Hybrid Learning

May 7, 2021

The first thing that struck me when doing the research for this article is how often the terms “blended learning” and “hybrid learning” seem to be used to mean whatever the writer wants them to mean.

Completed at last: my longest blog post ever

January 28, 2021

Adult learners may have different characteristics from younger ones (at least theoretically), but decisions like matching the technology to ones pedagogy, how to assess progress, what resources to use, how to conduct discussions — all these, surely, are pretty much the same challenge in both cases?

Taking a course online

January 22, 2021

This morning I completed my magnum opus (nearly 3,500 words) on the process I went through when converting a course from one I’d taught in a physical classroom to one I could teach online.

Online education: books just in

January 17, 2021

In the last two days I’ve received two books for review. One is almost hot off the press — Online Learning for Dummies was published in December 2020 — the other one is slightly warm — published in September 2020.

How long should kids spend in online lessons?

July 27, 2020

How sensible — or effective — is it to have kids sitting at a computer all day long?

Should all learning take place in the cloud? — Should **all** learning take place in the cloud?

Covid-19: Is an online school the answer?

May 11, 2020

Would an online-only school be a feasible proposition for all pupils?

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.