Weeknote 16+17/2025: Problem-Solving, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lessons
Hello!
Sorry for the late update here. There will be two weeknotes in quick succession as a result. I’ve been busy getting ready for a long-awaited operation on my lower stomach and had abandoned a few weeknote ideas for future deep dives. My Substack community provided some opportune coaching - just write - so I sat down today and did just that. Thanks for your patience!
Work updates
Since my return to work, the senior students have been preparing for their Computing Science exam on the 25th. This has necessitated much past paper feedback (paper remains the quickest to mark, but when required, I always turn to https://www.sejda.com/pdf-editor to annotate images or PDFs sent via email). I also created a few new resources for the N5, Higher and Advanced Higher classes:
Pseudocode to Python Converter (https://isimpsonmr.pythonanywhere.com/) - allows students to practice turning Pseudocode designs into Python code and provides feedback to improve.
Computer Systems Two’s Complement and Floating Point (http://highercs-revisiontools.infinityfreeapp.com/) - allows students to practice two’s complement and floating point SQA-style questions and gain feedback or watch video solutions.
Adding videos to my YouTube channel and teaching myself how to create Shorts using the app on my phone. I was quite happy with the Advanced Higher bitesize guides! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl88-Wj4dNm2XUB3ejo4wGA
I’m also glad to have updated all presentation files for the certificate courses and added these to www.csteach.uk. My next step is to build Edpuzzle playlists for each lesson so that students can make guided progress at their own pace or catch up if they miss lessons due to illness. That should be done by this time next year!
Life updates
The weather has been improving this month and I’ve been making time to get out into the garden or along the beach before my operation. The aim is to minimise movement for a fortnight to try and allow the wounds to heal, so the lawnmower was out in force!
I also made time to catch up with good friend and former bandmate Ross for lunch at University of Aberdeen. It was one of the few days it rained, so we sat in a deserted Edward Wright Building (Engineering students will remember that one) talking about Portugal, TV, films and music.
The same week I visited Mark and his family and enjoyed a wonderful meal. We aren’t entirely sure what kind of curry it was, but it tasted amazing. The rest of the evening was spent putting the world to right with the help of refreshments.
I was also able to speak with my uncle Bill, who lives near Brighton. I was meant to visit him last summer but ended up in minor injuries in Weymouth instead, so I fully intend to drive down to catch up in person in July. We’ll be in the vicinity anyway as my son explores post-school options.
My daughter was visiting to work on her final assessment for the year and tell us about her new job. We took the opportunity to have a family meal at Pizza Express and stay up late chatting about everything and anything. She also kindly helped me choose a new firepit as a birthday present.
Lastly, for the first time in a long time, I was also able to attend an entrepreneur event in Aberdeen to learn from and be inspired by their experiences. The night before the Computing exam I managed to attend the latest Startup Grind meeting at One Tech Hub Latitude 57 Meets Latitude 59.
Startup Grind: How can Scotland learn from Estonia’s startup scene?
Host Franklin introduced Mats Kuuskemaa who explained how Estonia’s forward thinking, risk taking government of the early 1990s established forms of digital governance far earlier than most other countries. In fact, startups are now encouraged to apply for e-residencies to access the support available from within the EU. Unfortunately (and I checked) this doesn’t come with physical residency rights, however you do get supported through visa applications. There is a big community of digital nomads in Estonia, all looking to become yet another unicorn company.
Ana Wolsztajn, an incredibly articulate founder turned investor, who coped stoicly with being regularly interrupted by low volume YouTube videos as she shared her insights, highlighted that Scottish founders tend to return home and that the strength of any ecosystem lies in giving or helping. She shared that, if you want to go global from day 1, you have to think about how big your market has to be to succeed and explore ideas that can be implemented everywhere.
Carolyn Diack, who I last met at the UX North East event at Albyn School, raised the importance of having a critical friend or mentor as you grow your startup. Also due to the fact that most startups are driven by individuals, meeting up with others is key. Coffee chats are helpful but to get most benefit you need a home that has access to the startup community. This is what One Tech Hub has been offering successfully for a number of years now, through events such as Unfiltered but also hot desk opportunities in the building.
Luis Ibarra shared the necessary ingredients for a strong ecosystem: government commitment, support from the government, early stage investment, corporate entities who are willing to buy from a startup and academia. He agreed with the panel that hierarchies tend to be a big blocker to startup innovation and suggested that a great startup event is needed. Mats pointed out at this stage that only 5 of the top 100 companies in Germany were started after reunification, so while these hierarchies are tough to break down, it’s not impossible.
It was a great event and gave me a lot to think about regarding CSEN (Computer Science Education Network).
Whose problem are you solving?
What I’ve realised over the last few years of teaching is that what I most enjoy (perhaps in life in general) is having problems to solve.
When I worked at NESCol as a lecturer, students had to complete a problem solving unit at the appropriate level as part of their qualification. Once they’d ideated, often reframing discussions were needed to ensure that the students didn't overcomplicate their plan (and then fail to solve the problem). The S2 classes have rotated again, so we are working through the four cornerstones of computational thinking and striving to understand its purpose in computing and the wider world. For example I was very impressed this week at how the students decomposed the problem of “solving world hunger” into theoretically more manageable tasks.
I was also asked by the marketing team to assist in matching entries in two lists of similar, but not identical names. After discussing a potential solution with a thoughtful S6 student I coded a workable solution that found strong matches in around 15% of the huge list. I could probably have improved it further with machine learning or less off-the-cuff fuzzy logic, but it took less than an hour and was gratefully received. Again I was reminded that this is what I love.
The panel discussion at Startup Grind also resonated with me. Through my career, and wherever else possible, I seek to help others. This was the driving purpose behind CSEN and, as I said last time around, it’s taking a little while longer than I thought to establish. Perhaps I need to return to small in-person meet ups where we focus on using the CSEN platform to iterate features and the overall vision. There’s no point in striving to help others if you are attempting to solve a problem that isn’t theirs.
Whether it's creating tools for my students, assisting colleagues with technical challenges, or working to build CSEN into a resource that genuinely serves our community's needs, I'm constantly drawn to these opportunities to make a difference.
The conversations at Startup Grind reinforced something I've always believed: meaningful innovation happens when we respond to real needs and build supportive communities around shared challenges. Perhaps that's the lesson I'll take with me as I take some time out of work to recover: sometimes we need to slow down to properly see the problems worth solving.
Have a great week! xx