Most of us teach material that will be assessed in an examination of some form or another, but upcoming changes to GCSEs mean that for all of us the focus on teaching exam technique will become more and more important. One of the major issues that I’ve found to be holding learners back from excelling…
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#TMNSL Workshop Summary: Stop Getting IT Wrong!
Stop Getting IT Wrong! Workshop Summary Digital learning is not something to be scared of or to be worried about. It’s just learning. No one called it ‘Pen based learning’ when we moved away from slate tablets, but I’m sure there were a few people reluctant to change their ways, or that didn’t quite ‘get’…
Top Ten Starter Points for Digital Learning
1. There is a time and effort overhead to starting anything new So work with it. Build it into your planning and do not use the new ‘thing’ just once. It takes time for people to learn to use any new technology, so make sure that you have the time to deal with that before you…
Introduction to Python – Posters
Since I’ve turned to the dark side, and been developing A-Level resources for Python, I thought I’d take a stab at putting some of the more important syntax into poster form so that I can distribute them around the classroom. They cover a basic syntax of everything you’d need up to, and including, using lists…
Second Generation Custom Exercise Books
I’m sure that some of you remember my post from last year: Print on demand for better Learning, where I explained the thinking behind my efforts to produce custom exercise books for my post-16 Computing students. Well, after a year of use and some very interesting impacts on teaching and learning we decided that it would be…
The Best Thirty Quid I’ve Ever Spent (for Teaching and Learning) #TMCotham
At #TMCotham last night I delivered a very well received 5-minute presentation, all about the best investment I ever made into the teaching and learning in my department. So what was it that I spent that fateful £30 on that really changed things for us? Amazon link to buy the glasses What Was I Looking…
Interview on BBC Radio Bristol about Coding in Schools
I was lucky enough to be asked to discuss the topic of Coding in Schools with John Darvall on BBC Radio Bristol today, I think it nicely explains the importance of coding whilst contextualising it in the continuum of learning. If you’d like to listen you can either go to the BBC iPlayer (within 7 days)…
Sharing Large Files without Killing your Inbox
It’s my penultimate sarcastic article for this term, where today I’m looking at something very familiar to a lot of us. It’s very pertinent Sharing Large Files without Killing your Inbox I get this a lot, I am forever having to wander over to the IT support guys, cap in hand, with a tear in…
Why not try?
Welcome again to the always sarcastic, sometimes helpful, weekly whinge about people getting things wrong in IT. This week I’m taking a bit of a break from moaning because I think that I managed to adequately vent in last week’s monster 3200 word article (thanks for the positive feedback by the way), so instead I’m…
How to Write an Email like an Adult
This week I’ve been inundated with messages from colleagues who see the standard of emails being poor. Not from students, no – from other staff! You may have picked up on the passive aggressive undertones to previous articles on email behaviour from me; that this is one of my biggest pet peeves, I get so…