Author Archives: Jo Brodie

by - 1 Comment

*Short course* Computing CPD GCSE one week Easter 2014 (7-11 April) at KCL

Teaching London Computing runs several courses throughout the year, at different London locations, for computing teachers in London. Our next one will take place at King’s College London (Waterloo Campus) and is an intensive 5-day course running from Monday 7th to Friday 11th April 2014. You can register and pay for tickets at KCL’s website directly.

Computing CPD GCSE one week Easter 2014
(info below taken mostly from the ‘Overview’ tab, but see the other tabs on that site for full information)

Course overview
The aim of this course is to prepare ICT teachers for the new Computing Curriculum and to give them the subject knowledge to teach Computing/Computer Science up to GCSE level and to give them the confidence to set up Computer Science courses in their schools. The programming language used is Python3 and we assume that participants will be ICT teachers and that they will have at least tried out Scratch.

Key facts
Course start date: 7 April 2014, Monday to Friday 11 April 2014
Course duration: Five days full time
Times: 10:00am-16:00pm

Entry requirements
Qualified Teacher Status in ICT or experience of teaching ICT in a secondary school. It will help to have some experience of a ‘drag and drop’ programming language such as Scratch and perhaps turtle drawing programs like LOGO. Teachers who have absolutely no experience of programming and prefer a slower start may prefer to do the Primary to KS3 course which looks at ‘drag and drop’ programming in Scratch and LOGO rather than Python and ‘unplugged’ activities for understanding how computers work.

Academic Lead: Margaret Derrington

Fees and other information
This course is partly funded through the Teaching London Computing project run by Queen Mary University of London in collaboration with King’s College London.
A number of teachers in London schools will benefit by receiving a 50% discount on the cost of the course through funding received by the TLC project from the London Schools Excellence Fund.
Cost of Course £300.
Less Discount   £150   (for London Teachers)

The full price of £300 must be paid by students who are not ‘London Teachers’ covered by the LSEF funding, ie who do not live in London and do not work at schools in London LEAs.

 

 

by - 0 comments

Turing lecture – free livestream on Monday 24 February, 6.30pm GMT

“Beyond silicon: cognition and much, much more” Monday 24 February, 18:30 GMT

The IET / BCS Turing lecture 2014 is being given in four cities this year (London, Cardiff, Manchester, Edinburgh). The London talk (at the Royal Institution) is fully booked but the IET will be hosting a free livestream of the talk as it’s given on the Monday evening.

Visit the IET’s Turing Lecture webcast site to see if your computer setup will let you view the stream.

More information at the BCS’s website on Beyond silicon: cognition and much, much more, and on the speaker – Bernard S Meyerson. The Turing lecture is given in honour of Alan Turing, an important figure in the history of computer science.

Free resource from cs4fn
We have a free PDF / web-based version of ‘The Alan Turing Issue‘ of cs4fn magazine (issue 14) for schools.

“…2012, marks one hundred years since the birth of Alan Turing. You may not have heard of him before, but he is one of the most important scientists of the last century. He worked on maths, logic, code-breaking and most importantly, he came up with some of the fundamental ideas that make computers work. He was one of the very first computer scientists.

In this issue we’ll explore Turing’s world-changing life and ideas, and we’ll check out the latest research in subjects he cared about. You’ll read about computers made from chocolate, the best ways to keep a secret and an animal that can survive being chopped into almost 300 pieces. It’s a pretty amazing world out there, made all the more amazing by Alan Turing’s work.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by - 0 comments

Head of Curriculum wanted by @CodeClub (closing 10 March 2014)

Code Club is after a Head of Curriculum. They’re based in London (Old Street) but are happy for remote workers to apply. They’re looking for someone with experience of designing and writing learning materials for children, with experience of Scratch and Python in addition to HTML and CSS.

Salary is £35-45k depending on experience, applications close on Monday 10 March 2014. More details at Code Club’s Head of Curriculum vacancy page.

Other jobs
We also have a job vacancy – we’re looking for Research / Postdoc Research Assistant for the Confidently Teaching Secondary Computing (“Teaching London Computing“) project (£31-34k, closing 4 March 2014), based in London.

