Category Archives: Uncategorized

Thursday, 20th August (Cres)

Posted on August 20, 2026 by roycross

1. Alan Milburn has just completed a substantial report for the UK government on Young People and Work https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/young-people-and-work-interim-report PDFs of both the whole report and of the introductory section only below. This Review exists because today Britain faces a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alan Milburn, business, Cookies, economics, education, It May Be Time to Panic About AI, N E E T s, news, politics, Rabbit Hole, Richard Watson Todd, The Grumpy Old Academic, Young People and Work | Leave a comment

Tuesday, 18th August (Cres)

Posted on August 18, 2026 by roycross

1. More – perhaps the last word, for this blog at least – on Jason Arday, again from Tyler Austin Harper (whose Why I Quit the Tenure Track piece I included last Thursday) in The Atlantic, The Truths That Failed … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A I, Demos, ELT Buzz Digest, Hitler & Stalin Today, Jason Arday, Katherine Rundell, national pride, Timothy Snyder, Tyler Austin Harper | Leave a comment

Thursday, 13th August (Cres)

Posted on August 13, 2026 by roycross

1. If you follow Geoff Jordan on LinkedIn, you’ll know that he’s a man of strong views https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoff-jordan-0a7658219/ Courtesy of Geoff, here’s a whole book of strong opinions to start with tonight, English Language Teaching Now and How It Could … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Carissa Véliz, D E I, Datacentres & Slaughterhouses, English Teaching, Friedrich Schiller, Geoff Jordan & Mike Long, Jason Arday, Prediction, Tyler Austin Harper | Leave a comment

Tuesday, 11th August (Cres)

Posted on August 11, 2026 by roycross

1. Jeff Dean, Chief Scientist for Google Research and Google DeepMind, gave a talk at Princeton University earlier this year on Important Trends in AI: How Did We Get Here, What Can We Do Now, and Where are We Headed? … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Charlotte Brontë, David B. Wilson, Humanising Language Teaching, Jeff Dean, Philip Larkin, RIP Jill Hadfield, S E N D, UK Department of Education | Leave a comment

Thursday, 6th August (Cres)

Posted on August 6, 2026 by roycross

1. Cross fingers crossed for this first one, a BBC video of Gregory Burke’s play, The Black Watch, described by the BBC as a “hard-hitting play, based on interviews with former soldiers, that combines words, music and song to deliver … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged christopher-nolan, Elon Musk, Emily Wilson, Iqbal Ahmed, matt-damon, movies, N T S, reviews, Ruben Hassid, The 50 Best Thrillers of the 21st Century, The Black Watch, The Odyssey | Leave a comment

Tuesday, 4th August (Cres)

Posted on August 4, 2026 by roycross

1. Field Station describes itself as an action lab investigating the future of work, the reach of technology, and the shape of society. Based in North East England, working globally. We study digital sovereignty and build civic tech, in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ai, Amol Padwad, artificial-intelligence, Claude, dailyprompt, E L Gazette, Field Station, H E L E, History of English Language Education, How to AI, Mona Simion, On Exercising Epistemic Agency, Richard Smith, Ruben Hassid, technology | Leave a comment

Thursday, 30th July (Cres)

Posted on July 30, 2026 by roycross

The wifi’s much better if you sit at the front of the library, it seems! 1. Pride of place today to English Teacher – a memoir by John Drew, described by John as a compilation of portraits and anecdotes shading … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged artificial-intelligence, books, education, History of Libraries, How Not to Screw Up Your Kids, I A T E F L, John Drew, learning, Pronunciation, reading, Sam Wass, teaching, technology, Ten Best Short Novels, writing | Leave a comment

Wednesday, 29th July (Cres)

Posted on July 29, 2026 by roycross

Time moves a little more slowly here on the island, as does the wifi, which is why this message is a little late! 1. A piece from Ol’ Grumpy, a.k.a. Richard Watson Todd, with which to resume normal service, Brave … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged artificial-intelligence, C R A S S H, Digital Humanities, education, Involuntary Musical Imagery, Netanyahu, news, Peter Gray, research, Richard Watson Todd, teaching, What if it's not the phones?, writing | Leave a comment

Tuesday, 30th June (Cambridge)

Posted on June 30, 2026 by roycross

This will be the last ‘Free Resources’ message until Tuesday 28th July, by which time (Cross fingers crossed) we will have installed a new boiler in Boba’s Zagreb flat, not (Cross fingers still crossed) had to fish Mateo out of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ai, AI agents, Artificial Intelligence, artificial-intelligence, education, Entartete Kunst, Girls' Education, Hannah Fry, Katja Hoyer, Level The Field, RE Education, technology, World Economic Forum, writing | Leave a comment

Friday, 26th June (Cambridge)

Posted on June 26, 2026 by roycross

One day late, occasioned by a late train home from London yesterday evening! 1. Frank Cottrell-Boyce is the current Waterstones Children’s Laureate here in the UK. He gave the annual ‘Laureate Lecture’, The Kids Are Not Alright, earlier this week. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Brexit, E E F, Education Endowment Foundation, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, James O'Brien, Orson Welles, Pilkington Prize 2026, The disadvantage gap, Waterstones Children's Laureate | Leave a comment

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