The 3,000 Part Computing Lesson

lesson planEvery so often there comes along a new daft idea (or a newly-packaged old idea that has been mangled out of recognition (and thereby rendered useless) so that its “inventor” can be designated as a guru. Me? Cynical? Never!) One of the more unfortunate manifestations of this phenomenon was the three part lesson. It sounds good and logical, but then the thing that usually happens happened: Ofsted started insisting on it, and Headteachers demanded to witness it in every lesson. Woe betide the brilliant but hapless teacher whose lesson plans failed to include the three parts.
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Book review: Go on, bore ‘em: how to make ICT lessons excruciatingly dull

Michelle Liga writes...

boremMr. Freedman uses his extensive experience to write a clear and concise booklet on the different ways he has observed teachers instructing  their students straight into boredom purgatory.  But, he also explains how the lesson could have been changed to make it more interesting. 

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My Informatics scheme of work part 1

Social computingI thought it would be interesting to dig out my scheme of work for Information Technology – as it was then then – from 1997. It was based on the Informatics scheme of work published by the now defunct organisation Acitt. Acitt was a subject association for ICT Co-ordinators. I helped to shape the Acitt scheme of work, but the one I used myself was a variation, adjusted to meet the circumstances pertaining to my school. I’ve reproduced it below.
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Big ideas for ed tech leaders: What’s your self-talk?

HiatusWhen I was in my teens I wanted desperately to get involved in television production, especially the filming and editing side. So I was delighted when one day there was a the start of a new behind-the-scenes series about how television studios operate. Well, the presenter started off by saying, “This looks boring, all these cables and wires everywhere, but…”. Then, a few minutes later, “This is a boring part, but…”. After 15 minutes I switched channels. I’m not even sure that the series was completed. Who wants to be told that the thing they have given up their time to watch is ‘'”boring”?
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Book review: Go on, bore ‘em: how to make ICT lessons excruciatingly dull

by Jacqui Wilson

BoredI received a very nice review from Jacqui Wilson, a classroom teacher in Tasmania. Is a book about what made ICT boring still relevant if the focus is on Computing? Well I think so, because the issues I highlighted with respect to ICT are in danger of arising again with respect to Computing. Anyway, read what Jacqui says about the book.

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Digital Education December 2014: Double issue, Free resources, 50% discount on ebooks, 75+ links and 10 guest contributors

blog readingThe Spectator does it. The Economist does it. Even children’s comics do it. So I thought: Let’s do it. Let’s make a Christmas double issue of the Digital Education newsletter.

I’d like to be able to say I’d planned it that way right from the start, but that would be something of (to use Winston Churchill’s wonderful expression) a terminological inexactitude. In truth, the November edition was delayed due to a family illness, so it made sense to bring out a bumper edition now so people who subscribe have plenty to keep them going until January! I’ve included articles on a wide variety of topics:

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Big data: is small beautiful?

My Big Data InfographicAccording to the 2014 Horizon Report for K-12 education (ie Kindergarten to 18 years old), big data and analytics will be adopted by education within the next two to three years. Big data. It’s the current buzzword in education (one of several, at least), but what exactly is it? And is it really of any practical use? And should we be using it anyway?
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The hidden dangers of doing digital business: what schools, teachers and students need to know

Diverted TrafficIn theory, setting yourself up to sell products on the internet is the easiest thing in the world. Once you’ve created the product, you upload it to a 3rd party platform that will handle all the sales and deliveries automatically, and you just sit back and watch the money roll in. If only it were as simple as that. But why would  a school want to do something like that anyway
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Whiteboards: not dead yet

Getting Ready for OLED Technology - A Small Collage of Interactive Wall Applications on Our Smart Boards at the Interactive Interactive Show and Open Houses - Sheridan Interactive Multimedia One Year Post Grad College in OakvilleI heard an interesting snippet from Mike Cladingbowl, National Director at Ofsted, recently. He said that when interactive whiteboards were first introduced, Ofsted inspectors saw an increase in “chalk and talk”. Hardly surprising, because interactive whiteboards made chalk and talk, ie teaching from the front, easier.
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Computing and ICT vocabulary

Vocabulary - Words Are ImportantTrawling through the articles published on my original website, I came across this one about vocabulary. Happily, the “new” publication it refers to is still available. Incidentally, I’m a great believer in paying attention to vocabulary and the correct use of correct terminology, so at the end of this “reprint” I’ve inserted a couple of references to other articles I’ve penned on this subject. The original article was published in 2008, and is shown in a different font, below.
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26 + Tips for getting the most from your interactive whiteboards

IWB Guide Cover (tilted)To borrow from Mark Twain, reports of the death of the interactive whiteboard have been exaggerated. Despite often being used ineffectively or even badly, it still has much to offer.

I’ve written a brief guide to making the most of your interactive whiteboard which I’ve called, logically enough, Making the most of your interactive whiteboard. Originally, this was in response to a request I received while teaching on a teacher-training course recently.

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Assessing Computing: Grids and Badges

section of progression pathways gridSince Michael Gove, England’s then Education Secretary, announced that Levels were not fit for purpose – the purpose being to assess and describe students’ proficiency in National Curriculum subjects – there has been a proliferation of attempts to assess Computing without using Levels. Many of these have taken the approach, quite naturally, of devising a progression grid of some sort. All the ones I’ve seen break the grid down into the Computing Programme of Study’s component parts
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