 

 

by - 0 comments

New free workshop: Learning programming without computers

Prof Paul Curzon is currently running a series of free workshops for London computing teachers on Monday evenings (every second Monday) at Queen Mary University of London (QML). The next free session Learning programming without computers will take place on Monday 3 March at 5.30pm (registration from 5pm) in The Bancroft Building, Mile End campus.

Lego laptop

“It’s easy to assume that programming is something you have to learn at a computer but if you want your students to deeply understand programming concepts, rather than blindly getting programs to work then unplugged techniques can work really well to get students started. We will see how to program a robot face that is made of students, look at a simple way to give a deep understanding of how variables work by making them physical, and see how to compile programs onto your class instead of onto a computer.”

For more information please visit the workshop’s information page: Learning programming without computers, and you can register for a free ticket using the Eventbrite button below.

Eventbrite - [Free workshop] Learning programming without computing for the free session on Monday 3rd March 2014, 17:30-19:00 (registration and refreshments from 5pm).

About us
Teaching London Computing is a joint project between QML and King’s College London (KCL), with support from Computing At School (CAS). We are supporting London computing teachers with a variety of classroom resources (free) and programming CPD courses for computing teachers (£150 for London teachers, £300 for others if space is available). We’re funded by the Mayor of London and Department for Education to provide this support.

by - 2 Comments

We’re hiring! Research / Postdoc Research Assistant needed for Teaching London Computing £31-34k, closing 4 March 2014

The Teaching London Computing project has a vacancy for a research assistant / post-doctoral research assistant. The post will be based in Queen Mary University of London. Information, including a copy of the job description, and how to apply can be found below – applications close on 4 March 2014.

Ref    QMUL3124
Region    London
Main Site    Mile End
QMUL Faculty    Science & Engineering
Dept     EECS (School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science)
Full Time / Part Time    Full Time

Job Advert
QMUL@School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science
Research Assistant / Postdoctoral Research Assistant

The School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science at Queen Mary, University of London is seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Research Assistant/Research Assistant as part of the ‘Confidently Teaching Secondary Computing’ project (www.teachinglondoncomputing.org). It aims to support London’s computing/ICT teachers by providing resources and courses and evaluating their effectiveness. Supervised by Prof Paul Curzon and Dr William Marsh, the successful candidate will undertake computer science education research in the context of school computing. This involves helping organise courses, the creation and distribution of resources, evaluating their effectiveness, analysing the data collected and writing up the results.

Applicants are expected to demonstrate expertise indicating a capability in empirical research methods and outstanding experience working with multiple stakeholders and in a deadline-driven environment. The successful candidate is especially expected to have substantial experience of education or related project evaluation.  An excellent empirical research skill such as using interviews, surveys and focus groups is highly desirable.

The post is full time for 18 months (depending on the start date), starting as soon as possible. The starting salary will be in the range of £31,113 – £34,626 per annum inclusive of London allowance. Benefits include 30 days annual leave pro rata, defined benefit pension scheme and interest-free season ticket loan.

Candidates must be able to demonstrate their eligibility to work in the UK in accordance with the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. Where required this may include entry clearance or continued leave to remain under the Points Based Immigration Scheme.

Informal enquiries should be addressed to Prof.  Paul Curzon at p.curzon@qmul.ac.uk.

Details about the School can be found at www.eecs.qmul.ac.uk

To apply, please visit the Human Resources website on http://www.jobs.qmul.ac.uk and search with Vacancy Reference Number QMUL3124. Click on the job listing (appears as PDRA (FTC) TLC Project **Paul Curzon) then scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the ‘Apply for this job’ link.

A copy of the job description can also be found here:  Teaching London Computing – RA PDRA February 2014

The closing date for applications is 4 March 2014

Interviews are expected to be held soon after the closing date.

by - 0 comments

From BBC News – ‘Master’ computing teachers recruited to train others

From BBC News, 22 January 2014
“A network of 400 “master” computer science teachers is being recruited to deliver a new computer science curriculum in schools across England.

These specialist teachers will train teachers in other schools and provide resources for teachers to use in class.

Funded by government, the scheme is run by the British Computer Society.”

This was announced at BETT 2014 and the full story can be read here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25842199