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Meeting deadlines can sometimes be a bit of a challenge, but I always seem to manage to do so!
Introduction
I've been a Freelance writer and author since 1989. This page lists much of the work I’ve done and periodicals and organisations I’ve written articles and blog posts for. (If you would like to talk about hiring me to write for your organisation, please get in touch.)
I love writing about education and technology, and education technology, and making it understandable. One of the finest compliments I've been paid is that I made an incredibly abstruse press release easy enough for an 11 year old to understand.
I can also turn out articles very quickly, and several editors have told me they are impressed both with my speed and accuracy: they rarely have to do much editing, if any.
I have written books for a wide variety of publishers, including Pearsons and Hodder, and articles for The Guardian (supplement), The TES and PC Pro's ICT Review. I also write for various magazines for teachers, and company websites/blogs.
I am a member of a number of professional bodies (Fellow of Mirandanet and the RSA, member of the British Computer Society and the UK's Society of Authors).
Please see below for a list of periodicals and organisations, books, papers and other things, like software manuals.
Periodicals and organisations I've written or write for.
Case studies, reports, vision statements, strategy documents and publicity.
Manuals, how-to guides and course materials.
Published books.
Self-published books.
Blogs.
Periodicals and organisations I've written or write for
I have written for many publications and websites, including the following :
2Simple.
(Atari) ST Format Magazine.
Atari ST Magazine.
Atari ST User.
Director.
Educ@Guardian.
Educational Computing & Technology.
EPublic.
Groupcall blog.
Hewlett Packard (website).
Hot Chalk (website).
ICT Basic Skills Bulletin.
ICT For Education.
Information Technology in Developing Countries.
IntegraTe.
InteracTive.
Joskos (case studies).
Knowledge Quest.
Managing Schools Today.
Micro Computer Mart.
Micro Mart.
Mirandanet.
Naace.
Page 6 (New Atari User).
PC Format.
PC Mart.
PC Pro ICT Reviews Supplement.
PC Today.
Primary School Management.
Rising Stars.
Rising Stars blog.
School CIO Advisor Blog.
Schools Week.
Sec-Ed.
Teach Primary magazine.
Teach Secondary.
Technology & Learning (Blog).
Technology & Learning Magazine, USA.
Technology & Learning UK Magazine.
The Guardian website.
The ICT Co-ordinators’ Bulletin.
The SEN Co-ordinators’ Bulletin.
The Writing Co-operative (Medium).
Times Education Supplement.
Westminster Forum.
Writers’ Page.
Writers’ Weekly.
Writing World.
For a few examples of my published articles, please go to Published articles.
Case studies, reports, vision statements, strategy documents and publicity
Having worked for and with schools, Local Authorities and Government bodies, I’ve often been called upon to write documents for a number of purposes and for different audiences. such as:
Briefings for Headteachers on different aspects of ICT.
Case studies.
How-to guides (please see below).
ICT strategic planning documentation.
ICT vision statements.
Press releases.
Project management reports, both interim and final.
Staff handbook for e-learning team.
Web copy for parents and the general public.
Something which is not obvious from this list is that on many occasions I have used the same information for different audiences. For example, a project I evaluated led to my creating the following documentation:
Full project evaluation report for senior managers and staff.
A one page executive summary of the report for interested professional parties.
A case study for distributing to parents and publishing on a website.
Manuals, how-to guides and course materials
I have written a number of manuals, how-to guides and course materials, including:
A Practical Guide to Excel .
A Practical Guide to Mail-merging with Word and Excel .
A Practical Guide to Word .
A Practical Guide to Write-On .
Activities for Key Stage 3 ICT (for OU/Vital).
An Introduction to Atari ST Word .
An Introduction to the Framework for ICT Support .
An introduction to Windows (for RM) .
Blogs, wikis and other great tools (+ lesson plans and classroom activities) (for the Association of Citizenship Teachers) .
Diploma Resources in London MLE -- QuickStart Guide.
Every Child Matters: PowerPoint Resource Pack (for the Association of Citizenship Teachers) .
Every Child Matters: What it means for the ICT teacher (later expanded into an ebook) .
ICT for Trainee Teachers (for Post-Graduate Certificate in Education course) .
Introduction to the London MLE.
Key Stage 3 ICT Activities (for an online teachers’ course provided by the Open University) .
Learning from inspections: primary schools .
Learning from inspections: secondary schools .
London MLE Diploma Rooms QuickStart Guide.
Modelling with spreadsheets.
Modelling with Word and Excel.
The Framework for ICT support: A Briefing for Senior Leadership .
The Framework for ICT support: A Quick Guide for Busy People .
Using Excel Across the Curriculum.
Using Excel in Numeracy.
Various ICT-based courses and materials for both students and teachers.
Published books
I have had the following books published, and am a member of the UK’s Society of Authors:
A Guide to Desktop Publishing.
A Practical Guide to Timeworks on the Atari ST.
A Practical Guide to Timeworks Publisher 2 on the PC.
A Practical Guide to Calamus Desktop Publishing on the Atari ST.
Make Time with IT.
Managing ICT.
The Ami Pro Project Book.
The Students’ Guide to Desktop Publishing.
The Timeworks 3 Tutorial Book.
This is DTP! A Young Person’s Guide.
In addition to the above, I have contributed a chapter on using macros for controlling events, in Pearson’s ICT for Life Book Series, and a chapter to Enhancing Learning and Teaching with Technology (IOE Press).
Also, I contributed to, and was a series editor for, a series of books called Switched On ICT.
Self-published books
I have also self-published the following books (bold type indicates recently published):
A Practical Guide to Display.
Coming of Age: An Introduction to the NEW Worldwide Web (Editor).Creating a Technology-Rich School.
Education Conferences: Teachers' Guide to Getting the Most out of Education Conferences.
Get Organized.
Getting a Job as an ICT Manager in a School.
Go on, bore ‘em: how to make ICT lessons excruciatingly dull.
Management Information Systems in Schools -- Briefing Paper.
Recruiting an ICT Manager.
Using computers in classrooms.
The Amazing Web 2.0 Projects Book (Editor).
Book reviews
I write reviews of books, mainly non-fiction and mainly in the following areas:
Education research
Education practice
Education technology, including Computing, digital literacy, information technology
E-safety
Writing practice
Writing resources
My reviews have been published in computing magazines and educational periodicals such as Teaceek.
Blogs
I have three active blogs. They are:
ICT in Education – for leaders, managers, teachers and users of educational ICT.
My Writes – Creative writing, personal observations.
Writers’ Know-how – Technology made easy for writers.
If you'd like me to write for you, please get in touch using the form below.