Welcome to the TPEA

Great to see you back!

Helen Caldwell

Committee Member

Senior Lecturer in Education, University of Northampton, Curriculum Leader for Primary Computing and Programme Leader for the Postgraduate Certificate in Digital Leadership

Helen is a specialist in educational technology, teacher education and eLearning at the University of Northampton. She is an Apple Distinguished Educator, a National Executive Committee Officer for the Technology and Pedagogy in Education Association (TPEA) and was a member of the Computing in ITT Expert Advisory Group for the Department for Education, 2014-16. Her role at the University of Northampton involves working with pre-service and in-service teachers, and leading the Postgraduate Certificates in Digital Leadership and Primary Computing. Helen has considerable experience of international work and has been the research lead on nine funded projects, the most recent of which are two 3-year Erasmus+ projects on the theme of Digital Learning across Boundaries.
https://www.northampton.ac.uk/directories/people/helen-caldwell/

Research lead and bid writer:
2019-22: Digital Learning across Boundaries 2: Developing Changemakers (DLaB2) 3 year Erasmus+ funded project http://dlaberasmus.eu: (Erasmus+, £320,000)
2016-19: Digital Learning across Boundaries (DLaB) 3 year Erasmus+ funded project http://dlaberasmus.eu: (Erasmus+, £270,000)
2015-16: Teaching with Tablets MOOC (University of Northampton Innovation Fund, £12,000)
2014-15: Let’s Teach Primary Computing MOOC (Department for Education, £30,000)

Recent publications:
Caldwell, H. and Pope, S (2019). STEM in the Primary Classroom. London: Sage.
Caldwell H. and Cullingford-Agnew, S. (2017). Technology for SEND in Primary Schools: A good practice guide. London: Sage.
Bird, J., Caldwell, H. and Mayne, P. (1st ed. 2014, revised 2nd ed. 2017). Lessons in Teaching Computing in Primary Schools. London: Sage.
Caldwell, H. and Smith, N (2016). Computing Unplugged: Exploring primary computing through practical activities away from the computer. London: Sage.
Caldwell, H. and Bird, J. (2015). Teaching with Tablets. London: Sage.

Andrew Connell

Committee Member

Andrew Connell is Head of Group (Education) at the University Centre, Shrewsbury (UCS). Until recently he was Head of Initial Teacher Education at the University of Chester. In these roles, he lead on the development, quality assurance and enhancement of teacher training and other education courses at the University of Chester. The programmes include three year undergraduate routes for Primary (5-11) and Early Years-Primary (3-8); PGCE Primary (5-11) and Early Years-Primary (3-8); PGCE Secondary in a range of subjects; Post 16 Teacher Training and Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS). This is part of a very strong Partnership of school, colleges, nurseries and Teaching Alliances across the region. In the last Ofsted inspection, the Partnership gained ‘outstanding’ for its primary and secondary provision and ‘good’ for post 16 and EYTS. It remains the only Partnership in the North West to have grade 1 for both primary and secondary, which reflects the excellent training out students receive from the whole Partnership.

Andy is Chair of the Council for Subject Associations, Treasurer for the Technology and Pedagogy and Education Association (TPEA) and a long-standing executive committee member of the Association for Information Technology in Teacher Education (ITTE). He has been on a number of national subject expert groups for Computing and ICT, including groups drafting the Computing curriculum, Subject Knowledge Enhancement content and ITE content and on several advisory groups on Teacher Standards. He was previously at Keele University and Liverpool Hope University. Prior to moving into Higher Education, he was a teacher and Head of Computing and Business in secondary schools and taught in primary schools. He has jointly edited and written several chapters in the latest edition of ‘A Practical Guide to Teaching Computing and IT in Secondary Schools’. He has contributed to other books on teaching Computing and ICT and written guides to support teachers and teacher trainers of computing on behalf of Government Agencies. He regularly presents at conferences on the Pedagogy of Computing and on Managing Teacher Training. Andy is passionate about educating beginning and experienced teachers to help them provide the best possible learning experience for young people.