#bett2014

As part of #BETT2014, we welcomed a contingent of Danish educators and publishers to the studio. The group of 20 explored the various aspects of the studio’s work, chatting to members of the team about current projects. This is the 2nd year that we have welcome a Scandinavian party to the studio and we look forward to seeing them again next year.

One of the 'wow, that's cool' moments happened when getting an overview of the excellent ClassCharts system from EduKey. It's free in its basic form, with upgrades available for advanced analytics and AI features, such as automated intelligent seating chart generation. Well worth a look as there is a lot more to it than we can sensibly write here!

Another day at #bett2014 - Friday is always the most exciting day. Lots of amazing people to talk to!

My first day at BETT. I am sure everyone will agree, the sheer scale and size of the show is overwhelming. In terms of what the show can offer students and teachers - well it’s virtually everything. Every possible aid, gadget and app available, ready to make learning exciting and relevant. Students can take their learning environments to wherever they want and the technology supporting it is literally out of this world. The challenge for educationalists has to be how to embrace the scope of what is now available and embed it into everyday classroom practice. The pace of change is incredible; thinking about the average span of a teacher’s career, begun even thirty years ago, when resources were made on Banda machines and there was no such thing as word processing, shows just how far technology has pushed the boundaries and possibilities for learning. In an age where virtually everything is possible and technology can facilitate and support every aspect of life in a school I am still drawn to technology with a human face. What do I mean by that? Well, I think that gadgets for gadget’s sake need the skills of an excellent teacher to bring them to life and ensure that they are used appropriately to develop the potential of the students. It is evident everywhere you turn at BETT that here are hugely enthusiastic teachers searching for the best resources to support their schools and the students they teach. Walk past many of the stands and you will see people in awe of the latest piece of kit or developmental idea to help students learn. The curriculum is now open for business twenty four hours a day and not confined to library opening hours or the school timetable. So in an age of virtually everything are we ready for virtual schools? I saw a virtual school in operation at BETT called BT Tute Stand F389. It offers virtual lessons online via an e-tutoring model. What makes it different in this technological age? It offers excellent lessons delivered online via a live video feed with real teachers. Technology with a human face, a teacher who can interact with pupils and ensure that they are learning the content of the lessons. I can see many possibilities for this. Anyone can pull a lesson from the internet but how do we know that the content is being processed and understood? Who is there to praise if a task is done well or offer support and solutions if it hasn’t been understood? That is my point, technology can offer virtually everything, technology with a human touch is also very important. I am off now to find other examples of this ….. will keep you posted! Mary.

Pretty cool way to demo apps on lots of tablets! #microsoft #bett2014