Commenting on the findings, John Botham, Education Director for network solutions provider D-Link said: "The research from Intellect throws up some very interesting issues. That pupils' own devices will be incorporated into lessons is inevitable, in fact I would say that 5 years is an over estimation of time. The headteachers I speak to want to use the personal devices of their pupils now, first as it has obvious benefits to reducing the impact of the upcoming budget cuts and secondly, as pupils will often have very advanced personal technology. Take a recent example given to me by a headteacher that half of the sixth form pupils of one school in North Wales were given iPads for Christmas, but were forced to use outdated school equipment for a design project for biology. Of course this relies on a reliable managed wireless network to enable mobile working.”
John added: “The UK is actually leaps ahead in terms of education ICT compared to most of the rest of the world and it is essential that we keep this lead by all means possible, otherwise we risk our head-start on Europe going the way of our transport system. Industry and schools must do all they can to ensure that we continue to innovate in technology and that our pupils get the skills needed for the companies of the future, so that we can perform as part of a global economy."
Visitors to the Panasonic stand were able to see themselves displayed live in Full-HD 3D via the AG-3DA1 integrated broadcast camera and 1080p Full-HD professional 3D plasma display TH-85VX200W.
“3D technology is a hot topic at the moment and we believe 3D has a strong future,” said Brennan Peyton, General Manager, Panasonic System Networks imaging group. “The technology may also offer new potential for teachers to create exciting lessons, particularly in the fields of science and media studies.”
Panasonic is continuing to maintain a successful partnership with Lightbox Education, a division of the RM Group. Lightbox’s award-winning Easiteach Next Generation will be available with the Panaboard UB-T880 and UB-T880W interactive whiteboards.
"A lot of schools see ICT as a core part of what a school is all about. They come to BETT to find out the latest and what the trends are. They can make informed decisions as the technology is all in one place," added Brennan.
Pop4Schools was showcased on one of twelve UB-T880 interactive whiteboards at the Panasonic stand. Launched in December 2010, it gives under 12’s the chance to simulate the work undertaken by record companies and compose their own song for release as a download or CD. Children get a better understanding of how the pop music they love is produced, whilst learning a wide range of curriculum subjects from ICT to Literacy. It can be taught as individual subjects or as a cross-curricular project.
Ruth Katz, Director explained the background of Pop for Schools: "It allows access to a world they wouldn't otherwise learn about." Built by teachers, for teachers it only costs £100: "I want every child in the world to go through the programme, it’s got to be affordable."
Promethean unveiled its next generation, ActivBoard 500 Pro-series, introducing technology that allows the board to be operated simultaneously by both pen and ‘gesture’ touch.
Jean-Yves Charlier, Chief Executive Officer at Promethean, commented: “Expectations and usability of technology have changed with developments in consumer electronics, and with it a new set of actions has emerged – the tap of a screen has replaced the click of a button. These digital behaviours are now second nature to most technology users and can now be used in the classroom to operate our new generation of interactive whiteboards. Feedback from pilot schools has confirmed that we have created a ‘best of breed’ solution that offers a collaborative, immersive, and inclusive digital experience.”
Jon Audain, a Year 4 teacher at Titchfield Primary School in Hampshire and an Advanced Skills Teacher for Primary ICT, adds: “The pen and touch capability of the ActivBoard 500 offers the best of both worlds and provides a more intuitive and fluid way of working.”
The ActivBoard 500 Pro also includes two free multi-touch applications for mind mapping and lesson planning: NoteBoard and TouchPad.
Epson demonstrated for the first time its new ultra-short-throw interactive series, which allows interactive images to be projected onto a variety of flat surfaces, even desktops, without the need for special screens or whiteboards. The range’s ultra-short-throw capability helps achieve bigger projections without casting large shadows.
Graeme Davidson, Market Development Manager, Epson UK commented: “Showing teachers and education specialists our products first hand and demonstrating the innovative features will allow them to experience just how Epson products can help in the classroom. The interactivity of our new launches and the innovative technology that has been used to create them demonstrates why Epson became the world’s number one interactive projector manufacturer during 2010, according to Futuresource.”
Ed Whittaker of IRIS stopped by the Education Today stand for a chat: "I spent 28 years at the chalk face as a chemistry teacher with responsibility for behaviour management. With my business partner I created a product called called IRIS, the new 'incarnation' of which is ADAPT. Like its predecessor, it allows classroom teachers to record positive and negative behaviour, but while on the current system the input form is fixed, ADAPT allows the school to start with a blank page and collect the information they want to collect, in the way they want to collect it. It’s tailored to the needs of the school.”
