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BETT 2009 – Final Summary

It’s been over a week now since I got back from BETT 2009 and I’ve finally got to the end of my notes about the experience. One thing that I have noticed is that there don’t seem to be many people sharing their BETT experiences on the blogosphere? Yes, there has been the one off post, but nothing really comprehensive. I think this is a real shame and I hope that some of people that went to BETT 2009 will at least share their experiences within their own schools or learning communities.

I’ve enjoyed writing this series, I hope you have reading it? But I'm also pleased that it has come to an end. There are lots of other exciting things that have been happening in East Lothian and further afield that I am keen to write about. But until then, here is an index of all of my BETT 2009 posts.

1. BETT 2009 – Four Days, Familiar faces and Sore Feet

2. BETT 2009 – PSP’s and Augmented Reality

3. BETT 2009 – BrainPop UK

4. BETT 2009 – StudyWiz (QT Mobile and their new Google strategic global alliance)

5. BETT 2009 – Microsoft UK Innovative Teachers Network

6. BETT 2009 – London 2012 Olympics Educational Resources

7. BETT 2009 – CEOP

8. BETT 2009 – Txt Tools

9. BETT 2009 – SUMS ONLINE (Maths content for your PSP, Netbook or Mobile Device)

10. BETT 2009 – Open Source Schools

11. BETT 2009 – The National Education Network

12. BETT 2009 – MissonMaker and Elenox

13. BETT 2009 – Cyber Coach (Dance Mats and Exergaming)

14. BETT 2009 – Interactive Multi Touch Tables (RM. SMART, VIPRO and Microsoft Surface)

15. BETT 2009 – RM ‘Shaping Education for the Future’ (1 of 2)

16. BETT 2009 – RM ‘Shaping Education for the Future’ (2 of 2)

17. BETT 2009 – Mini Projectors

18. BETT 2009 – Promethean (1of3): Innovation

19. BETT 2009 – Promethean (2of3): Activsoftware Inspire Edition

20. BETT 2009: Promethean (3of3): Activsound and Activremote

21. BETT 2009 - BETT Awards

22. BETT 2009 - 2Simple 2Do It Yourself (DIY)

23. BETT 2009 - Teachmeet BETT 2009

See you at BETT 2010!

BETT 2009 - Teachmeet BETT 2009

Teachmeet BETT took place on the Friday evening of BETT 2009. Although the BETT Teachmeet was the biggest one I have ever attended and my first Teachmeet outside Scotland. I would still stick by my famous TESS quote and say that it is one of the most valuable events on the CPD calendar.

I’m not going to go into to much detail about the content of Teachmeet BETT 2009. Just Google it and you will see lots of great posts that have already been written about the event. One of my favourites is Alan Parkinson’s summary. It captures the event with Alan’s normal dry sense of wit and humour (I’m just pleased he lent me his laptop!)

As well as catching up with lots of familiar faces and some people who I had never met before the highlights of the evening for me were:

• John Davitt demonstrating his Random Activities Generator (RAG) – I’m looking forward to trying this out on the iPhone. John also showed us his Learning Score resource, which looks like a useful planning tool.

• Drew Buddie reminded me about Glogster – a great way to produce nice looking posters and other stuff.

• Ian Usher showed off Microsoft ZoomIt. ZoomIt lets you draw or write free-hand on the desktop screen in various colours. You can also pan like an on-screen camera or magnify any area of the desktop using either the mouse wheel or the arrow keys.

• Greg Hodsgon presenting on Photoshop Tennis – a great idea and very funny!

• Ian Stuart also presented (one and a half times?) live from Islay about the 2020 Islay Unconference that is scheduled for June.

All in all it was an excellent evening and one of the highlights of BETT 2009 for me. So a huge thanks to all the organisers and all the sponsors. Great work and a great evening.

BETT 2009 - 2Simple 2Do It Yourself (DIY)

It was nice to catch up with Alan Yeoman at BETT 2009. Alan now works as an educational consultant with 2Simple. 2Simple make lots of great stuff and I was instantly impressed with the software that Alan showed me called 2Do It Yourself (or 2DIY).

Among other things the software provides basic games design tools for young children. It’s really creative, easy to use and could introduce young people into a whole variety of learning experiences including design, rules, creativity and competition. The interface is very easy to use and I am sure the software will appeal to many teachers.

I had a quick go at making a game last night.

First of all I picked a game template from the options menu:

The game I picked is a bit like the old fashioned space invaders. You can apply rules to objects to gain points or to loose points.

