How I got into tech
Thank you to Robin, Becky and the team for a great welcome back to Bishopstone, to the very classroom where so many technological adventures were had all those years ago! https://youtu.be/oWKSi6jNQEw
Sharing a particular historical archive using technology and the outdoors is an ongoing mission. As those familiar with this undertaking are aware, over the last year I have converted an 1830s schoolhouse building into an archive storage and digitisation facility. This then enabled me to begin work on the Historical Narrative - a book that seeks to weave together the many stories that belong…
www.flickernet.net/jaa Thank you for the many messages of support and condolences that my family have received. Mum leaves a huge legacy for us to build on - an example which I will always be grateful for. There is a link to the funeral service and eulogy here. She would very much expect me to carry on now, which I will - in the added…
A little note to say that, sadly, I am on compassionate leave at present due to my Mum being gravely ill. My regular schools know this, and I am grateful for their understanding. My Digital Writes colleague Keith continues to deliver our current courses. Meanwhile, with time ahead in Northern Ireland, I am preparing for the upcoming Woodland Coding events, through Space To Learn,…
With the launch of Flickernet Tinker, there is now a new opportunity to become involved in the world of physical computing, even if you prefer making to teaching! Everyone is welcome to join in - for further details please see: http://www.flickernet.net/join
Thank you to Chris and the team for some fascinating CPD in Birmingham this week. It has brought home to me how much more effective it is to plan a project - especially one that involves many disciplines and subject areas - with the input of brilliant people! www.flickernet.net/stem http://www.flickernet.net/stem
The Space To Learn page is gradually taking shape. Over the next few months I will share the ways in which I aim to develop outdoor educational technology from our foothold in the Mourne Mountains. Expect live data streams; real world applications of physical technology; and an exploration into new ways in which STEM subjects, creative writing and historical investigations can benefit from a…
This website was so useful in helping Year 7 to make sense of what innovations happened, when! http://www.computerhistory.org/timeline
Dad loved this phone. I used to get in trouble for borrowing it. Before there were "cordless" phones and well before many people had mobile phones, this was an early "I'm in the garden" device.!
The wonderfully talented Year 13 A Level Computer Science class that I teach weren't quite sure what to make of my scrawled starter question: what happened in 1998? They made some great suggestions (considering that this occurred comprehensively before their birth!), but what I remember of 1998 is that the idea started to formulate in my mind that not everyone was going to grasp…
Farewell to my Cousin Joe. I just wanted to record here how much I miss him - we all do. Joe always supported any tech venture that I made. The way that he pondered a concept, and gave gentle pointers was such a precious gift. Full tribute here: http://www.flickernet.net/jpg/
here's one from the archives: my first PC, a 286 running at 16mhz (Turbo, 8mhz otherwise) a full 1 MB of RAM and a whopping 10MB RLL hard disk! In 1992 the KB was still a thing. Once the hdd got too full it was time to run 'Stacker' which compressed that precious space to squeeze more on. After some upgrading fun,…
Meanwhile in school the fun with tech was endless! We used I Can Present software to add virtual backgrounds for many different scenarios such as spelling skills in the Bake Off kitchen; career imaginings; historical visits and geographical reporting.
Claire and Sam had been attending our RIG meetings. After one session the suggestion was made: I could train to become a CAS Master Teacher after which our RIG meetings could be classed as CAS Hub meetings. This provided a huge boost to our support and widened the network exponentially. CAS then agreed to allow our RIG meetings to be held at the CAS…
I was invited to become a Leading Teacher for ICT (as it was) in 2010 then an SLE (Specialist Leader of Education) for Computing (as it became) in 2013. In the meantime I set about creating a group who could share good practice around the use of technology in schools. There had been network meetings led by a LA employee called Anna but when…
The projectors, and subsequently the Clevertouch smart boards beamed out in front of my class imagery and interactivity in support of every subject that we studied. Although my focus was on learning learning, as it were, and of exploring how schools were expected to teach tech, I couldn't help but bring aspects of technology-assisted learning into every subject, and most lessons. There were two…
On graduating Bath Spa in '06 and having met my future wife Rachel there I felt on top of the world! I nearly didn't apply for the job at Bishopstone but Rachel and I were both going for schools in Swindon and I had no idea what 0.6 meant (2 days off a week for the whole first year, it later transpired!) Sue was…
With a whopping 400 Mhz PII (twin 10GBs) Bertha whirred into life in 1999. I nested Bertha in The Studio - a re-imagining of my Dad's 1970s shipping office. The buoyant blue that Dad had painted each length of wood panelling became dynamic orange and lusty red; his shipping manifest board took on a new role detailing Microsoft Office functionality and Bertha was joined…
Lego Mindstorms was a great step for Lego in the late 90s. The Lego NXT arrived in time to play with as a new Primary teacher. An early project - entered into the local Science Festival - was to race a Lego NXT robot in a giant maze against a woodlouse in a Lego maze. The first one to make it out won. In…
This is Prince Hal. Originally a Christmas Present (c1989) he was infra red controlled with the ability to follow a sequence of instructions sent to him from a television-remote style controller. Then, for no apparent reason, he ceased working . I gutted him and replaced the circuitry with that from a radio controlled car and a walkie talkie headset unit. Also a radio doorbell.…
A great place to hide a walkie talkie circuit: inside a pencil case! The microphone is in the pencil sharpener.
