Robin REED B.Sc., A.C.P., M.Ed.
Last updated
CURRENT ACTIVITIES
Now fully retired from paid work, but still very active in various ways.
A lot of my time is spent keeping up my work with the Friends of Youth Music
in
And a lot more of our time can now be spent at our home in France!
EXPERIENCE:
Then onto becoming an enthusiastic teacher of Mathematics to A level at the Technical Grammar school in Tynemouth, going through RoSLA (Raising of the School Leaving age from 15 to 16 years), then through comprehensivisation, and in between times the production of a now little used Maths resource called Maths for the Majority Continuation Project (Schools Council funded).
We did introduce Computer Education into the curriculum (one of the first in the country), using ICL's Computer Education in Schools series. But the main attraction came with the purchase of a PET microcomputer system in 1978 to use for programming instead of taking coding sheets to the Borough Treasurers department to run through a JBAS compiler under GEORGE3 on their ICL mainframe.
Then a major breakthrough in 1979-1980 when the LEA commissioned me to run a one year project aimed at creating a computing strategy for the Borough. Based at Newcastle University we were able to evaluate different aspects of the use of computers in schools, and I wrote a computing strategy which is still in existence in the authority.
All too soon it was time to consider alternative career paths and I went to Newcastle Polytechnic (now the University of Northumbria) as a Computer Based Learning Adviser where we were able to develop some very useful electronic tools for use by lecturing staff. Then it was into management as Deputy Director of Computing and Information Services until my 'retirement' in March 1997.
After a brief period of relaxation I joined the staff of St Thomas More VIth Form College in North Shields (internet site soon to be available) as a temporary, part time teacher of ICT. Several new projects at the school added to the interest, not least of which were four new computer suites. The college and the school are still very active in ICT across the curriculum and there is no lack of enthusiasm for developing the quality of teaching and learning (for staff as well as students) through ICT. The school became a specialist school in Maths and ICT and continues to develop in these areas. The computer capabilities were improved through the (wired and wireless) networking of the school, adding more facilities in the shape of interactive whiteboards and projection systems, and developing the use of the intranet for staff and for student’s curricula work. My students eventually sent their electronic project work home through e-mail and then sent it back to themselves in school for me to mark. All my work for the students was posted on the schools intranet so that they could become independent learners. I guess at some stage I wanted them to be able to get through to this resource from home and then become electronic students in a very real sense.
I finally retired completely from paid employment in July 2004 and let my own interests expand to fill my days, which as everyone who is retired will tell you happens very quickly. So much so that I seem not to have enough time in the week to everything I want to, so I prioritise!
A new addition to our family, a Border Terrier called Tansy (actual Kennel Club Name Fougeremont Jaune – how posh is that?), keeps us both fit with long walks and many active hours playing in the garden.
OVERSEAS PROJECTS
In 1983 the British Council, in conjunction with OEDC, set up education links between UK and Kenyan Polytechnics, and specifically between Newcastle and Mombasa Polys. Our brief in this link was to evaluate the potential use of computers in the curriculum and for administration at Mombasa. Preliminary visits had established the potential viability of installing and operating computer networks in Mombasa and we therefore embarked upon an ambitious programme of staff development and hardware installation.
Two substantial visits were made to Mombasa to install PC based networks (from Research Machines) and to provide staff development courses. Between 1985 and 1988 there was a constant stream of Mombasa staff coming over to the UK to take higher degrees and to receive training in computing with some of our staff going to Mombasa (with the added bonus that not all the time in Mombasa was spent working!!!).
A description of our work on the Newcastle - Mombasa computing link are contained in my two reports:
British Council TETOC (T 2723), Staff Development Programme in computing for Mombasa Polytechnic, 26th April-6th May 1986
British Council TETOC (T 3056), Computer Systems installation at Mombasa Polytechnic, 28th Nov. - 14th Dec. 1987
ARTICLES and PUBLICATIONS:
'The Lemming Simulation', Mathematics in Schools, 1975, Reed R.
'High Resolution Graphics and the Physics Syllabus', Educational Computing, Sept. 1981, Reed R.
'Selecting a Microcomputer', Bulletin of Educational Research and Development, Newcastle Polytechnic, March 1981, Reed R.
'Simulating Manufacturing Dynamics using a Microcomputer', Chartered Mechanical Engineer, Nov. 1982, Claybourne B. and Reed R.
M.Ed. Thesis : 'The Impact of Microcomputers in Schools : Six Case Studies', University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1984, Reed R.