Nice NOT doing business with you -- a consultancy I would not wish to work with

I run a small consultancy business. By "small", I mean that there is only myself going out and doing the work. That means that sometimes I need to partner up with others, join a consortium, or get myself on a larger company's database.

I recently applied to be placed on the books of a large company, and I learnt a lot about what not to do.

If you are trying to get educational ICT embedded in the curriculum, what you need to do is forge partnerships, because teamwork, in the usual sense of the term, is irrelevant here. (I explain why in another article).

Here is how not to do it.

This article is available only to subscribers to the Practical ICT eJournal. Click the link to find out more about this low-cost subscription.

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Discussion about "Go On, Bore 'Em" -- Students set the agenda

In my book "Go On, Bore 'Em: How to make ICT lessons excruciatingly dull", I looked at the ten most common sources of the problem.

This week: Students set the agenda.



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Nice not doing business with you -- When time is of the essence

In this series I am looking at a number of poor business practices I have come across, and drawing lessons from them which may be applied to the "business" of evangelising about the educational benefits of educational technology or, as we call it in England and other parts of Europe, ICT (Information and Communications Technology).

Is it legitimate to draw such comparisons? I think so, for the following reason. As an ICT evangelist, your role involves convincing others to buy what you have to offer. That may in the form of using services or equipment you provide, or giving you further funding, or in some other form entirely, but ultimately yours is a selling role.

In this article I consider the importance of flexibility, and of not having rules just for their own sake.

This article is available only to subscribers to Leading and Managing Educational Technology. Click the link to find out more about this low-cost subscription.

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Discussion about "Go On, Bore 'Em" -- Starting the lesson

In my book "Go On, Bore 'Em: How to make ICT lessons excruciatingly dull", I looked at the ten most common sources of the problem.

In this series of podcasts, Elaine (my wife) and I discuss my motivation for writing the book, and try to dig a little deeper into its underlying philosophy.

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How to create a blogroll

A blogroll is a list of blogs that one is reading, or at least that one subscribes to, and which one recommends to others. This article is a quick how-to guide on how to set one up.



And what are you reading today?

As you can imagine, it would be awful to have to add the RSS feeds for each blog to a web page using HTML coding. Fortunately, life has been made rather easier than that.

Read on to find out more.

Thought for the day

Thought for the day:

Whatever happens in a lesson, it is the teacher’s responsibility to do something about it.

Not strictly ed tech, but has a bearing on it because, apart from anything else, a poorly-managed lesson involving technology has health and safety implications.

So, is there anything a teacher cannot be held responsible for?

And we'll have some more of that backchat, if you don't mind...

Grace Peters

Readers of this website will know that I have my doubts about the idea of multiple conversations going on while a speaker is presenting. (See, for example, Twittering in the classroom: some issues).

However, I like to keep an open mind, and in this article I look at the case for students doing this so-called "back-channelling", in the form of an interview. So, what is back-channelling, and how useful might it be in the classroom? Elaine and Terry Freedman talk to Grace Peters, a Grade 12 student in Canada, about her experiences.

Educational Technology Leadership Briefing: Managing a virtual team

As collaboration with colleagues who live and work beyond our own environs becomes more and more commonplace, so does the formation of virtual teams. These may be teams of colleagues in the same country (but not necessarily the same time zone) or even internationally.

If you are called upon to lead such a team, what are the challenges and how can you overcome them?

Here are 10 strategies that should help.

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

Five things I have learnt as a consultant

As the waves swished across the sand, a gentle breeze swayed my hammock. Somewhere in the lazy distance a seagull ...

Educational Technology Leadership Briefing: Back to school

Planning the first day of the new school year is a must-do activity, especially if you are new to the school or in a new leadership position in the school. In this briefing we look at the most important activities to be undertaken on the first day back.

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

Personalising personalised learning

There are some terms, perhaps many terms, that we all think we understand -- and then something happens to make you question whether you really understood it properly at all.

A few weeks ago, I had a great awakening in terms of "personalised learning".

ICT Leadership Briefing: Aiming High: What it means for ICT

Beverley Hughes, Minister for Children, Young People and Families, gave a speech in the House of Commons recently, on the subject of making more local facilities available for young people.

On the face of it, there was nothing in her address to suggest a role for the ICT leader, manager or teacher in a school. However, in this briefing we consider a number of ways in which this new strategy is relevant to educational technology in the classroom, based on the UK Government's research findings. There may also be increased funding opportunities available.

This briefing covers:

• What the Minister said
  
  
• What the Government will do
  
  
• Where you come in
  
  
• Ideas for activities
  
  
• Managing the activities
  
  
• Conclusion

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

RSS and other matters

I am, as usual, pushed for time, but I wanted to let you have information about a range of issues. This is a bit of a pot pourri, I'm afraid, but I hope you find it interesting.

The topics covered are:

• My RSS Feeds
  
  
• RSS and Technorati
  
  
• New look
  
  
• Books reviewed
  
  
• Schoolnets report
  
  
• Facebook and employment
  
  
• Private education
  
  
• "Say it again with podcasting"

Facebook face-off

This video, which I came across accidentally on YouTube, raises some interesting issues I think. Watch it, and then consider the questions which follow... :-)

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!

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:

To subscribe to the article summaries, use this URL:

http://www.feedcraft.com/feed/terryfreedman/Educational+Technology+ICT+in+Education+Headlines+only

To subscribe to the full articles, use this URL:

http://www.feedcraft.com/feed/terryfreedman/Educational+Technology+ICT+in+Education+Full+Articles

To subscribe to our podcast, use this URL:

http://www.feedcraft.com/feed/terryfreedman/Terry+Freedmans+Educational+Technology+Podcast

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.

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.