FNAME SNAME'S Special BETT Edition of Computers in Classrooms

This edition of Computers in Classrooms is almost entirely given over to the BETT 2010 Show. Included are news about UK Government policy, the Learning and Technology World Forum, and notes from seminars, for example the Heppell-McFarlane disagreement.

You’ll also find the personal views of several educationalists, both on what they liked (or didn’t like), and what products (if any) ‘WOWed’ them. I am extremely grateful to all of them for taking the time and trouble to provide me with copy, or giving me carte blanch to help myself from their writing. Do take some time to visit their blogs or follow them on Twitter.

In case you’re not familiar with the BETT Show, it’s a huge educational technology event spanning four days in January. As well as hundreds of exhibitors there is also an extensive seminar programme and, this year, an extended ‘unconference’ aspect, as detailed below. What I’ve attempted to do in this edition of Computers in Classrooms is to give you an idea of some of the issues raised and a few of the things that caused a ripple of excitement amongst some of the attendees.

First, though, it’s Safer Internet Day tomorrow, so please take a few moments to read the sponsored article below about the event, and where you can obtain ideas for it.

Sponsored article from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre

Safer Internet Day -- 9 February 2010

Safer Internet Day is a European-wide initiative and is the one day in the calendar that will give a focus to internet safety issues such as cyberbullying, dealing with upsetting and illegal content online, sexual abuse and grooming. There are a range activities taking place across the week (from Monday 8th -- Friday 12th February) and across the continent to help protect young people online. You can get involved too.

As part of the public awareness coordination role on behalf of the UK, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre have launched a micro-site at www.thinkuknow.co.uk/saferinternetdayuk which has been designed to give schools, teachers, parents, youth workers and child protection specialists some ideas and suggestions about how to get involved. CEOP will also be launching new resources to teach online safety to 4-7 year old children. Schools in the London, Leeds and Reading areas can also register for a trained ‘Protect’ volunteer to come to their school and deliver Thinkuknow resources sessions to their students.

Registering on the site will also provide access to the various educational resources -- like assembly programmes and primary and secondary aged resources -- provided free by CEOP and other organisations. There is also an interactive map for organisations to report back on their activities which will be made available to media outlets to report on in the local communities.

CEOP are also launching a competition for young people called ‘Think before you post’. This competition involves asking young people from the UK to create a short film (between 1-3 minutes long) illustrating what this theme means to them and how they would explain this sentiment to their peers. Entrants can be from young people between the ages of 8-16 and can enter as an individual, small group of up to five young people or as a class entry. Once moderated, the films are then to be posted on the Thinkuknow YouTube channel.

If you are taking part in Safer Internet Day this year, you can download free online banners to go onto websites that say ‘We’re supporting Safer Internet Day 2010’ to raise awareness of the initiative and advertise your participation.

Visit www.thinkuknow.co.uk/saferinternetdayuk for further details.

The Next Generation Quiz

Becta, the Government’s agency for technology in education and the NEN (National Education Network) are launching the first ever nationwide online schools quiz.

Schools entering the interactive Next Generation Learning National Schools Quiz, which will take place on Friday 12^th March, could win up to £3,000 worth of ICT equipment or training for their school, plus there are fantastic spot prizes for successful individuals and teams who take part.

The quiz will run exclusively online, via the NEN, covering curriculum areas, and questions will be provided by a series of high profile national partners who include the Historic Royal Palaces, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, Guide Dogs for the Blind, and the Birdseye Brain Game Challenge.

The nationwide quiz is open to pupils aged eight and nine years old. Schools can sign up individual pupils or teams by registering now at www.nextgenerationlearning.org.uk/nsq.

Every pupil will be awarded gold, silver or bronze certificates, depending on their performance, and every school signing up to take part in the quiz will automatically achieve level 1 of the Next Generation Learning Charter, stating its public commitment to embrace technology in learning.

The Amazing Web 2.0 Projects Book

What with BETT, preparing for 2 presentations and battling the worst chest infection I’ve had in years (cue violins), I’m afraid this magnum opus is still not quite ready. I’m currently at the 3^rd from last proofreading stage. In case you’re interested, that’s the stage in which I go through the whole lot with a pencil, looking for formatting inconsistencies, big gaps, etc etc.

The penultimate stage involves reading through it once again for the sense of it, just in case somewhere along the line I accidentally deleted a paragraph, rendering a whole page meaningless.

Lastly, I’ll use the spellchecker.

It’s coming, and I am sure you’ll like it when it arrives. With over 90 contributors and some brilliant projects, this successor to the Web 2.0 Projects Book is a veritable cornucopia of ideas for the classroom. But -- and this is what I really like about it -- the educational and practical aspects are not sacrificed on the altar of techno-fanaticism.

