Coming soon

So what's coming up in the very near future, on this website? Here's a list of things we've got planned. Exciting stuff!

Audio feature in articles

News about the audio files on this website. They haven't worked here since 18 July 2007. But they have worked somewhere else!

Change management #3

You might wonder what qualifies me to write about cultural change in an organisation. Well, I’ve done it several times, and I thought I’d set myself the challenge of trying to describe some of the success stories I’ve enjoyed in 250 words or fewer (not counting this generic introduction, of course).

My main motivation in writing these vignettes is that I keep meeting depressed people: people who are in such a dire situation that they have started to believe that they will never be able to change it.

So what I should like to do is provide very brief case studies comprising the before and after, but not the during: my aim is to uplift, rather than instruct, in these stories. That's why I aim to publish them on a Friday or over the weekend: so you can go home full of hope rather than despondency!

This week: getting teachers to change from using quills to using computers.

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change management
cultural change
attitudes
"educational technology" "ICT in Education"

Five minute tip: starting a new term

In a short while it will be the start of a new term. So what should you, the subject leader for educational technology in your school, be thinking about? Here are 7 tips for a stress-free start to the new term.

This article is available only to subscribers to Leading and Managing Educational Technology.

Unlock Potential Of Hidden Innovation To Further Improve Education Sector

Iceberg

A short while ago NESTA published its report, Hidden Innovation, which looked at innovation which goes virtually unnoticed in six key sectors, one of which was education. In this article, Michael Harris, Research Manager at NESTA, discusses how good innovatory ideas might be disseminated more widely.

Important notice about the Educational Technology: ICT in Education RSS Feeds

The RSS feeds on this website have been changed, and if you're reading this through an RSS Feed Reader, this will be the last posting you'll see unless you edit your subscription details.

The reason for the change is partly technical, and partly to do with manageability. You should find that the new feeds are less susceptible to "going down".

Here are the details:

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On the subject of the podcasts, the old ones are still available via this URL:

http://www.terry-freedman.org.uk/db//podcast_rss/

Our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

Always there?

What are the consequences for students of having compromising pictures of themselves published on the internet? Elaine responds to an article in today's Times.

The Cult of the Amateur: Reviewed by Terry Freedman

About a month ago all hell broke loose on the internet when Andrew Keen apparently compared bloggers to monkeys.

But does The Cult of the Amateur have anything to offer the teacher and subject leader of ICT (educational technology) in a school?

Change Management #2

You might wonder what qualifies me to write about cultural change in an organisation. Well, I’ve done it several times, and I thought I’d set myself the challenge of trying to describe some of the success stories I’ve enjoyed in 250 words or fewer.

My main motivation in writing these vignettes is that I keep meeting depressed people: people who are in such a dire situation that they have started to believe that they will never be able to change it.

So what I should like to do is provide very brief case studies comprising the before and after, but not the during: my aim is to uplift, rather than instruct, in these stories. That's why I aim to publish them on a Friday: so you can go home full of hope rather than despondency!

Last week I wrote about the transformation of the educational technology provision in a school. This week, I focus on the change in working practices I brought about in a Local Authority.

The five minute lessons that don't exist

The QCA yesterday launched the new secondary (high school) curriculum for England and Wales today, and this has provided an opportunity for some journalists to demonstrate their skills of tenacity and research.

More on that, and what the new curriculum comprises, and the challenges it holds for ICT leaders and managers.

Dangerously irrelevant?

Sometimes, lots of seemingly disparate events and thoughts occur, which in retrospect may be seen to be part of an emerging pattern. Clearly, there is a danger of seeing a pattern where none really exists, such as when we assign shapes to the formation of stars. But in my case I think I am experiencing a genuine discomfort about the relevance of the so-called edublogosphere.

Interactive TV gets interactive

Now here is a case of art reflecting reality. We seasoned edubloggers are used to multiple communication streams going on, with people sitting in a presentation and blogging, tweeting and skyping about it all at the same time. But none of that influences the presentation itself, except in very rare cases, and then usually confined to the question and answer part of the proceedings.

