in your school, what attributes would you like the inspector to have?

To put it Bluntly: Ofsted jargon

September 16, 2016

Derek Blunt takes issue with inspectors' jargon.

David Brown gets to the heart of the matter

Ofsted's views of the Computing curriculum

March 14, 2016

David Brown, Ofsted's National Lead for Computing, answers some common questions.

For those not in Britain, Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, aka the inspectorate.

Recent book reviews

Review: How I review books on edtech

My views on what constitutes a book on edtech are fairly catholic. Indeed, it would me more accurate to denote the books I review as books for teachers of ICT, Computing, digital literacy etc etc,, rather than books on edtech. The latter tend to have titles like “How to teach Computing”, or “How to use Excel in the classroom”.

Review: Nuts and Bolts: How Tiny Inventions Make Our World Work

It's rather disconcerting when one considers that buildings like The Shard are essentially held together by nuts, bolts and washers.

Review: Love Triangle: The Life-changing Magic of Trigonometry

Like, I suspect, many people, I have never knowingly come across an isosceles triangle in my life, and wouldn’t know what to do with it if I did. However...

Review: Making Sense Of Chaos – A Better Economics for a Better World

Before you rush off on the grounds that this book has nothing to do with Computing, let me reassure you that it does.

Bjork & Bjork’s Desirable Difficulties in Action

The original work on which this volume is based has perhaps been honoured more in the breach than in the observance.

Review: Coderspeak – The language of computer programmers

This book won’t necessarily help a student pass a computing exam, but it will almost certainly make them a more aware, and thus better, programmer.

Review: Quiet Power, by Susan Cain

Introverts thrive by being allowed to be quiet, having time for reflection and not being required to 'perform' all the time.

Quick look: Desirable difficulties in action

The idea of desirable difficulties has always appealed to me. In my teaching I’m partticularly in favour of applying Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development.

Review: The Collaboration Book – 41 Ideas for Working Better

Most people would agree that collaboration is a good thing – so how can we collaborate more effectively in school settings?

Review: Listen: On Music, Sound and Us

This book might not directly address obvious aspects of the music curriculum, but it can certainly give teachers access to a rich seam of facts and anecdotes with which to embellish their lessons.