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Journalist in Information Technology, Education and the Internet

I began writing for newsstand magazines in the mid eighties, working for Pam Turnbull at Micro user. I was the main education writer at Micro User, which became Acorn Computing, pretty much up until it closed, contributing both reviews and articles of a more general nature to most issues. During that time I also wrote for Let's Compute!, a children's computing magazine; Key Ideas, aimed at teachers and Acorn User, Redwood's answer to Micro User. More recent work includes the following:

Private Education A publication aimed at the private sector. I wrote for them for a couple of years concentrating mainly on purchasing decisions. This was my first major foray into writing about PCs rather than Acorn machines and gave me a good feel for the way that market works. Articles included 'Surfing the Net' on getting a school connected to the Internet, 'Computer Shopping' on the timing of purchasing systems and up-grades, 'Using Multimedia in Schools' on hardware and software requirements for multimedia, 'A Guide to Buying Computers' on the advantages of different platforms, and so on. The editor during this time was Jackie Mitchell. Private Education is published by Knightswood Publishing.

BEEBUG MAGAZINE I was sub-editor/editorial assistant on this subscription magazine from September '91 until it wound up in April '94. This was a fairly technical magazine for users of the BBC and MS128 computers. This gave me a depth of experience in making editorial decisions, serious re-writing of copy that was often very technical and occasionally from people whose first language was not English. This was a good place to sharpen my skills in making technical issues accessible to non-technical writers. It also helped me build up the wide variety of contacts I have in the Acorn sphere. The editor throughout this period was Mike Williams (see Acorn Publisher), the publisher was BeeBug LTD.

Educational Computing & Tech. I wrote briefly for this magazine in the eighties when it was owned by Redwood and edited by Lisa Hughes. I became a regular contributor in the early nineties when it was transferred to TIN and edited by Mark Sealey. During this time I wrote several major series including a look at IT in American schools and advice on making use of older computers. I also wrote many other one-off articles and product reviews during the time Mark was editor ('92 - '95 as I remember). You can mail Mark Sealey at marksealey@aol.com.

InteracTive I was in this recent title from the first issue in June '95. I continue to write for it and have produced articles and regular features on HTML, multimedia, maths, science and so on. I also commissioned and edited a series of pull-outs with different curricular focuses. This included establishing marketing deals with the software companies that we featured in the pull-outs. With this magazine I have also experimented with providing supplementary materials to support articles via Questions WWW site. InteracTive is published by Questions Publishing. Mark Sealey was editor until spring '97, the current editor is Brian Asbury.

PC KIDS Sadly, this is no longer with us. It was Paragon Publishing's foray into this part of the market; a good quality magazine that is sorely missed. Along with reviews, I wrote several major features for PC Kids. These included a look at the government's support (or lack of it) for IT in schools, case studies of what was actually going on in specific schools, and various items on using the computer as an educational tool in the home. For its relatively short life (18 months around '95/'96?) the editor was Paul Mallinson.

Parents and Computing Back to work with Pam Turnbull, now at IDG. P&C takes a broad view for its audience, not just looking at computers, but education in general - the 'concerned parent' market. I have been writing regularly for this magazine since mid '96. Most of my work here has concentrated on reviewing CD based packages in specific curricular areas. What's nice is that the magazine is prepared to give a decent amount of space to those reviews and allow them to be truly independent. As I write this there is, apparently, going to be some sort of shake-up at the magazine, but you should still be able to mail Pam Turnbull at pamt@idg.co.uk.

Acorn Publisher I started a regular web page design series in Acorn Publisher late '96. This now appears in every issue and runs to three or four pages. The spin here is to look at design issues and the technical methods of achieving given effects. It requires me to be extremely up-to-date with developments on the WWW, the changes to browser specifications, user demographics and so on. Specific features have dealt with graphics compression, the use of tables, cross-platform design and so on. Acorn Publisher comes from Akalat Publishing, the editor is Mike Williams. You can mail Mike on akalat@kbnet.co.uk.

Risc User I joined Risc User in January '97, sharing the education input with Chris Drage. I contribute one article per issue on a wide range of subjects. Recent articles include a review of BETT '97, software reviews, a look at new developments at Inclusive Technology and advice on using computers for home education. Risc User is published by BeeBug LTD and edited by Richard Hallas, who can be contacted at richard@hallas.demon.co.uk

Internet Business Magazine This is an important step for me as it takes me into the areas of non-educational newsstand publications. My only published article with them so far was a study of the place of non-profit organizations in the economic life of the Internet. Internet Business Magazine is published by Internet Business Magazine LTD and edited by Tim Wilson.

Indicator LTD
Indicator are publishers of a series of high-quality newsletters aimed and business and academia throughout Europe (they are based in Belgium). In the first instance I am writing for their Tips & Advice: Internet newsletter - currently in preparation is an article on purchasing books via the web.

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