Edtech - the role of technology in education

Edtech - the role of technology in education

27th September 2015 | Colin Hegarty

Edtech and the role of technology in education

Hanging on my “wall of inspiration” in my maths classroom is Nelson Mandela’s famous quote on education.  Given that modern technology has, without question, revolutionised the way we do almost everything in our lives, it is a reasonable question to ask, whether using technology effectively could help improve education and, as such, in Mandela’s words change the world.  Read around the subject of the use of technology in education, aka, edtech and you will find as many studies and people saying edtech is the solution to all education’s problems and just as many others stating how ineffective it is and, in some cases detrimental to learning.  The answer I believe, as with most things, lies in the shades of grey between the two viewpoints.  With careful application, thought and obsessive focus on the science teaching and learning, I believe technology has the power to make a meaningful difference in education but blanket application of “tech” to “ed” without thought and we should prepare to make some edtech companies very rich and leave our children no better off whatsoever.

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What do a teacher and entrepreneur have in common?

What do a teacher and entrepreneur have in common?

30th May 2015 | Colin Hegarty

 

“Those who can, do, and those who can’t, teach”

The old adage above couldn’t be further from the truth in my opinion. 

I like to say “those who can, have unrelenting energy, buckets full of passion, an ability to be masterful communicators and work in sometimes tough conditions, teach” 

And so begins my thinking that there may be much more in common in the art of teaching and entrepreneurship than may meet the eye.  

Here are but a few of the traits I believe successful teachers and entrepreneurs share:

 

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Maths Confidence

Maths Confidence

05th May 2014 | Colin Hegarty

Mark Twain once wrote:

 

To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence

 

I’ve always read that quote and was troubled by the ignorance part, which I, being a firm advocate in meritocracy with all things in life, like to believe is not the case.  But in so far as applying this quote to success for a pupil in school maths I would alter the ignorance part and keep the second part to it to say

 

“To succeed in school maths, you need two things: knowledge and confidence”

 

Our role as maths subject teachers is to facilitate both an increase in maths knowledge and maths confidence, as for me the two are intrinsically linked.   There can be a vicious, hard-to-break down cycle for many pupils that can go something like this...

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I’ve Got 99 Problems… And Subtraction Is One

I’ve Got 99 Problems… And Subtraction Is One

17th January 2014 | Colin Hegarty

This is my first ever blog post so be gentle…

Introduction

As a full time maths teacher working with pupils from 11 – 18 years old, one consistent issue seems to arise no matter whether I am working with the new little year 7s trying to get their head around secondary school maths or the year 13s wanting to get into university – subtraction problems.

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