The next step was to draw my background (notice the care I took with the trees!). I could have also imported an image if I had wanted to.

I then picked the objects to fall from the sky. The theme of my game is ‘Open Source’ so I up-loaded some ‘open source’ and some ‘non-open source’ logos to the game. I set rules against each object so that if you caught an open source logo you gained points and if you caught a non-open source logo you lost points.

Then I designed my ‘catching’ object. I picked a hand form the clip art bank.

I then set some rules about game timing (you just pay for a minutes) and added some sound.

Finally, I created a start page and you can play my finished game below! How simple was that, what a great resource!

To play the game you will need flash installed on your computer. Click start and then use the left and right cursor keys to move the hand to catch the logos.

 

Porchester Junior School has also up-loaded some 2DIY Games to their excellent classroom website.

BETT 2009 - BETT Awards

Photo: Merlin John Online

For some reason I was missed off the complementary BETT awards dinner list for this year? Obviously an oversight on the organisers part :-). And the fact I don’t own a dinner jacket!

Anyway, it was good to catch up on the award results over on my good friend Merlin’s New Site. I was particularly pleased with the winners in the following categories:

Outstanding Achievement in ICT Education
Professor Stephen Heppell – I am a big fan of Stephens work. Not only did he once mention me on his blog! (even saying that my presentation was fascinating!) But we also have a number of other things in common. Most importantly a passion for the sea, snow and……I guess education?

Judges' comments: "Stephen Heppell's contribution goes back to the earliest days of ICT in UK schools (1980 with the national organisation MicroElectronics Education Programme) which is why the judges considered him to be the very best person to receive this inaugural award. Stephen has worked to raise the profile and application of ICT for learning right across education - with learners, teachers, school leaders and even governments.”

Content-Free Tools
Softease for Podium – I think Podium is great! Intuitive, Simple, Effective and Reliable!

Judges' comments: "It supports planning, structuring, creativity and collaboration. It is easy to use and supports a complex area that some teachers may shy away from. The instructions are good, and it breaks down complex tasks into simple and achievable elements."

 

ICT Company of the Year
2Simple Software – I have been so impressed with their 2 DIY Software.

Judges' comments: "This is a company that responds totally to the needs of schools and children. It is a partnership organisation that supports learning and teaching with staff and management that cares about the children and teachers – both here and overseas – that use their products."

 

E-Safety
Childnet International for Know IT All for Parents – another great resource that links nicely to our Internet safety and Responsible Use training that we have been running in East Lothian.

Judges' comments: "It offers comprehensive coverage of the e-safety agenda. The navigation is clear and intuitive. This resource could have a big impact on parents and carers who are essential partners in children’s learning and it does this in a professional and engaging way. It is engaging and informative, meeting a wide range of user expectations – parents’, carers’, teachers’ and so forth.”

BETT 2009: Promethean (3of3): Activsound and Activremote

As well as Activesoftware Inspire Edition Promethean also launched a new version of Activsound at BETT 2009. Again I like the idea of this and know that teachers use microphones to improve their voice in lots of classrooms all over the world. It looks like this is about to catch on in the UK as well.

The new Activsound system looks pretty good. It’s a lot smaller than previous versions and again like all Promethean products its well thought out. One of the exciting possibilities of using the Activsound for me would be to use it with Activesoftware Inspire Edition to enable the teacher to capture the whole lesson (teachers voice, students voices and IWB content) as one movie that could then be podcasted or used as a revision aid. There are also obvious benefits for teacher health.

One of the versions of Activsound is portable which means it can also be transferred between classrooms. I think there is a lot of potential here – I would be keen to try and get my hands on one of these and give it a real robust classroom test. The other thing I want to try out is the new Promethean Activremote that they also launched at BETT. I didn’t get a chance to see one of these in action. But again I like the idea of such a piece of hardware. I see too many teacher tied to their interactive whiteboard teaching the class from the front of the room. The Activeremote combined with other devices like the Activslate are the first steps to help some members of staff challenge this and get them more active around the class.

Great stuff, both products well thought out and really robust for classroom use!

BETT 2009 – Promethean (2of3): Activsoftware Inspire Edition

This year at BETT 2009 Promethean launched its latest range of Active Classroom solutions. These releases included its latest interactive whiteboard software, Activsoftware Inspire Edition. Again the software is a good example of being forward thinking – it runs across all three operating systems (including Linux). Promethean obviously has the netbook and open source market in mind.

