Coding: the numbers just don’t compute

February 9, 2014

This article was written by Derek Blunt, for his new regular column in Digital Education, To put it Bluntly.

I have a problem: the numbers don’t stack up. According to Lottie Dexter, Director of the Year of Code, teachers can learn how to code in a day.

e-Safety in Digital Education

February 5, 2014

I talked to members of the Lewisham Youth Parliament about sexting and they talked to me about the selfie, they described a selfie as a demonstration of confidence and self-esteem: ‘I look good and in sharing this you will know I look good too’.

Review of the Google Chromebook

January 31, 2014

I’ve been looking at the Google Chromebook, and I have to say I am seriously impressed. There’s a lot of talk about tablets these days. I myself have promoted the idea of Bring Your Own Technology, which usually means a phone or a tablet. But the Google Chromebook is worthy of consideration, whether for yourself, or whether you’re considering taking your school into the mobile future.

In order to thoroughly evaluate the Chromebook from a school perspective, I not only used the device myself, but interviewed Bruno Reddy, Head of Maths at the King Solomon Academy in London, and Jaime Casap, Global Education Evangelist at Google.

Making the Most of ICT – what the research tells us

January 29, 2014

Steve Moss looks at what the educational research says about how to maximise the impact of ICT on learning.

In 1981 the then Conservative government announced that the Department of Trade and Industry would provide funding for one microcomputer in every school. Throughout the ensuing three decades there has hardly ever been a year when there has not been some earmarked or ring-fenced funding for ICT in schools in England. But in 2014 we are in new territory. The Harnessing Technology Grant, which for several years was the main source of devolved funding to support ICT in schools, is no more and many schools will have to make do with the ICT equipment they already have rather than spending on the latest technology. Yet teachers should still aim to make the very best use of the resources available to them and aspire to excellent teaching with ICT.