I’ve started to compile a list of books and other kinds of reading matter you might wish to explore over the holidays. They’re not all to do with edtech — we all need a break!
Read MoreAs the school's edtech lead, you need to be pernickety
All too often these days there is so much to be done, and so little time to do it, that we have to adopt a “good enough” attitude. That’s fine most of the time….
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Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash
What's your dream team?
One of your tasks, along with your new colleagues, is to recruit people to be in your team. What a wonderful feeling that must be!
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Image by Tumisu, please consider ☕ Thank you! 🤗 from Pixabay
#FlashbackFriday: Lesson observation
A still-relevant article from a few years ago.
Read MoreAn education technology co-ordinator's spring-cleaning checklist (Revisited)
Well, it's spring again, and time for a good clean-up. Here is a checklist for the ed tech co-ordinator.
Read MoreManaging Change: The Importance of Planning (Updated)
I can't count the number of times I've sat in meetings and heard the team leader say, "OK, so by next month X will have happened. What's the next item on the agenda?", to which I've piped up: "Er, exactly how is it going to happen?".
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You don’t need an arrangement as elaborate as this! Photo: Press Association newsroom, by Terry Freedman
5 reasons to have a Computing news section of your lessons (Updated)
One of the ways in in which you can help enliven the Computing curriculum is to allocate some time in every lesson (yes, every lesson) to news. There are several reasons for this.
Bett. Photo by Terry Freedman
After Bett
There is always a danger that no matter how good an event like Bett is, it will turn out to have very little impact in the longer term, as you forget what you saw and more pressing concerns vie for your attention. Here are some suggestions for preventing that from happening.
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Explosive atmosphere, by Terry Freedman
Toxic leadership
It's all very well enjoying power, but ultimately power is only useful if it gets things done without unfortunate side effects.
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The Bett Show. Photo by Terry Freedman
Bett 2022: What if you CAN’T go?
The Bett Show is the world’s largest education technology show. Sadly, the seminars are not going to be recorded this time. However, all is not lost. Here are some ways you can keep abreast of what’s happening.
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Image by Paul Brennan from Pixabay
The benefits of an open door classrooms policy
Should classrooms be open, in the sense that anyone might see what's going on, and perhaps even take part in them?
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Helping staff to develop and move on
You can’t hold on to good teachers forever. They will, at some point, wish to move on and seek positions of influence themselves.
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What does a Head of Department do?
If you’re the Head of Computing or Education Technology, you may also have a responsibility for the use and possibly even the co-ordination of the use of technology across the whole school.
Read MoreMaintaining Standards in digital literacy courses
So, you're responsible for the use of educational technology in the school, but its use and principles are taught across the curriculum rather than as a discrete subject. In other words, by non-specialists in all likelihood. How can you maintain high standards in the subject and the use of educational technology in such a situation? In this article I look at 14 suggestions.
Read MoreWhy your business or your education technology provision or your Computing department needs an ebook (or two)
If you, as a Head of Computing, or leader of Computing in a primary school, created an ebook containing your scheme(s) of work, information about the courses you offer, perhaps some staff biographies (with photos), that would be a great marketing tool.
Read MoreChromebooks for schools at cost price
Having known what it was like as a Head of Computing and ICT Co-ordinator desperately attempting to get hold of extra devices without blowing the whole of the school’s budget, I thought this was worth giving a closer look.
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Image by Please Don't sell My Artwork AS IS from Pixabay
Mixed blessings: primary schools can teach secondary schools a thing or two!
Much as it pains me to say this as an ex-secondary school teacher, most of the really innovative and exciting stuff I’ve seen in education technology and computing has taken place in primary schools.
Read MoreHow to convince colleagues to use education technology in their lessons
If you’re the education technology lead in your school, and your job involves encouraging other teachers to use education technology, what’s the best approach?
Read MoreNew year, new start
There is something heroic about working away on a computer while the rest of the world sleeps, with only a cup of tea and a distant street lamp to keep one company. But the health benefits of caffeine-fuelled nights are yet to be discovered.
Read MoreThe value of case studies
Could it be worth compiling case studies of success stories of people who have used education technology or completed a Computing course in your school?
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