I’ve had a chance to play around with Activesoftware Inspire Edition now – although I’ve not used it yet on a whiteboard. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to do this in the next week or so. The first thing I would say about Inspire is that it is incredibly intuitive. I found it took me a bit of time to get my head round earlier versions of Activesoftware. But Inspire seems to be very easy to use, with a lot more drop down boxes and features. I also like the way that you can export flipcharts straight to Promethean Planet so they can be shared with a wider audience.

Inspire edition combines all of the previous Active Software into one application. It combines Active Primary, Active Studio and Active Expression into a very user friendly interface. This is ideal for me as I use Active Expression a lot and means I will no longer have to jump between applications.

The other nice feature about Inspire Edition is that it includes facilities for a multi-touch duel pen capability. This allows two users to use the whiteboard at the same time through the ‘Activarena’ system. I think this is going to be great to use with classes and will add a whole new dimension to the use of whiteboards in the classroom for collaboration, teamwork and competition. Inspire also includes 50 ready made lessons that can be used with the Activarena system. Now all I need is some ActivArena Pens so I can get using this with a class?

Another innovative thing about Activesoftware Inspire Edition is that it’s being given away for free. Promethean are very keen to promote the idea that it’s also available for free to children, families and teachers. All you have to be is a member of Promethean Planet (free to join) and you can download a trail version of the software right away.

What else – oh yes, you don’t have to have a whiteboard to use the software and it would work particularly well on a tablet PC. You can also use the software with other makes of interactive whiteboard. Very clever marketing!

BETT 2009 – Promethean (1of3): Innovation

Promethean really is an innovative company. We have Promethean boards at MGS and also some of their other products including an Active Slate and Active Vote. I also use one of their Active Expression kits for many of my presentations and think that Active Studio is an incredibly advanced piece of software.

I’m also a big fan of Promethean Planet which is a great way for teachers to network, share resources and stay in touch (they currently have over 250, 000 members). The other good thing about Promethean is that they are not frightened to embrace new technology. For example, they have an excellent blog and also a twitter channel. You can even add Promethean to your iGoogle home page for all the latest news. In fact, it seems to me, that they will do everything possible to try and stay in touch and connect with the teaching community. They also sponsored Teachmeet at BETT 2009 – thanks guys!

As a company they also seem keen to embrace Open Source. I notice that their blog runs of a Wordpress Open Source Multi User Platform and their Active Learning courses run off a Moodle Open Source operating system.

At BETT it was nice to catch up with Promethean and see what their Activclassroom plans were for 2009. It was particularly nice to be introduced to Tony Cann, Director and Founder of Promethean – and a very inspiring guy!

Anyway, at the heart of Prometheans 2009 developments is a new piece of software called Activsoftware Inspire Edition. They also launched a new huge new 87-inch Activboard. As with previous boards it’s very accurate and allows children and teachers to lean against the board while writing. Other new products included Activsound and Activremote – I’ll tackle these products in more detail as separate posts.

BETT 2009 – Mini Projectors

I’ve already predicted that we will see an increase in Interactive Tables between now and BETT 2010. The other product that I’m sure we will see a lot more of will be mini projectors.

At BETT 2009 a got a quick demo of the new Acer mini projector – the quality was impressive for such a small device. Andy Black also managed to get a sneak preview of the pico projector from Toshiba. Apparently it wasn’t on display as it was the only one in the country. Pictures over on his website.

I’ve already written about how projectors are starting to appear in mobile phones and I am sure that this sort of thing will be even more common by this time next year. For example, at the recent CES show in the USA Samsung unveiled its projector phone which includes a TV tuner.

These devices have a lot of interesting potential for education.

BETT 2009 – RM ‘Shaping Education for the Future’ (2 of 2)

This is the second of two posts on the RM ‘Shaping Education for the Future’ exhibition that was in the Olympia 2 Building during BETT 2009. My first post concentrated on some of the technologies that were in display in the area including 3D projection, digital video and interactive floors. You can read the first post here.

This follow up post will concentrate on some of the other things that were in the area. They aren’t necessarily ICT based but may certainly contribute to what schools might look like in the future.

Furniture

There was big emphasis on furniture in the exhibition. The basic requirements for modern school furniture seem to be movable (and therefore light), ergonomic and adaptable. Furniture also has to be fit for purpose, its going to be uses by lots of children so must be hardwearing. Here are some of the designs that I saw – none of which are rocket science.

