As well as clearing out a whole load of stuff, we have also acquired a couple of cats. They are currently breaking us in, and we are hoping that by tomorrow they will have trained us sufficiently to allow us all to watch the royal wedding together in the comfort of our lounge.
Saving Teachers TV
As you may know, the Teachers’ TV website will no longer be be available from tomorrow (29th April). Consultant Leon Cych has done a great job of organising a mass community download operation to ensure that these videos will not be lost.
Read MoreNormal service will be resumed
I'm taking advantage of the Easter vacation to clear out old files and paperwork. It's something I've been meaning to do for some time, and with so many bank holidays this month, this seemed as good a time as any!
There are quite a few articles on this site to read, and lots on the original ICT in Education website too.
I'll resume posting articles here as soon as possible, but please bear with me for a week or so! Thanks.
Preparing for the new term
What I’d really like to do right now is relax in the garden with a good book, or go swimming, or to enjoy the best of both worlds by taking myself to an outdoor pool somewhere. I could do a couple of lengths to convince myself I’ve had a work-out, and then reward myself by soaking up the sun. Instead, I’m surrounded by boxes of files, bags of files, and files. Yes, it’s the annual spring-clean, and this year I’m throwing out all the documents that last year I thought I should keep, and which I haven’t looked at since. I will also put all the new documents I think I should keep into a special box, to make it easier to throw them out this time next year.
Budgeting for educational technology
When the Principal chewed me out for having put in a purchase order for toner cartridges, I guessed that was probably not the best time to present to him my refurbishment plan which involved buying interactive whiteboards. The school was generous in its funding of ICT, but I had been given only a consumables budget, not a capital one. This made planning ahead almost impossible.
Read MoreConventional non-wisdom
Should you have an ICT leaflet or prospectus to give to potential students or their parents? Conventional wisdom dictates that you should. Conventional wisdom is wrong.
If you think about it, the only reason for doing anything, either in education or in business, is to solve a problem. What is the problem, then, that the ICT prospectus is intended to solve? It is this:
5 Reasons to contribute to consultations
The number of responses to consultations tends to be low. For example, the Royal Society in England has received 125 responses to its consultation on computing in schools. Admittedly this is a niche area, but it still seems pretty low to me, given the fact that there are over 17,000 primary schools in England and, especially, over 3,000 secondary schools which, one would assume, have a vested interest. I believe that the number of responses to Government consultations is higher, but still relatively small.
I think people are mistaken not to have their say in this type of situation, even though I can understand why they might not wish to do so.
Yes / No - Ummm.....!
"If you have a position that requires an opinion to be made then you have to give one. It may not tie in with the rest of the team but it may actually be the opinion that makes the difference."
Read MoreJulia Skinner gives her opinion on the importance of having -- and expressing -- an opinion.
The end of Becta et al? Or, Should the Centre for Policy Studies be abolished?
"It seems to me that one of the key issues is not whether organisations provide value for money according to some narrow criteria, but whether they do so when the wider social costs and benefits are taken into account."
Read MoreThis article was originally published on 1st September 2009. I thought it might be interesting to re-read it in the current UK context.
25 ways to make yourself unpopular: #19 Always use technology
Those responsible for ICT (educational technology) should beware of using technology too much: if they’re not careful, it can deter people from wanting to use it themselves.
An unexpected delight in an ICT lesson
It's often in the least likely circumstances that we discover astonishing things about others, and possibly ourselves.
One day while teaching I saw Maryanne, a 14 year-old pupil, walk past my room. I asked her what she was doing out of her lesson.
Read MoreICT Briefing Evenings
When the Headteacher told me that he would like me to run an ICT briefing evening for parents, I thought it was a great idea, although I didn’t agree with his suggested approach. He thought the parents should be given a talk for about 20 minutes, and then be allowed to wander around. I thought, let’s cut the talk part: the kids can do that, on a one-to-one basis. Who wants to sit and listen where ICT is concerned?
Read MoreIs there an ICT way of thinking?
Is there a way of thinking that has a quality of “ICT-ness”, in the same way as, say, there is an economics way of thinking? To put this another way, are there particular concepts whose understanding are fundamental to what we might call “digital literacy”? In the field of economics, for example, you have to understand the concepts of opportunity cost, scarcity an marginality – all of which words are technical terms in economics, regardless of how they are used in everyday speech.
Read More