Technology

Secondary ICT – Developing the shape of ICT

With the new academic year upon us, I wonder what troubles lurk ahead and in particular the developing shape of the ICT/Computing curriculum. As indicators of progress in alternative designs to the computing curriculum, I’ve just been reading reports of progress which have been written by the “Computing at School”… Read More

Secondary IT- IT departments step up to the plate

Following the theme of my previous blog, I’ve been mining seams of statistics.  There certainly seems to be a problem in recruiting suitable talent to work in the IT industry, the Office for National Statistics figures show current vacancies hovering around 26 to 30 thousand each month over the last… Read More

Teaching The Basics Of Computer Networking

Computer networking is something which many ICT teachers shy away from and even some of the most knowledgeable computing teachers have only covered the subject briefly during their degrees, often only covering the theory. There are various places which networking comes into at both GCSE and A level, with various… Read More

Outstanding ICT Lessons

As the Olympics becomes a memory of an amazing summer in Great Britain one word has been brought to the fore, Legacy. You might be wondering how this relates to ICT, but a lot of what has been on display in the games is synonymous with outstanding achievement in many… Read More

Secondary Technology – Revision Games

When it comes to exams, I often find that a lot of my pupils struggle to revise for Design & Technology, finding their practical experiences hard to associate it with written exams! In lessons, they enjoy the practical side of the subject but often find sitting down and concentrating without… Read More

All Secondary – Using Twitter and Prezi as Teaching Tools

The idea of using microblogging and social networking in the classroom seems strange, but by leveraging Twitter as a tool for teaching Business and Economics (though these tips apply for almost every subject) you can really inspire some fantastic discussions and take advantage of real time economic data. Read More

Secondary ICT – The Importance of Freedom

When setting assessment tasks there are many criteria to consider. Certainly the most important is the relationship between the assessment task and the specification of the course. This, set by the examination board, is central to our thinking, but there are of course many other criteria which we have to… Read More

Secondary Technology – Sustainability

Introducing Sustainability at Key Stage 3 As a Technology teacher, one of the areas that I have discovered my GCSE students find particularly challenging to get their heads around is the new sustainable GCSE paper. The trouble often is that the idea of ‘sustainability’ and being environmentally conscious as a… Read More