The Isis t41 60degree Table – This table can be used individually or it can be slotted together in a variety of patters for use in group work. What I thought was well thought out about it was that every table has wheels on them to make them easy to transport  around the class or from one place to another. The table also has a flip top which means they can be stacked easily and then wheeled to somewhere else. I think that future learning spaces will need to be as flexible as possible and designs like this will be able to quickly transform a tradition classroom setting (rows of tables with chairs) into a more open and creative space for other learning activities.

The picture below is of some of the other tables that I saw. These ones don’t have wheels (which means they will be cheaper) but again emphasis is on flexibility and the ability to have a single table or groups of tables. The triangular shape of the tables means that they can be places in a number of creative layouts to best suit the classroom space or the learning activity. The thing that I really like about these tables is that they are colourful and bright!

I also really liked the idea of the Newton Chair (also pictures above)and the children that I spoke to at the exhibition said that it was a lot better than the chairs they currently had at school. Again the chairs are easily stackable and they are light which means they are easy to move around.

What’s nice about it is that it has foot bar for comfort and it is also designed to be sat on in two positions. The first position is designed for when a student is working. When you work you naturally lean forward and the chair rocks forward with you. The second position is for when you are listening. You can lean back on these chair and the chair leans back with you. The Newton Chairs safety feet prevent you leaning back to far.

Adaptability

As well as furniture adaptability there were some other products to simply change the design of the learning space. The one I liked the most was the thinking pod. I could instantly see a use for these in modem schools to provide extra meeting or study space

Creativity

I just loved this. I’m sure it wouldn’t be cost economical – but it would brighten up any school or  classroom!

Simple Ideas are still the most powerful?

The simple other idea that I really liked was this table. It’s a table that you can write on with dry wipe pen. It would be great for gathering ideas for groupwork and it would also be a lot cheaper than an interactive table!

The whole experience within the ‘Shaping Education for the Future’ exhibition can only de described as a futuristic IKEA – some fantastic products, ideas and innovation. I really enjoyed my two hours here and I’m already wondering what they will come up with next year?

BETT 2009 – RM ‘Shaping Education for the Future’ (1 of 2)

RM did a good job in the Olympia 2 Building at BETT 2009 where they set aside a whole area titled ‘Shaping Education for the Future’. Not only was their good coffee, nice biscuits and a free internet café. But there was also a chance to look at some of the New Technologies that might be coming in the direction of schools over the next few years.

First Up was an interactive floor (by Virtigo – I think?). It worked by a ceiling mounted projector that projects down onto any surface. A small camera recognises the uses shadow on the surface – which allows the user to interact. It’s multi-user so lots of people can interact at any time. The children that I saw using this device were having a great time completing puzzles, revealing objects and working collaboratively. I’m sure that with time more educational activities will be developed for this particular piece of hardware and I can certainly see products like this being used in schools of the future.

Next I looked at an interesting system from Optimusic. The system uses our sensor lights to create an interactive multimedia environment. Which in simple terms means it’s a switch controlled by light. The user breaks the spotlight beam and a sensor activates sounds, images and other events on the computer. Again the children that I saw using this system seemed very engaged and I particularly liked the virtual DJ application that allowed children to compose music by moving their hands through the light beams. I’ll be keeping an eye on this product as one of their next stages for development is to produce software that works with the Optimusic system to improve maths and numeracy.

After I had finished being a virtual DJ, I moved into the Video and Media across the curriculum area. Where I had bit of fun trying to be like Harry Potter! The video below shows my picture on the television and then me disappearing. This was achieved using a chroma key. My thanks go to Andrew Watt (formally of Edinburgh City) who kindly captured the footage on my flip camera.

I remain convinced that digital video is a powerful way to enhance the learning experience. I hope that all new schools that are built in the future will set space aside for a small video studio where students can learn about the media and be creative. Most importantly I hope schools will continue to broadcast their student’s successes on school websites or video sharing sites. We have some very talented young people in the UK and their work deserves to get an audience. A fantastic example of this is some of the work produced by the Thomas Hardy School in Dorchester.

Moving on I visited the science area where I saw a 3D projector in action. Again this is defiantly something that we will see in schools sooner rather than later. The users view the material wearing 3D glasses and the content really bounces out of the screen. I watched a really good demo of a biology lesson where students were learning about anatomy and physiology – your really did fly into and through the body. I also saw Google Earth and Second Life being shown in 3D – it looked amazing!

Microsoft Surface was also on display in the Shaping Education for the Future Zone. I’ve written about that previously.

In my next post I will look at some of the interesting furniture and other ideas that were on display.