Circuitry is, in my opinion, the ultimate building material: not only can it be joined together, shaped and assembled to produce creations that have wonderful potential for all sorts of fun, it can now also be linked to computers through any number of teacher-friendly interface kits. Coding then becomes a means to trigger electronic creations which is much more immediate and eye-catching for learners.…
Programming appealed to me as soon as I was shown BASIC on a BBC at the back of the classroom, then via the Vtech 'Pre-Computer 1000' that I was given in Christmas 1990. It had a single line of dot matrix screen which scrolled questions but the best feature was simple BASIC functionality - which was great fun to explore. Only thing was that…
Kinder Surprise eggs have it all: the anticipation , the chocolate and of course the fun of building the toy inside (unless it is a disappointing figurine inside!) I gathered the assorted parts together from many eggs (and much chocolate later) in a tin which has recently turned up. These Mad Max looking creations are what happens when a ten year old is let…
From an early age I have seen the benefit of a dedicated "Maker Space". Whereas the trend these days seems to be towards a themed and sometimes rather constrained approach to building projects - a little chaos can go a long way to widening the possibilities. The phrase "App Smashing" is given to the technique of using multiple applications to achieve a desired outcome…
Sammy left many curious contraptions to me when he passed away in 2002. He had reached his 90s despite having raced trains in a Mini Cooper; survived a car-crash by holding on to the passenger seat so hard that he took it with him through the front window; jumped onto an out-of-control lorry that was jack-knifing its way over ice; and been a motorbike…
These pictures, taken on the Wrist Camera, were from Sammy's Garage. Sammy was a very dear friend who invented fearlessly and was blessed with the gift of spotting Just The Thing that he needed from within a maelstrom of spare parts and surplus fittings. He would use a long screw to stir up the contents of assorted tins from which would emerge an improbably…
In later years (C2001) I relished taking the 16kb black and white images that the Wrist Camera could produce. I registered www.watchmyday.net then used an uploading script built by a friend to beam these little postcards out. They are comically dark and indistinct now but they capture a moment in time for me - I will create a gallery for them up here soon.…
The thing about boarding school is the lack of having your own private space (apart from a tuck box with, let's say, a false bottom and number coded padlock..) For me the humble watch became a constant companion. From the early Butler Solar Powered watch that had been my Grandfather's (worn and worn out by the time I was eight!) via this radio watch…
The Personal Alarm System was born! I remember showing it to Dad and trying to summarise what a jumble of wires were inside the switch box. (The switch box had been a joyous find nestled in the driver's cab of a bus which had come to rest in a local scrapyard). He must have winced when he saw the emergency 'short' feature - which…
For reasons that still elude me I was predisposed to secure my living environment. I loved a good security setup and having wired up my bedroom in ways that I will detail at another time - the idea must have come to me that to secure any environment - and to do it from a box - would be cool.
Where I grew up there was a seemingly never-ending supply of Interesting Old Bits. During long Summer Holidays from boarding school I would make it my business to make. Literally nothing made me happier than the sheer act of making. This box appeared mid-rummage.
Then I noticed the date when the fax was sent to Dad: 27 Jan 1992. It took me time to process that. I am so used to 1992 being the start of when Dad wasn't there. Dad passed away on 13th Feb 1992 - seventeen days after that fax was sent to him. He was 47, in the final stages of kidney cancer, flat…
It was while sorting through his papers some years ago that I found this fax. It was a guide to commands that would be used to program the Apple II. Dad used it for keeping his company accounts mainly with letters and shipping manifests also patiently tapped in. This would have marked a departure for Dad: a getting to grips with the system architecture,…
Dad had form with tech - long a fan of the telex and latterly the fax, he carried a shoulder-worn analogue mobile (which he called "Yuppy"), sported a Sharp IQ organizer (pocketable qwerty, touch screen for removable app cards and a hefty 128kb memory) and had assembled a hotch-potch of venerable old technology stars. This 'Teletran' is now on display in the Swindon Computer…
