How computers decrease efficiency

Burglar Bill at largeNot everything that is good, is good. Take this as an example. If I were to give my neighbour’s children some private tuition in return for a modest fee, I could go out and spend the money, thereby contributing to the local and national economy. Everyone benefits.

On the other hand, if I were to go on a really prolific one-man burglary spree, they would have to employ extra police or pay the existing police force more overtime, local residents would invest in updated security systems and the local economy would benefit even more from all this spending.

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Videos on aspects of Computing and ICT

I thought you might be interested in two new sets of video resources which are, and are becoming, available. The big problem with video in general, in my opinion, is that it’s hard to find the time to sit down and watch something for any length of time because you can’t do much else while you’re doing so. And by “any length of time” I mean anything over about 5 minutes.

So it’s good that there are some 3 minute videos now and some micro-videos coming on stream.

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Evaluating a school’s computing and ICT

The guidance provided by Ofsted on what constitutes a grade of “Outstanding” in subjects is currently under review. This is a good time for them to consider a minimalist approach: what two or three factors should be instrumental in coming to a judgement? In my opinion, the more tick-boxes you have, the less useful the whole exercise becomes. I wonder: are there a few key things which determine whether a school’s offering in Computing and ICT is good or not, and which, if tweaked, could transform a low grade into a higher one?

I’m always interested in such things, and that interest was reignited today when I read an article I’d written in 2005. Apart from the documentation referred to, I believe it is still accurate, and pertinent – and could be applied to the inspection of individual subject areas like Computing and ICT as to a whole school or Local Authority.

Anyway, see what you think.

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Why Michael Marland is relevant for educational technology teaching

I hadn’t realised, until I read Geoff Barton’s post (Remembering Michael Marland) this morning, that it is five years since Michael Marland died. Mr Barton had the astounding good fortune to know Michael Marland. I didn’t, but I did meet him and chat with him once, which left me with a warm glow that has never dissipated. It was one of the few occasions that I have met one of my heroes and not been bitterly disappointed.

At the time of Marland’s death, I wrote a small tribute to him, which I have reproduced here. His ideas were and are relevant to teachers who use technology in their classroom, as I hope I’ve explained.

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The technology-related cost of going to school

What's In my bag: School editionAccording to an article in the Daily Telegraph, it now costs £550 for  child to go to school, compared with around £230 in the 1960s and £250 in the 1980s. This is because of the number of gadgets included in the pupil’s school bag, compared to earlier times. The article says:

Today, while the cost of lunchboxes, calculators, and pencil cases have come down, the rise in demand for technology means parents face having to find a small fortune for the Back to School rush.

What a ridiculous, non-news article!
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What new teachers need to know -- Personal ICT Skills

This article was originally published on 7th March 2006. Surprisingly perhaps, much of it is still relevant today, given its focus on the importance of having an understanding of computer programming concepts and other aspects of computing.

Making assumptions is a dangerous game! It's commonly assumed that new teachers will automatically know all about information technology because they are young (which is in itself an assumption: what about mature students, housewives returning to work, retired bankers looking for a new challenge, and so on?).

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7 Ways to make IT real: #3 Solve real problems

Problem solving processAs I said in 7 ways to make IT real: #0 Make IT unreal, setting the kids a problem like “Imagine you’re going to open a video shop” is not going to cut it these days. You either need to set problems that are outlandish and obviously unreal, or set them ones which are all too real.

I’d suggest that the best way of doing so is to get the pupils themselves to identify problems. That’s the approach taken by

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7 Ways to make IT real: #1 Get local

mboneIt’s easy to take your local area for granted, but try to see it with new eyes. Try to see it as if you were a tourist visiting the area for the first time. You may be pleasantly surprised to discover just how much is noteworthy from a computing or ICT point of view. Whether you want your pupils to simply notice the use of technology, or wish to get them to figure out how things work or even to create their own digital assets, you won’t be disappointed.
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7 ways to make IT real: #0 Make IT unreal

KL-43 Off-line/On-line Digital Encryption (Adaptation of language translator technology) late 70s-80sOne way to make ICT interesting is to make sure it is relevant to young people’s lives, and has a genuine connection to the “real world”. Indeed, these are required of Ofsted in order to achieve an “Outstanding” grade in ICT. I have referred to this as “authentic learning”. So, in the next few articles I will be suggesting ways of approaching this.
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7 Criteria for evaluating a computing scheme of work

curriculum perspectivesNow that it’s certain that here in England we will have a computing curriculum to follow in September 2014, many people are going to be writing schemes of work. Whether you are a producer or a consumer in this regard, I think you will find the following evaluation criteria useful.
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Computing and ICT misinformation

IMAG0311I am continually astonished by people’s misconceptions or misinformation about education in general, and ICT in particular. To be more accurate, I am often shocked, but no longer surprised, at how poorly education tends to be reported on in the press – at least in my experience when it concerns stuff I know about.

Now, I understand this when it comes to a subject like science. I used to say to Elaine, over breakfast, things like:

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Criticism and self-criticism: some thoughts for ICT teachers and leaders

Feedback Festival, S.Casciano, June 2009I was looking in the archives this morning, to see what I wrote about on this date in the past. By some strange twist, my articles on 4th July in both 2010 and 2011 were about criticism. Not criticism aimed at anyone or anything in particular, but in terms of general principles.
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My biggest mistake as an ICT Co-ordinator

Act 1, Scene 1

Setting: an interview room.

Chair of Governors: So, Mr Freedman, do you have any questions you would like to ask US?

Terry Freedman: Yes. What are YOUR criteria of a successful ICT Co-ordinator?

Headteacher: I want to see teachers banging on the doors of the computer labs demanding to be let in.

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3D Printing

Over the past few years I've written several articles about 3D printing and its potential application in education. I first came across a 3D printer at a City Learning Centre in London. That was 15 years ago at the time of writing, ie 1998. What I had not realised back then was that 3D printing had already been around for ages -- since the mid-1980s in fact.
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