Gosh! It’s ten years since I wrote about meeting at Bett someone who had approached me for advice from the other side of the world. How far off those days seem right now.
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On this day #20: Digital literacy and "coding"
Is being digitally literate synonymous with being able to code?
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Celebrate! by Terry Freedman
Happy birthday, Digital Education!
Six years ago today I announced the launch of free newsletter, Digital Education. Back in 2000 I had started a newsletter called Computers in Classrooms. That name was pretty cutting edge at the time, but after 14 years how quaint it seemed!
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On this day #19: Who's in charge
Aching feet, by Terry Freedman
BettFest 2021
One positive outcome of coronavirus and lockdown is that we can attend Bett, or part of it, this year without moving from the comfort of our own homes. No more being crammed on the Dockland Light Rail along with hundreds of others, no more spending the day breathing lots of stale air, and no more aching feet!
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Target, by Terry Freedman
On this day #18: Don't focus on the goal
As an education technology leader you need to have a vision, you need to have goals. But once you have established the vision and goals, it’s a good idea to forget about them.
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Question marks, by Terry Freedman
On this day #17: A really bad question
These days, students can find out things like the rate of interest in real time without even leaving their seats. That doesn't make the question ["What's the interest rate?"] itself any better.
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On this day #16: The trouble with women
When I was reading about Ada Lovelace I found it quite appalling that in her days men thought women were too mentally fragile to cope with mathematics or science.
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Shopping mall, by Terry Freedman
11 edtech-related marketing trends in 2021
It’s difficult to predict the future, so please regard this article as a reflection of what may happen and probably should happen in the area of marketing in the coming year.
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Discussing, by Terry Freedman.png
Trump, Twitter and all that
If you are willing and able to engage your class in discussions about the ed tech issues of the day, recent events in the USA provide rich pickings.
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books pile, by Terry Freedman
Online education: books just in
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.
Read MoreOfsted's guidance on "remote learning"
I think that this guidance is useful in making the idea of online teaching sound doable, but there are too few details or links to details that would make it truly useful.
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Questions, by Terry Freedman
10 tips for launching your new year strategy
Before considering any ideas, we ought, perhaps, to consider the question: why bother? After all, the situation is so fluid that any strategy you prepare now could be rendered out of date by next week. If one thing has proven to be certain about the pandemic, it’s that nothing is certain. It’s almost like trying to build a house on sand.
Read MoreReview of Science Fictions
This is an example of why hype can, in own way, be dangerous. It detracts time, energy and financial resources away from interventions that may be less exciting to look at but which actually work better.
Read MoreReview of Bite-Size Python
Learning a programming language, especially a text-based one like Python, can be hard going. Unlike a graphical programming language, which you can start to use straight away without knowing any technical terminology at all, Python demands such knowledge from the outset.
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Children using laptops, by Terry Freedman
Is anyone NOT using computers in their lessons now?
Back in those heady pre-pandemic days many of us were forever trying to cajole our colleagues to use computers in their lessons. Well, I suppose the positive aspect of Covid is that the virus has done quite a large part of our job for us.
Read MoreSome research findings about effective education technology training for teachers
There are a couple of interesting things in the newsletter below. One is the findings from a study at Reading University about the most effective approach to training teachers. I’d be very surprised if a study carried out today didn’t yield similar results.
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Zoom meeting, by Terry Freedman
Remote teaching during a pandemic
Lau provides a useful article that contains much information, based on research, that not everyone will have been aware of.
Read MoreWhy are some teachers reluctant to use educational technology?
In the following archived issue of my newsletter, you might find the following articles in particular interesting:
Why do it? (This reports the results of a survey enquiring into why some teachers shy away from using technology).
Responses to a problem posed in the form of a scenario, about teachers using technology as a reward or a time-filler rather than for serious work.
Twitter detoxified
But do they offer any constructive suggestions? Of course not…
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