I am all in favour of the experiment by an ATM company in London which sees instructions in rhyming slang on some of its cash machines.

Like many people, I left school without too much confidence in, or liking for, mathematics. It doesn't take a psychoanalyst to work out why. When, for example, one of my fellow pupils asked what the point of trigonometry was, the answer he received consisted of:

"Are you trying to be impudent, boy?",

followed by the imposition of a detention.

Another teacher had a novel approach to teaching: if you didn't understand the stuff in the lesson, you had a 90 minute detention in which to practise with test papers until you did -- all in utter silence while the 'teacher' (I use the term loosely) did his marking.

E Talbert has asked me to make some comments on effective feedback for the Terry's Two Minute Tips series. So here is my response, with some useful links for further reading.

Miller (left) is a teenager living in the USA. It's always interesting to hear what young people think about educational technology, so I was delighted when Miller agreed to have a go at answering questions about it.

The questions below are all genuine, ie they have been submitted by real people, not just made up by me (although I can assure that I am a real person!).

Equally, Miller's answers are genuine too, which is to say she didn't receive any prompting or assistance from either her teacher, Vicki Davis, or me.

Today, Miller answers these questions:

 
1. How have you been made aware of e-safety (internet safety) issues - did your school have e-safety lessons or e-safety awareness programs. Did the school have an "Acceptable Use Policy" (a set of rules for the use of computers / the internet). is e-safety an issue for American teenagers (thinking of computers, hand held devices, cell phones etc)
 
2. As a young person what do you think would be most helpful to protect young people online?
 
3. Do you think it's necessary for schools to block social networking sites like Twitter & Facebook? Do you see any benefits that students can receive from this channels of technology?
 
4. How do you feel that your use of Web 2.0 apps will change over the next couple of years?

Miller (left) is a teenager living in the USA. It's always interesting to hear what young people think about educational technology, so I was delighted when Miller agreed to have a go at answering questions about it.

The questions below are all genuine, ie they have been submitted by real people, not just made up by me (although I can assure that I am a real person!).

Equally, Miller's answers are genuine too, which is to say she didn't receive any prompting or assistance from either her teacher, Vicki Davis, or me.

Today, Miller answers these questions:

 
1. Do you do think that technology in teaching is better than face-to-face teaching?
 
2. Do you ever use virtual worlds to socialize, like ‘Second Life’?
 
3. What mobile devices are students in America using, and what are they used for?