We seem to be living in an age in which the more half-baked the idea, the more likely it is to find traction. I wonder, often, if this is because people think, “X has said this. X is an intelligent and wise person. Therefore this must be sensible.”
Read MoreReview: Sort Your Brain Out
Instead of sitting down and having an actual break, you consume your lunch while diving into a pile of marking….
Read MoreReview: Teach Like a Champion
This book starts from the premise that while teaching is an art, it also relies on the mastery and application of skills.
Read MoreBeing too pushy simply does not work
“… not only will it be informative to those colleagues who wish to be informed, it will save you from being an insufferable bore to those who don't.”
Read MoreBack through the time tunnel: techno-romanticsm
Having to wait a week for computer results may have been fine at the time, because we knew no better. But who in their right mind would look back on all that as some kind of golden age?
Read MoreAda Lovelace Day 2021
Imagine what Ada Lovelace might have achieved had Babbage actually built his “computer” and she hadn’t died at the age of 36.
Read MoreThe trouble with gurus
I once wrote a scathing (but, of course, very polite) article about something a well-known person had written. Later that day, I was going down an escalator at Waterloo Station, and he was coming up the other escalator!
Read MoreAnother criterion of IT project success: nothing
You can end up being so focused on measurable criteria that you miss really important stuff.
Read MoreObtaining customer feedback
In my experience, it’s quite nerve-racking to seek customer feedback. I mean, what if they say the product sucks, but that they have to use it because there’s not much of an alternative?
Read More15 Ways To Make an Educational Technology Project Successful (Updated)
How can you make an educational technology project, for example a school research initiative, successful? In a sense, the fact that it's to do with ICT in education is irrelevant. There are some generic 'rules' which ought to be abided by.
Read MoreWhy Is The Curriculum Like a bus Timetable (updated)?
I’ve observed lessons in which the teacher feels obliged to race on in order to get through the scheme of work. That results in some, if not all, students being left behind.
Read MoreOn this day: 5 reasons to join Computing communities
Teaching can be a lonely profession, especially if, as is often the case, you are the sole teacher of ICT or Computing in your school. Whether you’re on your own or part of a team, I’d thoroughly recommend joining a community or several. Why?On this day: Presentation: 10 stimulating ideas for the Computing curriculum
This is an article I originally published on 2 October 2017. The conference it refers to has been and gone, but I’ve added a few annotations relating to my methodology.
Read MoreWhat should a customer newsletter contain?
Once a school buys your product or service, a newsletter is a great way of keeping them informed of new developments. In this article, we look at what kind of content works well.
Read MoreSystemic Perspectives on New Alignments During COVID-19: Digital Challenges and Opportunities
A special edition of the Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology focuses on the impact of Covid19 on education systems.
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Quick look: Organise Ideas
My first impression is that this is a handy toolkit which, once mastered, can be applied in lots of different contexts in any subject.
Read MoreHow to help schools avoid common mistakes with your product -- full article
The next time you’re looking for a book on Amazon, spend some time perusing the one-star reviews.
Read MoreTo put it Bluntly: Ofsted jargon revisited
Derek Blunt takes issue with inspectors' jargon. Should you ever find yourself looking for examples of what Kenneth Hudson referred to as “diseased English”, I think you could do worse than looking at Ofsted guidance or listening to Ofsted pronouncements. Ofsted is the name of the schools inspectorate in England,
Read MoreQuick looks -- The System: Who owns the internet, and how it owns us
[Links corrected!] My question is: will this be of any use to someone teaching computing, or to students learning computing?
Read MoreCase studies: A great tool in your marketing armoury
It’s all very well writing about the features and benefits of your product, but how do potential buyers know what it would be like to use in practice?
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