Web 2.0 For Rookies

In case you’ve missed it, I’ve been running a series by that name on the ICT in Education website. It has gone down very well, with at least two people saying they will be using it as a basis for their In-Service Training of non-technically minded colleagues. One of the articles has also been linked to from the Vital CPD website (more on that below), and I haven’t finished the series yet!

To go straight to the articles in the series, go to the link in the box in the top right-hand corner of the website, under the heading ‘Fast Access to Series’.

You will also discover there links to two other series I’ve started, 5 Minute Tips, and Cool Tools For Teachers. There is even a link to the BETT-related articles I’ve written, in case this newsletter leaves you gasping for more!

The Learning and Technology World Forum (LATWF)

The BETT Show is preceded by the LATWF, which is an opportunity for Ministers of Education from overseas to see and hear about what the UK is doing in the field of educational technology. This year’s event attracted 1000 leaders from 100 countries, including more than 75 ministers of education and skills and representing over 80 per cent of the world’s population, who gathered to discuss some of the key issues in education today.

UK Prime Minister Rt Hon Gordon Brown opened the Forum, which also saw presentations from Rt Hon Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families and the Rt Hon Lord Mandelson, First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.

There are videos of some of the highlights of the event online.

Louise McDonough on her first BETT

I had the pleasure of meeting Louise to talk to her about the Web 2.0-based resource called Teach IT. Louise took me through the teachers’ pack, and I have to say that, at least at first glance, I was impressed. Obviously I’ll need to spend a bit of quality time looking at it, but in the meantime I asked Louise to send me some notes on her BETT experience.

Just to give a bit of context, Louise and I enjoyed a laugh during the Tedx event (which I discuss below) . One of the speakers asked the audience to get into pairs and for each one to describe themselves to the other using one word only. Louise said ‘complicated’, and I said ‘simple’. We decided it was a typical gender thing!

I informed Louise after the BETT Show that I had managed to pick up a chest infection. I always like to collect freebies, and this certainly made a change from mugs and pens. Three weeks and 51 antibiotics later I am just about OK, though I still cough when I laugh (for which reason I am trying to remain as miserable as possible). She sounded sympathetic at the time, but in the light of comment #3 below, I now have my doubts. Anyway, here’s what she said:

Things I liked about BETT10:

1) Having the utter pleasure of meeting Terry Freedman. Gentleman.

2) Meeting 9 local education authorities as well as interesting guys from Learnosity and ConnectEd.

3) Not picking up a bug -- we woman are the much stronger species....naturally.

4) Loved the 2Simple software -- shout out to Anthony Evans.

5) Best thing about the Tedx thing was the company really -- didn't rate the speakers much (but then again I had been on my feet all day!).

6) On my last day I finally from somewhere found my sense of direction and I made it from point A to point B (where I needed to be) without getting completely lost.

7) Being uncontactable as had no mobile signal. O2 FAIL.

Louise McDonough louise@do-be.co.uk

http://do-be.co.uk/

The Home Access Programme

Prime Minister Gordon Brown launched the national roll out of the Home Access programme, a scheme to give 270,000 low income families a free computer and free broadband access, to help close the digital and educational divide between rich and poor and help keep parents in touch with their child's progress.

Families with children in years 3 -- 9 (approximately age 7 -- 14), who are entitled to free schools meals, will be able to apply for a grant to buy a computer and broadband connection from an approved supplier, after meeting strict eligibility criteria. Looked after children up to the age of 18 will also receive laptops, and the scheme will offer bespoke packages to provide more support for children with special educational needs.

The programme is being rolled out nationally after successful pilots in Oldham and Suffolk showed a positive impact on both the pupils and their parents, according to a Department for Children, Schools and Families press release :

· On average, children who received computers from the Home Access programme spent an hour more per week for learning online, compared to their classmates who already had the internet at home.

· Eighty-one per cent of parents believed that home access had increased their involvement in their child’s learning -- and increased parental engagement is proven to improve children’s educational attainment.

· Eighty-one per cent of parents (94 per cent in black and ethnic minority groups) said home access would improve their confidence in using technology.

· Eighty-nine per cent of parents in Oldham and 69 per cent in Suffolk felt it would help them with their skills development.

· Parents reported using their Home Access computer to access public services online, and to also look for work.

According to a report called Drivers and Barriers to Educational Success, by the Institute for Fiscal Studies:

Having access to a computer or the internet at home (at age 14) appears to be strongly positively associated with educational attainment at age 16. Changes in the availability of computer and internet access at home between ages 14 and 16 are also highly correlated with Key Stage 4 test scores, in the expected directions (i.e. gaining access is good and losing access is bad). In general, computer and internet access at home are significantly positively associated with Key Stage 3 and 4 results, and with progress between the two Key Stages. (Explanation: Key Stage 3 is the first phase of secondary schooling, ie from age 11 to 14, while Key Stage 4 is the next stage, from age 14 to 16.)