Further advancing collaboration in the classroom, Texas Instruments DLP® Products announced dual-pen and 3D interactive projectors at BETT. “Technology is a powerful enabler for positive change in classrooms and something Texas Instruments has been dedicated to for decades,” said Roger Carver, manager of Front Projection, DLP Products. “In collaboration with our projector manufacturing and education ecosystem partners, we’re developing innovative technologies to transform education for the better, and these interactive solutions are great examples of that. Not only do they foster an environment of collaboration, they’re reliable and easy to use, so teachers can spend more time teaching.”
Kathryn Macaulay, Deputy Headteacher at the Abbey School where the 3D projectors are in use, said: “We use DLP projectors made by Optoma, the main criteria being that every projector we purchase uses DLP technology. DLP projectors offer great picture quality in both 2D and 3D, good value for money and are very reliable. The priority for us is that we can run 3D content to help our pupils learn using the best possible resources.” Asked what the response from other teachers had been, Kathryn said: “Phenomenal. Lots of schools are using 3D technology and we can expect to see great changes over the next 12-24 months. This time next year, everyone will look round and not be able to remember a time before 3D.”
With an operational life of up to 20,000 hours and no requirement for replacement lamps, the latest Casio projectors are said to offer a ten-fold improvement over the old Casio projectors. Additionally, there are no filters to clean so follow up maintenance costs are minimal. Without the considerable costs of replacement lamps and general maintenance, Casio projectors offer an extremely low cost of ownership (TCO). Its second year at the show, Casio was busy throughout: “I can’t imagine not coming next year,” said a spokesperson.
IMServ is an industry leader in carbon and energy management solutions that help schools to save energy, reduce costs, control carbon and be greener. Mike Cordner said: “School’s aren’t properly looking at how to manage energy consumption. The DFE’s own figures say that state schools spend £400/500 million a year on energy. This is money that could be saved to spend on new resources. IMServ’s dashboard solution is key to educating stakeholders, raising energy awareness and identifying energy opportunities.
With over 55 years of experience in the classroom, PolyVision integrates time-tested tools with innovative technologies and environmental responsibility for today’s ultimate interactive whiteboard solutions. Mike Boyle, Senior Project Manager said of BETT: “We are very impressed with the size of the crowd. The level of interest is high; teachers are still finding the money and making technology a priority. The Spending Review hasn’t affected the show as much as you might have thought. We are getting better at listening to teachers; we do focus groups at trade shows. It’s about identifying a problem and finding a solution.”
Drew Meyer of Netgear, a company that provides wireless network adsl routers, cards and broadband modems commented that, “At the highest global level, the major trends are virtualization, cloud computing, changing economics. Our products are affordable, reliable and simple – smart IT, not big IT. Netgear fits a need. We are now the best selling wireless solution in the UK market and a market leader in storage.”
Impressed with the show and the sophistication of the solutions presented, he told us afterwards: “NETGEAR is extremely pleased to be a part of the show and to have grown to sell more wireless networks than anyone else in the UK. Our smart IT story about reliable, affordable and simple solutions for the economic recovery seemed to really resonate with the cost-centric show attendees.”
“This is our third year at BETT,” said Samsung’s Neil Sawyer, “Our products are now in 75-80 Universities and 320 Primaries & Academies. “The big launch is our new tablet device, developed in conjunction with Microsoft and launched 4 days ago in Vegas.”
“As a trade show BETT is great. 6/7 years ago it was all projectors and whiteboards, but now Becta has been dissolved there is a real opportunity to develop other parts of the portfolio. It’s made it a better trade show. There are so many more opportunities moving forward.”
The Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) and the Serious Games Institute of United Kingdom (UK) announced two initiatives that aim to create opportunities for game companies from Singapore and UK to work together. Through the serious games joint call-for-proposal, companies can expect to receive mentorship from the Serious Games Institute in terms of game design and research and development (R&D) as well as market access to Europe for Singapore companies and Asia for UK companies. To support this joint call-for-proposal, MDA will commit SGD $5 million or GBP 2.5 million over two years to fund selected projects. The deadline for submission of proposals is 30 April 2011.
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Wannabe Warhols from Great Easton Primary School in Dunmow were invited to London’s BETT Show to unveil the ‘Happy Art Competition’. Organised by Essex firm LapSafe Products, the trip saw pupils get creative as they were asked to draw ‘something that makes them happy’. The school’s artwork was then displayed for other visitors to see on stand H6.
The outing was organised to kick-start a UK wide contest, open to all special educational needs (SEN) and primary school students until 31st March 2011. Like the pupils from Great Easton Primary, artists simply need to draw ‘something that makes them happy’ for the chance to bag five netbooks for their school and a brand new Primary™ trolley to store and charge them.
As well as having their artwork transferred onto the cabinet’s door, the lucky student will also take home a netbook for themselves. A runner up will win £100 worth of book vouchers for their classroom and £30 worth for themselves.
