Getting permission to go on a course or to a conference

November 20, 2021

Having to make the case for actually registering for an event is, in my opinion, treating teachers as if they were (a) non-professionals and (b) children.

Picture by Mohamed Hassan on Pixabay. Licence: CCO

Creating a culture of innovation, #6: Attend talks

February 28, 2018

Why attending talks can be a good way of fostering innovation, and six things to consider before you do so.

Forthcoming education conferences in London, England

September 25, 2017

Here are a few interesting-looking conferences coming up in London, England, up to January 2018.

Getting the most out of education conferences

August 15, 2017

This book has received 22 five star reviews in total so far, and is the TESOL Institute's featured book. Read on for more information, and for details on how you can buy a personalised version.

9 questions to ask about big name speakers at education conferences

December 5, 2016

Life's too short to waste time going to the wrong conference talk. Here are 9 questions to ask to help decide whether or not to attend a talk given by a well-known speaker as opposed to an unknown teacher.

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.