Five minute tip: Managing the end of the school year

For many colleagues in the UK, the end of yet another school year is looming. So, what should the ICT leader be doing?

Here are 10 essential tips to a stress-free start to the new term in September.


This article is available only to subscribers to Leading and Managing Educational Technology.

Next: Managing the start of the new school year.

A breather, name changes, and a consultation over funding for ICT

Three items of news:

• why I allowed myself to relax slightly
  
  
• organisational changes for education at government level
  
  
• proposed new funding arrangements for ICT in England and Wales

Five Minute Tip: Dealing with the politics

Every job has its share of "office politics". You can't ignore it all, but neither should you get embroiled. So how can you handle the situation so as to be able to actually do your job?

Here are 9 tactics to use.

This article is available only to subscribers to Leading and Managing Educational Technology.

Next: Managing the end of the school year.

Change management #1

You might wonder what qualifies me to write about cultural change in an organisation. Well, I’ve done it several times, and I thought I’d set myself the challenge of trying to describe some of the success stories I’ve enjoyed in 250 words or fewer.

My main motivation in writing these vignettes is that I keep meeting depressed people: people who are in such a dire situation that they have started to believe that they will never be able to change it.

So what I should like to do is provide very brief case studies comprising the before and after, but not the during: my aim is to uplift, rather than instruct, in these stories. That's why I aim to publish them on a Friday: so you can go home full of hope rather than despondency!

Computers in Classrooms #28 available now!

In this issue I examine Ning, the community-building website.

(To receive these letters by email, when they come out, sign up here for free.)

Book review: Blogs Wikis and Podcasts: and other powerful web tools by Will Richardson

Elaine Freedman reviews this book from the viewpoint of a Web 2.0 "newbie".

Five Minute Tip: Starting a new job

So you have landed that great ed tech-related job -- but getting it was the easy part. What do you do next, and how do you get off to the best start? Here are 10 useful tips.

This article is available only to subscribers to Leading and Managing Educational Technology.

Communications at NECC

Ease of communication at NECC was certainly not an issue, with both online and face-to-face meetings catered for. So, what lessons can be learnt for both conference organisers and conference delegates?

But enough about me; let's talk about my latest project

Five things to avoid, and five things to embrace, when it comes to giving presentations. These tips are based on my recent experience as a victim audience member at NECC.

If there is one thing that is guaranteed to wind me up, it is, as I ranted to Jennifer Wagner and anyone else who was unfortunate to be within earshot, people who waste my time. Some presenters should show some respect to their audience.

Five Minute Tip: How to leave work

Leaving a job requires just as much thought and preparation as starting one.

Here are 10 tips for getting it right.

This article is available only to subscribers to Leading and Managing Educational Technology.

Catching up

So why was our website not updated for a week? And what is happening now? All is revealed...

In their own words: Coming of Age contributors talk about their chapters

Contributors to Coming of Age explain what they would like the reader to gain from reading their chapter(s).

There are some great nuggets of wisdom in these snippets of conversation. I have listened to this now several times, and each time I hear something I never heard before!

This is going to be added to, so watch this space.

Computers in Classrooms June 2007

There are some great articles in store in this latest edition, including one on project management written from a student's perspective, in which Casey Cox (from Georgia) details what the job of student project manager in an international collaboration entails.

Here is the full list of contents:

• Editorial
  
  
• Roll Up, Roll Up! -- Information about the NECC Conference in Atlanta, which starts on Monday
  
  
• Managing An International Educational Technology Project A Student's Perspective
  
  
• Updates
  
  
• Creating A Can-Do Culture
  
  
• Vignette: Change Management In A School
  
  
• Quick Mentions
  
  
• A Bit Of A Problem
  
  
• Advertisement
  
  
• Feedback
  
  
• Disclaimer
  
  
• Pass It On/How To Subscribe

To access it online you will need your user ID and password, as this newsletter is for subscribers only. Not a subscriber? It's free, and you can sign up here.

