What I've been reading: Living in a Digital World

December 6, 2018

The review in a nutshell: well-structured, well-written and informative.

What I've been reading: The Teacher's Guide to Tech 2018

October 2, 2018

Read this article for a review of this book — and a nice surprise!

A useful book for your education technology library

What I've been reading: Academic writing and grammar for students

September 19, 2016

A well-structured book that will prove a handy reference in the secondary classroom and beyond.

What I've been reading: Perfect ICT Every Lesson

March 7, 2016

Perfect ICT every lesson? It's an ambitious title. Does the content deliver the promise though?

7 Books for Computing teachers

March 3, 2016

As it's World Book Day, what are my recommendations for books for teachers of Computing? This is by no means a definitive list -- think of it more as a starter.

What I've been reading: Delete

February 29, 2016

We live in an age where it's impossible to forget anything. Is this a good thing?

What I've been reading

February 26, 2016

A must-read for anyone who has taught in "challenging" schools!

What I've been reading

February 16, 2016

Some educational research books are better written than others. "Making a difference in education" is one of them.

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.