Are there any downsides to having an e-learning committee in a school?
Read MoreReasons to have an e-learning committee in a school
In my past roles as ICT Co-ordinator or e-learning co-ordinator, I have formed and chaired an ICT or e-learning committee. What are the benefits of having such a body, and does Covid-19 change anything?
Read MoreReflections from a teacher training course 2
I believe in simple instructions. Here are the instructions I gave to a new cohort of teacher trainees, plus a short commentary on what went right — and what didn’t.
Read MoreReflections from a teacher training course 1
My reflections on a first session I taught on a teacher training course are still apposite today.
Read MoreShould teaching be a Masters profession?
I for one am heartily sick of people thinking that anyone can teach just because it involves, as they see it, standing in front of a class of kids and spouting forth.
Read MoreFiction and computational thinking (Updated)
How might you use fiction as a vehicle for teaching computational thinking? Here are some ideas.
Read MorePromoting Educational Technology: What we can learn from business
In this article I draw on the example of how one company's approach to getting repeat business may hold lessons for the ed tech leader whose job it is to encourage the use of education technology throughout the school.
Read MoreIf leaders of Computing in schools were politicians…
The trouble with rubrics UPDATED
Rubrics look like an easy way to tackle assessment. But they can be deceptive in that respect, and can cause the unwary to slip up. This article was published on this day 3 years ago. I’ve had to clean up a few links and delete some out-of-date references, but otherwise the article still makes some useful points about assessing Computing and related subjects using rubrics.
Read MoreArticles from the ed tech archives
Here are three articles from the ICT & Computing website which you may find useful, inspiring or both.
Read MoreArtificial Intelligence in the Classroom
In my opinion, the potential benefits of artificial intelligence make it a very attractive proposition for use in education.
Read MoreAssessing Computing and ICT in a post-Levels world
Several years on from the removal of levels, assessment — especially in Computing and ICT — is still a hot topic.
Read MoreMost-read articles this week
Here’s a round-up of this week’s most popular articles on the ICT and Computing in Education website.
Read MoreEducation Technology 2018: A Personal Retrospective
The 25 articles listed in this post represent the main issues that were exercising my mind in each month of 2018. I was, of course, thinking about more than only 25 topics, but these are my personal favourites. A couple of themes seem to crop up more than others, these being automation (for example in marking), and better teaching or use of computing and technology. I hope you find them interesting, useful or both.
Read More2017 Retrospective: coming soon in Digital Education
I've been compiling a retrospective in the form of articles from the Digital Education newsletter in 2017. Here's the list of articles included.
Read More14 things to check when using education technology
This article was originally published in 2008. Apart from a few obvious points, such as the references to CDs, large monitors and, in some schools these days, computer rules, very little requires changing in terms of the advice. But the interesting aspect of the article is, I think, what is implicit. Having two computers out of commission would have been an issue in those days. Bring Your Own Technology had yet to be a possibility for most pupils. Laptops were still expensive enough to make class sets of them something to dream about. There were tablet computers, but the iPad was still two years in the future. The reference to planning to use the internet: nowadays it's virtually unavoidable because so much is online. When you think about all that, it is hard to remember that the article was written less than a decade ago!
Read More3 education technology blog posts you should check out
A few useful articles that you may not have come across before. They cover:
- project-based learning
- teen depression and cyberbullying and
- how to reduce the possibility of having your training stolen.
Planning for the Computing curriculum
At first sight, it seems bizarre that despite the fact that many teachers urgently need professional development, and time, in order to be ready to teach Computing, headteachers are not always allowing them to attend courses during school time. A business planning approach by ICT leaders in school could help.
Read More15 Ways To Make an Educational Technology Project Successful
How can you make an educational technology project, for example a school research initiative, successful? In a sense, the fact that it's to do with ICT in education is irrelevant. There are some generic 'rules' which ought to be abided by.
Read MoreWhy I dread the thought of benign algorithms
Science fiction writers would have us believe that intelligent machines will either enslave us or get rid of human beings altogether. But what if they were extremely benign and protective towards us? What could possibly go wrong? This article may be used as the basis for a discussion with your pupils.
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