Of all the recent changes in the National Curriculum, ICT has undergone by far the biggest shake up. For starters, it’s no longer even called ICT – as of September 2014, the name was officially replaced with ‘computing’. The change…
Technology has made the world increasingly interconnected, but not necessarily better informed. One of the key roles of technology today should be to help learners better understand the world we live in, and this means teaching news litearcy in schools.…
Post-it notes are a key part of my teacher toolkit as well as being an excellent example of appropriate technology in the classroom. Small pieces of paper with a strip of glue on the back, the simplicity and versatility of…
Drones are simply flying cameras, which can provide fantastic aerial photos and video footage. I recently tested out the Phantom 2, one of the most popular drones currently available to consumers. I was keen to better understand its educational…
The main barriers to learning and teaching digital literacy can be summarised as follows: – Disinformation – Information obesity – Filter bubbles – Misinformation Each barrier shares the same implication, which George Orwell (1945) would refer to as a ‘reduced…
A few of years ago I attended a teacher training session in London called ‘21st Century Boys’. The training was delivered by Sue Palmer and based on insights gleaned from her book, 21st Century Boys: How modern life is driving…
In his book, The Filter Bubble, Pariser (2011) describes a digital situation we all now face in which website algorithms selectively present information to users based on location, click behaviour, search history, etc., and, as a result, distance users from…
The media has three main functions: to inform, guide, and entertain. It is generally agreed, however, that media’s most important role is to tell the public what is going on in the world and why. This in turn gives us…
The global news landscape has changed dramatically in recent years. News readership has increasingly shifted to the Internet because of inexpensive technology, ubiquitous access and free content. This has led to a trend of information democratisation in which information control…
Although there has been a lot of discussion about the virtual whiteboard technology over the years, I have found that there are plenty of benefits to be had from just using a standard whiteboard and projector. One of the key…
