Logotron's Newsletter articles

Why do we have computers in schools?
A child born today will spend their entire life in an Information Society. No-one can foresee what this will be like. But do we have computers in school so that children can become ICT users?
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Talk to the world
Some people love on-line discussion, others hate it. The Internet is full of discussion groups variously called Usenet, newsgroups, forums and notice boards. Are you up to speed with on-line discussion? Or are you ignoring it and hoping that it will go away?
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Life is changing...
We hear constant talk about change. We sometimes wonder if life will ever be the same again and why things can’t be like they used to be. People have always felt like this but the teaching profession seems to have been singled out for an especially turbulent ride. The truth is stranger than you might think and is the real secret behind the government’s slogan of ‘Education, Education, Education'.
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Where did it all start?
As you watch your children produce a piece of work on a multimedia computer, have you ever wondered how it all began? Perhaps you can remember that first BBC computer with cassettes? Take a trip down memory lane.
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The end of the job?
The children in your class are passing through the education system in order to be prepared for the working world. What sort of a world will they enter? Will education fully equip them for it? The reality is startling and might make you question some of your assumptions.
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Finding things out
There is a lot of emphasis today on how ICT supports and extends the whole curriculum, but in order to use ICT you do need a core set of skills and knowledge. These are contained in the ICT curriculum. In England the curriculum contains five ‘strands’ of activity. This article focuses on the ‘Finding Things Out’ strand.
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Old tasks for new technologies
What exactly do we do with ICT in the modern world? Are we creating new and exciting opportunities or are we simply doing the usual things but a bit more efficiently? Lessons from the past can throw fascinating light on the present. The Ironbridge in Shropshire is just such an example.
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Graphic art and digital cameras
Some people wonder if using a computer to paint a picture is a valid use of a powerful technology. Does it help acquire ICT skills? Does it enhance Art as a curriculum subject? Find out what it's all about - and also discover useful facts about digital cameras.
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Making the punishment fit the crime
The great advantage of using a computer for handling data is that you can find answers to questions. If only the police force in Victorian Huntingdon had had access to a computer they could have achieved their objective of giving heavier penalties to persistent offenders.
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ICT and Special Needs
Computers have helped children with special needs since the very earliest days. They support children who find learning difficult and, more importantly, provide complete access for children who would otherwise be denied an education altogether.
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Computer Modelling
We meet computer models in the form of adventure games and simulations but it can be difficult to know exactly where they fit into the development of ICT skills and how they can be used across the curriculum.
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Changing Times
What on Earth has the story of typesetting to do with the world we live in today? Well, strangely it’s very relevant. The fears of workers a hundred years ago mirror our own fears. The consequence for them was unexpected – job losses were feared but in the event thousands were created. Is our future as unforeseeable?
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A New Digital Landscape
Children view the Internet through new eyes. Whereas adults use it to find things out, children and especially teenagers are finding that it's a new landscape in which they can express themselves and meet people in ways which are difficult or impossible for them in the real world.
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What are PDF files?
Have you come across files that are referred to as 'PDFs'? When you click on them you find yourself reading a document (perhaps an Ofsted Report) that looks different from a normal web page. This article explains what PDF files are and why we use them.
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In Control
In the modern world most machinery is controlled by computer technology. The basic principles of computer control are as important for children today as woodwork and needlework were to previous generations. The traditional skills aren't redundant - rather we must add computer control to the children's curriculum.
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Whiteboards and Tablet PCs
There's a great deal of hype about how whiteboards are the answer to every teacher's prayer, but are they? In fact they offer some excellent opportunities but you need to know all the facts.
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Will ICT raise standards?
The government has pumped billions of pounds into ICT to raise standards. Is it money well spent? ICT's role in raising standards continues to be hotly debated.
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Is ICT the last word in ‘good things’ or will it be the end of us?
Two schools of thought seem to carry equal weight. The correct one will be decisive in the history of mankind. Discover the facts then make up your own mind.
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What’s in the Ofsted inspector’s mind as he looks at your wall display?
We all try to make an impression with our classroom displays. But do they convey the right message when Ofsted is in school. This article will give you valuable insight into how the inspector will view a display of graphs produced by the children.
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The Net Detectives: 'You can call on us when you have a difficult crime to solve'
This was a real message posted by a group of year six children at the end of a successful Net Detectives session. The children had identified the villains from evidence which arrived during the morning as the story unfolded.
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The Faster the Better - the Truth about Broadband
If you've been puzzled by advertisements for broadband you must read this article to find out what they are trying to sell you - the advertisers certainly don't seem able to describe it.
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ICT and Art
If you've ever watched a child "painting" a picture on a computer using a mouse and the Windows Paint program, you could be forgiven for thinking that ICT and art are intrinsically separate disciplines. But they're not and this article will show you how ICT can play an important role in the art curriculum.
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The smaller the better - what is nanotechnology?
We have become familiar with the idea of computer technology becoming smaller every year. But you may not know that biologists and chemists are working in the the opposite direction and their work might be even more revolutionary in the not-to-distant future.
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Open Source Software
Many people have noticed that the cost of their suite of office software (word processor, spreadsheet, etc.) is prohibitively high. When you add up the license cost for all of your administrative and curriculum computers you end up with a sizeable sum of money. The solution is to be found in Logotron School Office.
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Control and Monitoring
Using computers to control real models or to measure physical variables are the two areas which are weakest in most schools. Teachers are understandably nervous about plugging devices into computers and achieving success. But the answer is simple and comes in the form of two programs from Logotron.
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Are you happy?
Could it be that by using the best software you might change the very future of Great Britain for the better? It's certainly a possibility and it is all down to happiness and something that economist, John Maynard Keynes, first noticed generations ago.
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Invasion of the spelling snatchers
The last time Britain was invaded there was a good deal of protest and Harold got an arrow in his eye. This time no-one seems to mind as our our spellings are quietly hijacked all around us.
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Broadband
It's coming into schools day by day so what difference is it making. Is it any better than the Internet connection you had before and do the children learn ten times faster?
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Creativity
Creativity is receiving a lot of publicity at the moment and yet it seems only yesterday that it was part and parcel of every primary classroom. How did something so important fall out of favour and what is bringing it back to the fore once more?
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Holidays on the Moon
Those of us who watched the moon landings back in 1969 imagined that by now, we would all be taking package holidays on the Moon, yet space travel seems almost as far away now as it did then. What happened to the dream?
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If music be the food of love
The demand for music is as high as ever and yet the record companies are suffering from falling sales. They blame wholesale piracy and accuse Internet users of destroying their businesses. Are they right?
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ICT improves standards
The ImpaCT2 study showed that ICT raises standards by half a grade at GCSE. It's not a very large improvement and raises the question whether this is the best way to measure the effect of ICT. Perhaps we should measure other things?
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Digital video
Primary children spend an hour a day learning the literacy of the written word yet they spend most of their lives surrounded by sounds and images on film and television. With increases in computer processor power, even young children can now communicate using the literacy of the moving image. The time has come to put this powerful medium into their hands.
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Bad at Maths?
In the UK, we are happy to own up to our shortcomings when it comes to all things mathematical. However, we don't own up to shortcomings in reading. Are other countries the same and can ICT help?
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