Enjoy!

Creating a can-do culture 2

Creating a can-do culture is pretty easy if your staff are enthusiastic and raring to go. But what of the opposite scenario, in which you find yourself managing a team of people who are unmotivated, possibly even antagonistic? Change management isn’t quick and it isn’t easy, but it is necessary. In this briefing we look at what you need to do in order to get things back on the right track.

This article is available only to subscribers to Leading and Managing Educational Technology.

Creating a can-do culture

Being team leader does not mean having to do everything yourself. But how do you delegate effectively, and still ensure that the students get their grades. In this, the first of two briefings on this subject, we look at how to create a can-do culture in relatively easy circumstances, in which the team is enthusiastic and wanting to work with you. Mistakes can still be made, of course, but at least in this situation you get a head start, and here are 7 key pieces of advice to help you.

In the next briefing we will look at what to do in the opposite situation, where you inherit a poorly motivated and even suspicious team.

This article is available only to subscribers to Leading and Managing Educational Technology.

The consultant's tale

"And I have heard it said, unbidden guests Are often welcomest when they are gone."

William Shakespeare
King Henry the Sixth, Part I

As an educational ICT consultant I think I must have heard all the jokes and jibes about consultants. Unfortunately, some consultants really do live down to their reputation, but not just in education. A few days ago I was subjected to unrequested and largely unhelpful advice from a freelance website designer. Read the conversation, and then extrapolate from it. I'll explain that later. Let's just say for now that I think there are valuable lessons to learn that can be applied in the classroom and to our co-workers, especially those whom we manage.

Assessing ICT

There’s not much point in pupils doing the work if you don’t assess it. This is probably more difficult in ICT than in other subjects because there is not a long-established pedagogy underpinning the teaching of the subject, or a consensus about what constitutes good ICT, and the evidence for it. Here are a few pointers.

Being informative

It's astonishing how many people write reports or articles that are informative -- but only up to a point. Why make the reader work, when there is no need to do so? Even Ofsted (the Office for Standards in Education, in England and Wal

Guide to the Educational Technology: ICT in Education Website

There are loads of pages and areas on this website. This article is, in essence, a list of links to the regions which are not immediately apparent.

Videos for professional development: What do teachers REALLY make?

This is a video of a live act, a video response to another humorous presentation about how not to use PowerPoint. It's an interesting video, but where might you use it?

Five Minute Tip: Getting the best out of teaching assistants

14 key points of good practice.

In my experience, many teachers make poor use of teaching assistants, regarding them as a sort of junior helper on the same level as a school pupil doing a holiday job.

This lack of vision is, of course, almost always due to ineffective management.

The teaching assistant can be a vital component in the quest to raise standards; this briefing explains how.

This article is available only to subscribers to Leading and Managing Educational Technology.

Countdown to NECC 2007: The feeds

This year's NECC show, in Atlanta, is massive. Fortunately, the organisers have set up RSS feeds for every session. Unfortunately, they haven't made the facility that easy to use -- but help is at hand.

Five Minute Tip: Keeping track of CPD

What have you learnt today? Most people do not keep good records of their professional development, and many heads of department or curriculum leaders in education keep none for their staff. This makes it difficult, if not impossible, to manage the departmental training needs effectively. In this briefing we look at how to address this issue.

This article is available only to subscribers to Leading and Managing Educational Technology.

It's a bird, it's a plane -- no, it's super ma'am

Super ma'am

How do we avoid cultural gaffes or misunderstandings in the context of international projects?

No monkey business

After last week's hoo hah about Andrew Keen's "The Cult of the Amateur", in which he purportedly drew an analogy between bloggers and monkeys at a load of typewriters, it's refreshing to hear a professional journalist talk about the value of bloggers.