Apparently it is even correlated with behaviours, with greater access associated with less truancy and even less smoking. I have to say I find this difficult to believe without knowing the explanation for it, because it implies causation where it may not exist. Anyway, you can read the report for yourself here:

http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/DCSF-RR102.pdf.

My BETT

So call me a masochist, but despite the crowds, the expense, the dreadful journey home, the blister I developed on the sole of my right foot and the chest infection I picked up (did I mention that already?), I really enjoyed BETT this year. For me, BETT is much more about meeting people, and the discussions, than the technology, and this year did not disappoint.

I also, for the first time in years, attended a few of the seminars on offer, which I’ve reported on below, and here. The thing is this: with all the rush to meet targets these days, coping with changes to the curriculum, changes in inspection requirements, and various initiatives, how many of us really have the time to sit down and discuss important issues with colleagues? Face to face I mean. Because although doing it online is fine up to a point, in my opinion there is nothing like sitting down with a bunch of colleagues and having an intellectual debate. Except, perhaps, for sitting down with them and chatting about stuff over a cup of coffee.

I enjoyed meeting people I already know, plus a few I didn’t. As always, I met folk who subscribe to this newsletter or follow my website musings. I also enjoyed meeting Mike Peppiatt again, for the first time in years. Mike was in the assessment division of the then QCA before it was hived off as a separate entity, when I was at the QCA working on the on-screen ICT test. Being a statistician, Mike horrified us all on one occasion by suggesting that the easiest way to determine a student’s level in ICT would be to find out the main characteristics of people at different levels, and then use that data as a predictor.

For example, if it were to be discovered that all Level 5 students have in common the fact that they all have eggs on toast for breakfast, sleep 5 hours a night, and go for a 3 mile run every morning before school, then all you have to do is ask candidates about their eating, sleeping and exercise habits. Why even bother trying to work out if this or that piece of work is a Level 5 or not, when spotting an egg stain on someone’s tie might turn out to be a more reliable measure?

I am still not entirely convinced that Mike was joking….

I did see a couple of things I liked. I visited Vye Computers, and fell in love with half their stock, including a prototype of the lightest computer I’ve ever handled. It made my netbook feel heavy, and the video graphics were unbelievably good. They also had a small computer with a dual screen. That looked very interesting too.

I spent some time talking to the MD of TrueTube about the new services they’re offering, including an online video editor which looks pretty easy to use. The only potential issue with using it is that by doing so you agree to TrueTube using it themselves. TrueTube is also offering classes in film-making, in a video vehicle they bring to the school.

If you’d like to read more of my impressions of BETT, check out the BETT articles on the website.

What we need, in my opinion, is a healthy dose of ‘so what?’-ism. The two most powerful words a teacher can utter when it comes to educational technology (or, indeed, any new-fangled idea) is ‘so what?’. I was relieved to discover that this approach to educational technology was very much alive and kicking at this year’s BETT Show.

I always ask people I bump into if they have seen anything exciting, and this year most of them said, “Yes, I’ve seen a lot of 3D and Augmented Reality, but so what?”

This isn’t to be dismissive of new technology. Nevertheless, it is usually the case that when new technology comes on the scene it represents an answer to a question which nobody has asked yet. It takes a teacher with imagination to look at an innovation and say, “Ah, this will enable me to do X”, where X is something that the teacher has wanted to do but has been unable to, or which s/he would like to do better, or easier (or both).

As well as attending other people’s seminars, I gave two presentations myself. One was about the Amazing Web 2.0 Projects Book which I mentioned a moment ago. As well as giving one or two examples of projects from the book, I discussed the information-gathering process itself. I also made available, for a limited period of time, the uncorrected first draft of the book.

The other one was called ‘Driving Your Vision’, in which I looked at the Advanced Driving system and how it could be applied to the field of educational ICT, and at some (mostly free) resources which could be used in each phase of the system.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that both seminars were sold out. I thought the driving one sounded a bit esoteric, and would therefore not attract many people. Not only was I wrong about that, but people were saying to me as they exited that they had found it very useful. That would seem to be reflected in the number of downloads of the free resources document I made available to accompany the talk.

Well, that’s BETT over for another year. I’m still in the process of following up conversations and looking at software I acquired, but now is a time for reflection. If you missed BETT this year and are thinking about attending next year, get these dates in your diary now, before it gets filled up! January 12^th to 15^th, inclusive.

