More
Ian Simons
General Information
Teaching Responsibilities
- BEd (Post Primary): Computer Science, Years 1, 2 and 3
- Personal and Professional Learning Years 1 and 2
- Dissertation Supervision, Year 4
- BEd (Primary and Post Primary) Computer Science Co-ordinator Years 3 and 4
- Widening Participation – Coding with Primary school pupils
External Interests/Community Service
- Former member of GTCNI 2012-2016
- Church Elder at Bloomfield Presbyterian Church
- Sports
- Founder MCW4Y
Research Interests
- Computer Science with a specific interest in teaching coding in schools
- Relational thinking – an understanding of how computer science impacts other aspects of our lives
- Developing and implementing Computer Science in the Primary KS3 & KS4 classroom
- Addressing the soft skills deficit
- Educational underachievement
- Special Educational Needs
Background & Qualifications
- BEd (Maths & PE)
- PGCert Comp Sci (with commendation)
- PGDip Comp Ed (with distinction)
- MSc Comp Ed (with distinction)
- Author with Oxford University Press
- Co-author with Go Berserk
Awards
- Belfast Business Awards – Best Business Innovation Winner (Go Berserk) 2012
- Belfast Business Awards – Best Creative Business Highly Commended (Go Berserk) 2012
- Best E-Learning Project of the Year (Go Berserk) 2013
- Joint winner of the ‘Blackboard Technology Award’ (2013)
- Talk Talk Digital hero (Go Berserk) 2013
- Digital Advertising NI (DANI) Award (Go Berserk) 2013
- Ulster Bank Business Achievers Award (Go Berserk) 2013
- UTV Business Eye – research & Development (Go Berserk) 2012, 2013, 2014
- Best Idea – QUB The Big Idea (Go Berserk) 2014
- Best Business Idea – QUB the Big Idea (Go Berserk) 2014
- BBC – Make It Digital – set of 7 videos created about Go Berserk as part of the Year of Code 2014
- 2 awards at The Learning Awards London (Go Berserk) 2015
- Ulster Bank Business Achievers Award (Go Berserk) 2015
- East Belfast Business Award for Innovation (Go Berserk) 2017
Research & Scholarship
Conference Papers and Presentations
Simons, I (2013) Kainos, invited speaker. ‘The impact of coding in the Northern Ireland classroom at KS3 and KS4’. SXSW.edu Texas, USA.
Simons, I (2019). ‘The impact of coding beyond the classroom’. Keynote speaker ITS Volda Conference Norway
