A series of programmes on BBC looked into the huge rise in diagnoses of autism in the UK [1]. The programmes gave space for various academics (as well as other professionals) to explain this ‘autism curve’ and speculate as to its consequences. All spoke in a balanced and open manner and you ended up feeling you… Continue reading The Autism Curve
Category: Learning
general theme of teaching and learning includes language learning
What should we do about children’s access to digital devices?
Looking back on 2024 it felt like this was a year in which the role of technology in children’s lives was being questioned like never before. In several countries there was a push back against smart phones in school (or rather than an outright ban teachers were collecting them in and returning to students at… Continue reading What should we do about children’s access to digital devices?
Using ChatGPT for Language Learning
There has been a great deal of discussion on AI in recent weeks, with some raising (yet again) the idea that technology is going to transform the way we live and work. Part of the narrative about AI concerns its impact on education and there have been visions of using AI for providing personalised feedback… Continue reading Using ChatGPT for Language Learning
Rethinking Education Post Covid
I had the opportunity to reflect on using technology in teaching and learning post lock down at the International Conference on ‘ICT as a Tool for Digitalization of Education (ICTTDE) 2023’. Here is a summary of my talk for those at the conference and may be for those not. What we can learn about digital technology from… Continue reading Rethinking Education Post Covid
Remembering school
In the London Review of Books the other day, the academic Laura Finlayson wrote a short memoir on her school days [1] . She was very far from happy and she explains: When I was thirteen, I left school and never went back. I don’t remember much about my last day. I don’t remember what… Continue reading Remembering school
School closures and educational disadvantage
We are now getting a better idea of the impact of school closures on children’s education (as I write this some students are going back to school but the picture is mixed, it is still not education as normal). Many schools have been going well beyond what is formally expected in supporting access to free school… Continue reading School closures and educational disadvantage
What we can learn about technology from school closures?
Technology, Pedagogy and Education, a journal I am close to, has put out a call for papers on the Covid-19 and the role of technology in teaching [1]. The deadline for abstracts is soon, 17 April, so hurry if you are interested. I'm not writing a paper for it but the lockdown has pushed those of us… Continue reading What we can learn about technology from school closures?
Hunting sound
I was researching technology and international exchange the other day and came across two stories in the history of technology which were new for me. The first concerned World Tape Pals [1]. This was an organisation set up in 1950 to encourage the sharing of news and perspectives from people around the world. A kind… Continue reading Hunting sound
Does Virtual Reality work for education?
Back to more familiar territory: technology. The other week our research centre put on a morning event about virtual reality. Much of it was new for me but the questions it posed about what to do with new technology were familiar ones. So what is VR? One definition I liked came from Lavalle [1] for… Continue reading Does Virtual Reality work for education?
Graffiti and comment forums: An essentially social act gone wrong?
When I find myself disappointed by the tone of online comment forums my mind goes back to toilet graffiti. I am no expert, but there was, I think, a spike in interest in researching toilet (or what Americans might call ‘restroom’) graffiti in the 1970s and 1980s. It is not difficult to see why. Graffiti… Continue reading Graffiti and comment forums: An essentially social act gone wrong?
Michael Hammond 
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