This is my 'working document' C.V. within which I will try and keep up-to-date with my current achievements and projects. Please do not take this document as a sign that I am "looking for a job", rather that I am always open to being approached about new ideas, concepts and projects.

Education & Training

  • 1997: Sacred Heart Secondary Comprehensive - 8 GCSE's at A*-C including English, Maths and Science
  • 1999: Redcar & Cleveland Technical College - A-Levels in Maths, Physics & Computing
  • 2002: University of Portsmouth - BSc (hons) Computing
  • 2008: St Mary's University College - PGCE Education (A)ICT
  • 2011: Edge Hill College of Higher Education - PGDip Education
  • 2015: The Institute of Education (UCL) - M.A. Educational Leadership
  • 2019: ValidateSkills - SFIA Consultancy Training

Employment

  • 2008-2017: Teacher/Head of Dept/Subject-Coordinator - Harris Academy Merton. Role started as a teacher (ICT/Business), led through promotions to HoD CS, Subject Coordinator (CS, IT, Business, Economics), Subject Coordinator (ICT, CS, Media, R.E., Psychology, Sociology). Also took role of Head of Data & Assessment, Asst G&T Cooordinator, VLE supervisor. This role additionally led me to be a Specialist Leader of Education (Computing).
  • 2017-2019: Assistant Principal - Banbury Academy/Wykham Park Academy/Space Studio Banbury. Assistant principal covering Maths, Computing & Engineering, oversaw whole-school data, overseeing roughly 1/4 of the schools' teaching staff and students.
  • 2019-Present: Lecturer of Computing - Open University. Working within the Institute of Code and on undergraduate courses.
  • 2012-Present: Founder - ICT So Easy Ltd - Educational consultation and resource development and bespoke tutoring.
  • 2015-2021: Lead Assessment Writer/Principal Examiner - AQA, AS Theory paper - writing, delivering and assessing national examination.
  • 2019-Present: KS3 Lead (CS), Resource developer, Tutor - Wolsey Hall Oxford - Leading on KS3 Computer Science, writing resources and assessments, tutoring students at KS3-A-level.
  • 2020-Present: Lead Assessor - BCS - Leading students and other assessors through the British Computer Society SKE For CS Teacher Training.
  • 2020-Present: Visiting Assessor - National School of Education and Teaching (Coventry University) - Supporting and assessing trainee teachers across Computing, Maths and Business.

Research & Projects

  • 2019 - Identifying the Impact of Using Augmented and Virtual Reality in Educational Contexts. (work in progress)
  • 2019-20 - Analysis of Accreditation Approaches in the Computing Sector: Institute of Coding Work Package 1.1. (work in progress - with David S Bowers)
  • 2019-20 - Infrastructure & Technologies for Delivering Learning of Coding: Institute of Coding Work Package 1.2. (work in progress - with Tony Hirst)
  • 2019 - TurtleIT - Simplified implementation of Python Turtle for completing maze challenges along with novel remote collaborative coding solution. Blog entry
  • 2019-21 - Development of IoC Accreditation Framework: Institute of Coding Work Package 1.1. (work in progress)
  • 2019-20 - Development of PGCE Computer Science course material: University of Coventry
  • 2019-Present - An evaluation of the usefulness of the Level 2 ARFY quizzes* - eSTEeM project.
  • 2021-Present - An investigtion into the use of direct combination and stateful traits in Smalltalk supported by a virtual reality domain.
  • 2020-2021 - INSPIRE Project - Co-I (and temporary PI) in a pilot scheme exploring the integration of IoT, AI and Robotics into the school curriculum.

Experiences & Key Responsibilities

Current

  • Since 2019 - Journal Article Reviewer - CG Scholar
  • Since 2019 - Journal Article Reviewer - Open Learning
  • Since 2019 - Member of Athena SWAN panel (School of Computing & Communications, Open University)
  • Module Chair: M269
  • Seminar Co-ordinator for School of Computing & Communications, Open University
  • Visiting Assessor: National School of Education & Training, Coventry University

Coming up

  • 2021 - SME Reviewer for ARM EdX Module 3.

In the past

  • 2015 - Collaborated on AQA GCSE Computer Science textbook (Steve Cushing)
  • 2015 - Collaborated and contributed to AQA A-Level Computer Science textbook (Bob Reeves)
  • 2016 - Acknowledged as a CAS Master Teacher
  • 2016/17 - Twice contracted by Dubai College to deliver teacher Computer Science CPD in Dubai. A total of 10 days training was delivered over two years.
  • 2017 - Accepted as a volunteer at the National Museum of Computing
  • 2018 - Appointed developer on Discworld MUD
  • 2019 - Delivered a hack-a-thon for three primary schools in Kent. Developed TurtleIT for this purpose. Blog entry
  • 2019 - Requested to deliver session on the future of VR in Education at #Exabytes10 - My presentation is available here.
  • 2019 - Presented initial research findings as a poster at the International Conference of Learning, Belfast
  • 2019 - Part of the academic team on Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Workshop (Institute of Coding)
  • 2019 - Attended UKCRC/EPSRC Workshops: Developing a strategy to rejuvenate and focus UK Computing Research for the next 5-10 years.
  • 2020 - Development and delivery of SERAS workshops on IoT - Introduction to IoT with the Arduino.
  • Interview with iLRN Versatilist Podcast on "An exploration of the impact of augmented and Virtual Reality within compulsory education"

Publications

  • 2019 - Authored chapter in New Perspectives on Virtual and Augmented Reality in Education (Routledge)
  • 2019 - Attended Koli Calling 2019 and delivered poster: Aligning Competence Hierarchies with Bloom's Taxonomies Changing the Focus for Computing Education. Based on this paper. (Co-authored with D. Bowers & M. Petre)
  • 2020 - Attended HEA STEM 2020 and deliverted poster (as per Koli Calling 2019).
  • 2021 - Authored Arudino MKR (ARM Publications) - in final editing.
  • 2020-Present - Authored range of Micro Textbooks for school-age Computing subjects.

Hobbies & Interests

  • Adventurous driving trips - (Including London-Georgia and London-Marrakech)
  • Programming for fun - sad but true
  • Reading - currently working through an extended list of the world's best Sci-Fi. I've just re-visited the works of Tom Sharpe and am now looking for new things to listen to on the way to work. I do a lot of audiobooks!
  • Cycling - recently rode from Paris to London
  • Walking - Yorkshire Three Peaks is coming up to be followed by an extended three-day walk/wild-camp in the Lake District
  • Forging - not signatures! I've recently taken up blacksmithing; I've learnt to weld (sort of) to build myself a forge and am now beating scrap steel into different types of scrap steel. It's fun!

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