ENIAC. U.S. Army Photo [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Picture credit for Eniac: This image is a work of a U.S. Army soldier or employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the … — ENIAC. U.S. Army Photo [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Picture credit for Eniac: *This image is a work of a* *U.S. Army* *soldier or employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a* *work* *of the* *U.S. federal government, the image is in the* *public domain*. URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eniac.jpg

Getting touchy and feely about Computing -- illustrated

September 3, 2024

Making it possible for students to come face to face with real things from times gone by can have an electrifying effect on them. This is especially so when teaching Computing.

Technicians – The David Sainsbury Gallery at the Science Museum: full review

November 25, 2023

Should you ever find yourself in the unlikely circumstance of having to choose between me administering medication or waiting for a paramedic, my advice would be to wait.

The importance of touch in Computing

December 1, 2017

Making it possible for students to come face to face with real things from times gone by can have an electrifying effect on them. This is especially so when teaching Computing.

Our lives in data: London transport

May 17, 2017

How is your travel data used, and what the trade-offs in terms of private costs and benefits? This is the second post in a series about data and privacy, and artificial intelligence.

Our lives in data: privacy

May 16, 2017

How much data are you prepared to give away, and what are you prepared to allow organisations to do with it? The answers in my case surprised me.

Getting touchy and feely about Computing

December 21, 2015

Making it possible for students to come face to face with real things from times gone by can have an electrifying effect on them. This is especially so when teaching Computing.

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.