James Bird, CEO of Stone told Education Today: “Whilst visitor numbers for BETT 2011 when compared to previous years seemed to be fairly constant, the general consensus amongst the on-stand team for Stone was that the number of senior decision-makers in attendance rose significantly. This manifested itself in many visitors to the stand being very keen to engage in conversations around large projects and the overall aim of reducing capital expenditure.
“The key concern of teachers and ICT decision-makers from schools was how to apply ICT in an effective way to improve the learning experience of pupils and increase educational attainment, whilst achieving a reduction in capital spends. The challenge of doing more with less seemed to be a common theme – almost a mantra – across all conversations with current and prospective customers alike.
“Specifically, visitors wanted to explore options around parental contribution schemes. Managing the implementation and ongoing administration around ‘1:1’ schemes can be a daunting task for schools, and this was something visitors approached Stone for advice and support around. Also, the shift towards mobile ICT set-ups to support ‘anytime, anywhere’ learning for pupils featured as a key topic in these conversations.”
Lead singer and guitarist with indie band, Gomez, stopped visitors in their tracks when he treated them to a live acoustic performance on the stand of ICT solutions specialist, XMA.
Mercury Prize and Brit Award winner, Ben Ottewell, who had UK chart hits with Gomez, also put students from the Langley Academy through their musical paces when he led a live tutorial and jamming session which culminated in the students recording their own track.
As more schools and academies are incorporating ‘GarageBand’ into their curriculum, more and more students are learning to produce music using their Apple iMacs and MacBooks computers.
Guy Bates, Business Development Director at XMA, said: “It’s a fact that children who are exposed to music or learn to play a musical instrument are known to do better in school. Learning how to play an instrument teaches discipline, reduces stress and gives a child a great sense of achievement. What’s more, amidst the more serious subjects they’re studying, it’s fun!”
Maia Hendrickx, Music Teacher at Langley Academy, said: “What really came across was just how simple it was to use and get a good result. As a music programme, it’s a great confidence boost to those who are using this sort of software for the first time or who haven’t had much experience in composition. I’m sure we will be using it a lot more since our day at BETT.”
Sir Bob Geldof, co-founder of one of the education sector market leaders in communication and data extraction tools, Groupcall, officially unveiled the company’s latest addition, Groupcall Emerge at BETT 2011.
Emerge is a powerful yet intuitive ‘App’ designed for the Apple iPod touch with Wi-Fi, or an iPhone/iPad with Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity. It delivers up-to-the-minute Management Information System (MIS) data instantly and securely, with access on an anytime, anywhere basis.
At the launch of Emerge, Sir Bob Geldof outlined the importance of the new application, explaining that: “Equipping teachers with a device that gives them immediate access to the information they require is not only hugely beneficial from an administration and time management perspective, but also with respect to student safety. At the touch of a button, teachers are able to quickly access contact information for each student and of course their parents/guardians.”
Adobe launched ‘Creative ID’, a fun new quiz for teachers and students to complete online. The quiz has been developed by Adobe in conjunction with educational psychologist Kairen Cullen and is designed to identify the creative strengths of teachers and students to encourage more creativity in the classroom.
Liz Wilkins, Senior Marketing Manager, Education at Adobe UK said: “Enhancing creativity in the classroom is paramount to student success by increasing learner engagement. We are working closely with educators to provide a range of resources and advice on how to identify and develop talent through the use of ICT across the curriculum. The ‘Creative ID’ quiz is a fun way for teachers and students to discover their creative strengths and one of many resources we are providing as part of the Creativity in the Classroom campaign.”
Leading UK awarding body OCR and Adobe also announced at BETT 2011 that the Adobe Certified (ACA) qualification in Adobe Dreamweaver, Flash and Photoshop is now available as part of OCR’s new ITQ qualification.
Over at IRIS Connect I spoke to Ken Brechin, Assistant Headteacher at Cramlington Learning Village, who had considered a number of options to share good practice before installing this technology. He said: “We chose Iris Connect because it’s very discreet, easy to set up and you can observe teachers in their own environment, where both they and their students are comfortable. And because the observer isn’t in the room, the dynamics of the lesson aren’t affected.”
Dr.Stuart Kemp, a Chemistry Teacher with just over a year’s experience, was one of the first volunteers to use IRIS Connect, as he was keen to garner feedback in order to improve his teaching. Having experienced traditional observations, he felt that their value was limited by his ability to recreate the classroom situation in his mind. He finds IRIS Connect helps him in this respect: “I find it much easier to improve more quickly, because, with the video and the contemporaneous notes, I can put myself vividly into that situation and get more value from the feedback as it feels more immediate. The review meeting is more valuable because it’s more of a dialogue than a one-way stream of feedback.”
