Prize draw drawn

June 3, 2018

Another subscriber to my newsletter, Digital Education, has won a book. More information soon.

New beginnings for the Digital Education newsletter

May 22, 2018

The next issue of my newsletter, Digital Education, is almost ready. Here’s a list of what it contains. One of the features is a prize draw to win a copy of Closing the Vocabulary Gap by Alex Quigley. Woohoo!

Changes to the Digital Education newsletter page

May 8, 2018

I spent part of the recent holiday on the newsletter pages of this website. This article details the changes.

A message for subscribers to Digital Education

April 15, 2018

If you subscribe to my newsletter, Digital Education, the instructions in this article may apply to you.

Me slaving over the next issue of Digital Education

The relaunch of the Digital Education newsletter

March 26, 2018

News about the recent transfer of subscribers to my newsletter, Digital Education, and seven benefits of signing up to it.

New prize draw for two thought-provoking books

March 21, 2018

Two great books are available to be won in a prize draw. Read on for details of eligibility to enter.

Safer Internet Day: Can social media companies be trusted?

February 6, 2018

Are social media companies doing enough to keep children safe?

I'm done talking about Bett 2018

February 5, 2018

Now that Bett 2018 is well and truly over, here is some information about my reviews of 26 products and services I saw there, and how to access them.

Waspish behaviour. Picture from Pixabay. Licence: CCO

Intimidation in public life, and education technology

January 4, 2018

Should social media platforms be regarded as mere repositories of content, which by implication is thus not their responsibility, or publishers, subject to the same laws and restrictions as other publishing media, such as newspapers? This is one of the discussion points arising in this interesting report about the intimidation on social media of members of Parliament and other public figures. It's especially interesting given the fact that this week the German government brought into effect a new law regarding social media companies.

Here's what you missed in Digital Education...

January 3, 2018

Here's a glimpse of some of the things you will have missed recently if you don't subscribe to my newsletter, including the chance to buy discounted books from Routledge and BCS -- up to 40% off in some cases. At the time of writing it's not too late to take advantage of the offers, some of which are exclusive to newsletter subscribers. Read on for details of how to subscribe.

Spreadsheet special, analysis and a prize draw

November 22, 2017

Read on for a heads-up about what's coming up in the next issue of Digital Education, our free newsletter.

The Digital Education newsletter

October 31, 2017

Advertisement: some puff for the Digital Education newsletter.

Coming soon in Digital Education

October 25, 2017

I'm in the process of planning a few themed issues of my newsletter, Digital Education. Read on for the low-down.

Learn something new, and have a good laugh, with Digital Education! Photo from Stencil. Licence: CC0

What's in the next issue of Digital Education?

October 17, 2017

The forthcoming issue of the Digital Education ezine features 9 interesting articles. This article gives you the lowdown on three of the topics covered, and how to sign up to it.

In the next issue of Digital Education

September 20, 2017

Algorithms, book reviews and review copies of my book. All in the latest issue of Digital Education.

Women and girls and technology: a matter of biology?

September 20, 2017

Are girls and women biologically predetermined to not be natural programmers? No, I don't think so either. This article contains some interesting points based on recent discussions, and links to (hopefully) useful articles.

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.