New Laptop February 14, 2008
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, East Lothian Council, Subject Support , add a commentI’m currently in the market for a new laptop, which is proving more difficult that I imagined! I need something lightweight for taking to and from work (and using with my other work for BASP), with decent specs for using graphics, video and sound packages, and also reliable. Seems a tall order. My options seem to be:
- Buy a new PC Laptop.
Pros: I know my way around them, wide variety of choice, will run all the apps I use.
Cons: Windows Vistargh (does anyone actually like this horrible OS?), cheaper portables seem to break easily. - Buy an Ibook.
Pros: It’s an apple. It just works, and doesn’t mean enduring Vistargh. Reliable. Dual boots if I really want it to
Cons: Spec could be better for price, not as familiar with OSX . - Buy an Asus EeePC.
The ‘dark horse’ of my options. I really like the concept of the EeePC. It’s lightweight (tick), runs XP or linux (tick), reasonable specs for mobile computing (tick), costs hee-haw (tick). However, I’ve always been very concerned about the screen size. Storage isn’t a worry - USB pen drives cost so little, and even portable hard drives are a good option now.
As a result, I’m nipping over to MGS to see Robin Strain today, who’s the proud owner of one of these devices, to have a closer look and work out just how usable it is. I do fear though that Asus have made the perfect mobile computer but just skimped on the screen. If only the rumours about a forthcoming 10″ version were to be confirmed, I think we would have a winner.
Comments and thoughts very welcome! (anyone know a good mobile laptop!)
Subject Promotion posters January 24, 2008
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, Dunbar Grammar, East Lothian Council, Subject Support, Uncategorized, future of computing , 2commentsNow that course choices are starting to get nearer I have decided to make up some flyers/posters this year to promote the subject. I’ve posted the PDFs below if anyone wants to use them - I can send the MS publisher files on request if you wish to adapt them.
Happy selling :-)
- compspotting.pdf (with apologies to geography, ollie!)
- compspottinga4.pdf
- ipod.pdf
- telephone.pdf
- wii.pdf
Computing Science inside… November 27, 2007
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, East Lothian Council, Subject Support, Uncategorized, future of computing , add a comment 
It was great to see the Computing Science inside… project get some much deserved publicity in TES this week. I think the article conveyed the real usefulness of these sessions well. I’m going to be working on a letter to the TES regarding the situation in Computing (as I see it anyway!) which I’ll share on here when it’s finished. Who knows, they might even publish it :-)
Quick reminder too - the next CSI session that Edinburgh Uni are holding is on the 11th December. Full details are available from me, or by contacting Raymond Simpson (Edinburgh Lead Teacher). Hope to see some more of you there! Further details are in my previous post if you need them.
BCS warns of skills shortage. November 17, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, East Lothian Council , add a comment
There’s an interesting article on the BBC news website today, quoting the head of the British Computer Society as being concerned about the decline of Computing graduates over the past three years.
The full article can be read at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6155998.stm
I am very pleased with the quote from Prof. Shadbolt:
“It’s a little bit like [the government] stating that to supply the requirements for doctors and medically trained staff in the country we teach increasing numbers of people First Aid”
What I feel he is pointing out is what I have said for a long time: It’s a bit like the school thinking that to properly prepare students for a career in IT we teach increasing numbers of them PC Passport.
While I have no gripe with PC Passport, ECDL or other ICT qualifications I feel strongly that Computing and Information Systems as discrete subjects is the only way to prepare students properly who wish to work in the industry.
I also liked the comment about the quality of teaching - another reason for making sure that students get as much exposure to computing qualified teachers as much as possible!
Computing is a science - not a general skill that can be taught by all and sundry.
ICT debate October 11, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, East Lothian Council , add a commentJust a quick post - There’s a great debate taking place just now on
Robert Jones’ Weblog. Many thanks to
Ollie for blogging about it - great stuff. I’d encourage all teachers of computing to have a look, and perhaps join in.
http://www.jonesieboy.co.uk/blog/2006/10/04/activote-walkthrough-part-1/
Subject Support Meeting September 6, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, East Lothian Council, Subject Support , add a commentWow! That was a quick two weeks - I’ve been meaning to post something since the start of the new term, but time has just flown by. Just to update folk, I’ve (finally) moved into my new house in Dunbar, which is great as I can now walk to work in 15 minutes, rather than a 1 hour drive over the lammermuirs. (Don’t think the environment will be complaining either!)
Anyway, Subject Support: we had our first meeting of the year on Friday at the Old Clubhouse in Gullane. Discussions ranged from the exam results to how to deal with the explosion in online community sites, such as
bebo . On the one had, as ICT specialists, we should be teaching safe use of this technology to pupils. However, there is no doubt that these sites present dangers that conflict with our duty of care towards them, not to mention the ability to inflict a new form of ‘online bullying’ using the technology. Striking a balance between these two might well prove to be an impossible task, though the forthcoming
SSDN - now ‘
Glow ‘ - looks like bringing many of the functions of bebo, youtube and others into a safe, manageable environment. Exciting times!
Anyway, with less than 1 month until the
BorderSAR sponsored walk , I’d better sign off and get planning. (blatant plug ends!) Weekends are filling up fast: Trip to Fisherfield this weekend; MRT exercise next; Medical seminar on the 30th, Walk on the 1st; EMT refresher looming! (To think I expected to have more free time once I’d moved - aye right!)
Cheers!
Shared Network Drives March 16, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, Dunbar Grammar, East Lothian Council, Subject Support , add a commentGot some great news today courtesy of Rod (Adam?) at the IT department - he posted a response to my weblog entry regarding the shared network drives for each subject. Many thanks for taking this forward and updating us Rod. I am certain that the ability to easily share resources between schools will be a great asset to all subjects. I’ve quoted Rod’s entry below, in case you missed it first time around.
“A file server for this purpose has been in place for some time. An initial attempt at coming up with a structure and permissions for the server got caught up in committee hell. I have been trying to revive this with Rob Lewis who wants to use the server to share info with admin staff in schools. Im hoping that I will get the go ahead to let staff start using the Subject area in the next week or two, an email will be sent to all school staff when this is ready.”
Subject Support Group March 12, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, East Lothian Council, Subject Support , add a commentWe had a productive meeting with the SSG on Friday afternoon. Many thanks must go to Carl Roderick at North Berwick for hosting the meeting and organising lunch. While the official purpose of the meeting being to discuss and review materials for teaching HTML and web design, many other topics were also covered in a relaxed and informal afternoon. Points for discussion included…
- The ability to share a network drive across all computing teachers is seen as a priority - come on IT deptartment! This is something I will be chasing up ASAP.
- The standard of commercial papers this year was not great - particuarly in Higher Info Systems. I suggested that we may have to go down the lines of writing an East Lothian wide paper for each subject in future, which is a shame: I have always been a supporter of commercial papers because of the amount of time it can save a teacher - time that can be much better spend on something else instead of re-inventing the wheel.
- Many felt that the high cost of bringing in an external speaker for only an afternoon CPD session was not wise. I tend to agree! There is enough expertise in the group to do much work internally before needing to branch out.
- The remaining money this year should be spent on videos and other material for the group to evaluate. There are particuarly good programmes available on DVD that cover computing issues, and these could be an area to develop.
- Money could also be spent on any books required by a teacher for CPD, if other funding sources were not available.
The next meeting of the SSG will be on the 5th May. This will be at the usual venue: the Old Clubhouse, Gullane. The next CPD session is on the 12th May and is likely to cover web-based teaching and learning. Dave Rawson and myself are both happy to provide this training, so we’ll organise something shortly!