CS – AI – The Student As Computer Science teachers, we have a responsibility to ensure that students understand artificial intelligence, not simply how to use it. There is a significant difference between a student who can write an effective prompt and one who understands why an AI system produces a particular response, recognises its limitations and can evaluate its…
How to win with AI Many people use ChatGPT every day, but how many actually consider the way they structure their prompts? I’ve been exploring how small changes to the way we communicate with AI can make a significant difference to the quality of the responses we receive. One particularly useful technique is to borrow some simple formatting conventions from…
Why picking up a paintbrush reminded me that making time for a hobby can be part of looking after ourselves. When did we stop making time for ourselves? Somewhere between work, family responsibilities and the seemingly endless demands of everyday life, it becomes remarkably easy to forget that we are allowed to do things simply because we enjoy them. Not…
Minecraft for the win… Breadth-first search. Depth-first search. Stacks. Queues. Backtracking. For students encountering graph traversal for the first time, there is a lot of terminology to absorb before they have necessarily developed a picture of what the algorithms are actually doing. And that is often the problem. A student can learn that depth-first traversal uses a stack and breadth-first…
The Ultimate A-Level Computer Science Podcast is now on Facebook. If you are studying A-Level Computer Science, teaching the subject, or looking for extra revision support, the Facebook page brings together the latest podcast episodes, revision content and updates in one place. What You’ll Find The page will feature: The aim is to make it easier for students to keep…
I’m pleased to share that my article, “Can AI tools help to mark A-level coursework?”, has been published in Issue 30 of Hello World magazine. Download Here The article explores an experiment I carried out using AI as a second marker for A-level Computer Science coursework. I wanted to find out whether a carefully designed AI system could review student…
10,000 downloads and streams. When I started the Ultimate A-Level Computer Science Podcast, the goal was simple: make revision clearer, more accessible, and actually useful for students. Seeing it reach 10,000 streams and downloads is a strong sign that students are finding it — and using it. What’s been interesting is how consistent the growth has been. No viral spikes…
On 15 March 2026, while browsing a local charity shop, I came across a copy of How to Get a PhD: A Handbook for Students and Their Supervisors by Estelle M. Phillips and D. S. Pugh. What made the moment slightly surreal was that only a few weeks ago I had been looking at buying this exact book online for…
🎧 A-Level Computer Science Podcast – Supporting Student Revision Over the past year I’ve been building something alongside my teaching that I hope will genuinely help students. I’ve created an A-Level Computer Science revision podcast designed specifically for OCR and AQA students, breaking down complex topics into clear, structured explanations that students can revisit whenever they need. Each episode focuses…
Flawed Report – Flawed Understanding – Disapointing By Aaron Connor – Teacher of ComputingPublished: November 2025 The Report November 2025 The government’s new Curriculum and Assessment Review: Building a World-Class Curriculum for All claims to set a vision for the future of education in England. But for Computing teachers, it reads like a document written about our subject by people…