These are the books I’ve encountered in 2020.
Read MoreReview of Scratch Programming in Easy Steps
The book starts with an introduction to the Scratch 3 environment, and in next to no time the reader is creating a program.
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Mailbox, by Terry Freedman
How to Have more Gmail addresses
If you have a Gmail email address, did you know that you can use it as the basis for even more addresses?
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On This Day
On this day #15: Technical support
I would say that these days an efficient and effective technical support function is more important than ever. I have been at the sharp end of technical glitches in Zoom and so on, and although I was able to figure them out for myself, it was a very frustrating experience.
Read MoreLosing the Plot: the Importance of Asking, "So what?!"
If, by the end of a lesson, the students are none the wiser about the topic in hand, all that's been achieved is that the teacher can tick off the topic in the scheme of work.
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Merry Xmas, by Terry Freedman
Christmas puzzle
One of my traditions at this time of year is to set some kind of puzzle. This year is no exception.
Read MoreIs It Always Better To Use A Computer Than Pen And Paper?
It seems to me that whether the use of a computer is "appropriate" from an efficiency point of view depends on a range of factors.
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Not sure, by Terry Freedman
Twitter: a re-evauation
I imagine I’ll be on Twitter for a while yet, but I do find myself spending less and less time on it, and engaging in conversations less and less.
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fake news by Terry Freedman
16 articles and resources about fake news
The following links were included in a recent issue of my newsletter, Digital Education.
Read MoreComing soon: the last Digital Education newsletter of 2020
Fancy a Christmas puzzle, a cat video, and loads of useful ed tech links? I don’t blame you! Read on…
Read MoreTips for teaching online -- get it while stocks last!
A few weeks ago I put together a collection of articles on using Zoom, good practice, etc etc, and bundled them into a PDF. You can get this for free just by signing up to my newsletter, Digital Education, but time is running out! The offer ends at 11:59pm on 20th December 2020.
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On This Day, by Terry Freedman
On this day #14: Enforced independence
For those of us who are bemused by the Department for Education’s new-found interest in digital matters (starting in 2019 with their Education Technology strategy), this might be of interest.
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Exclamation mark, Terry Freedman
The latest department for education update
Not like the DfE to make announcements before 5pm on the last day of term.
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Target, by Terry Freedman
Hitting the target but missing the mark?
In my opinion, not implementing such changes is at best thoughtless, and at worst indicative of a lack of understanding of the pressures schools are under at the best of times, let alone now.
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Terry: dreading the bombardment of ill-informed views!
Twitter toxicity: Beware the ultracrepidarians
It all started with Brexit. At least, that’s when I first became aware of the preponderance of people who are more than happy to pontificate about, and lecture the rest of us on, a subject of which they have no expertise.
Read MoreReflections on Technology in Schools in the time of Covid: Part 2
The potential for the education of blockchain technology is huge. It’s largely associated with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, but it has far wider implications.
Read MoreInformation technology in schools in 2000
“78% of full-time teachers participated in courses in the past 12 months about the integration of educational technology in their own subject. The perceived usefulness of such courses was directly related to their length.”
Read MoreTech training then and now: spot the difference
It would be great if the DfE could organise laptop schemes that work properly, and identify the schools and teachers who have managed to achieve great things in online learning and disseminate information about how they did it.
Read MoreThe state of information and communications technology in the year 2000
Apart from the name change, are things any different now?
Read MoreOn this day #13: Welcome back, VBA!
To borrow from Mark Twain, reports of the death of Visual Basic for Applications as a viable programming language to teach in schools are exaggerated.
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