Educational Technology Taskforce Launched

The Government announced that it was setting up a taskforce to consider how to can build on the UK's standing in the educational technology market to support the development of further opportunities for UK businesses overseas. Ed Balls said:

“There is a huge opportunity for UK firms to grasp the expansion in overseas markets and I want British companies to be best placed to capitalise on success in adopting new technologies, building on our good track record of innovation to develop export markets.

“That’s why we are setting up a new taskforce to look at how we can support further opportunities for UK businesses overseas and I am delighted that Lord Puttnam has agreed to be chair and Ian Ferguson has agreed to be the deputy-chair. Together they will make a strong team so that as a country we can build on this great opportunity. What we are doing shows you can have a wealth-creating economy for the future and deliver social justice in our society at the same time.”

Interestingly enough, that ties in with ICT Curriculum Advisor Dave Smith’s views of the BETT Show, which is the next item.

BETT -- A True British Export

So, BETT is over for another year. In a time of recession, it was amazing to see 30,000+ visitors pass through the doors of Olympia. More remarkable was the number of overseas visitors to BETT eager to find out approaches to using ICT in the United Kingdom. This made me reflect upon what BETT means to the British economy. With successful overseas exports from companies such as Crick Software and 2simple, it is important that we do not let this British export market slip, as we have let other markets in the past.

The investment in ICT in our country has been extensive and has allowed our pupils and students to benefit from approaches to learning just a pipe dream ten years ago. This is something that other countries look at with envy and are eagerly trying to catch-up. Evidence of this was shown on the Saturday of BETT, when I hosted a visit from the Japanese Ministry of Education who were keen to find out about past and present initiatives, such as ‘eLearning Credits’ and ‘extensive investment in interactive whiteboards.’ Haruka Saito, the Director of Educational Media and Information Policy Division, of Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, was amazed at the ratios of interactive whiteboards to classes in the United Kingdom. When I shared the figures, he gasped and asked me to repeat my answer to check that it was true! The delegation were keen to find out the successful strategies and organisations behind ICT in the United Kingdom. They mentioned that BETT was ‘an amazing show, demonstrating the innovative approaches to ICT in the UK’.

Investment in ICT in the United Kingdom produces exports and ideas for other countries to invest in and in turn provides jobs and research and development funding in the UK. In a time when we look around and struggle to see what we now produce in the UK, be careful that we do not let this British gem become dull and uninspiring, by pulling funding in ICT. BETT is a True British Export that we must guard and nurture with equal care. Let BETT grow and become stronger -- otherwise we could find that others steal the ideas and markets that we so cherish.

Dave Smith is Chair of The Visualiser Forum and ICT Consultant and Curriculum Advisor to the London Borough of Havering Inspection and Advisory Services (Joint Winner of Becta's 2009 ICT Excellence Award for Support for Schools and Runner-Up in 'Leadership, Management and Collaboration' with Engayne Primary School). Dave Smith’s email.

NB Dave was awarded a Mirandanet Fellowship during the BETT Show. Here is a photo of him receiving the award.

New Computer Basics Course Launched

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson announced that new IT courses to give thousands of adults the skills and confidence they need to go online will be piloted soon. The development of ‘Online Basics’ by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, UK online centres and Becta forms part of the Government’s response to Baroness Estelle Morris’s Review of ICT User Skills, published in June 2009. You can download that from here:

http://www.dius.gov.uk/~/media/publications/I/ict_user_skills

‘Online Basics’ include five key modules covering the basics -- using a mouse and keyboard, looking at the internet and keeping safe online. There is also guidance for people supporting those using the course: from tutors in learning centres to family members helping someone at home. Over the next three months, Online basics will be piloted in UK online centres in Barnsley, Oldham, Gloucester, Devon and London. Becta will evaluate the courses, expected to be rolled out across England in September 2010.

Online basics is a new offer from the myguide service, a free, simple introduction to computer and internet skills. There are over 25 more myguide courses about emailing, online shopping, digital photography and others. You can find out more, and register, here:

http://www.myguide.gov.uk/myguide/MyguideHome.do

Wow! Moments from BETT2010

Jan Webb writes: On visiting BETT for the first time, I was full of anticipation and excitement about what adventures and new horizons may lie ahead. I found some useful tools that could help us in our school with the challenges we are facing. I have 2 standout WOW! moments apart from the Teachmeet Takeovers and Teachmeet itself -- they stand apart from everything else that was there because of their relevance to developing classroom practice.

My hardware WOW of my trip to BETT was the new Epson Brightlink projector -- a short throw projector that can be attached directly to a wall and transform it into an interactive whiteboard at a fraction of the cost of an interactive whiteboard! The possibilities of this are endless and I am especially interested to read after my big BETT day out that they are talking about linking up with RM to add Easiteach software to their tools (having long enjoyed using Easiteach on my classboard/smartboards). Having to very quickly provide one class with an interactive whiteboard and with several bulbs now on their way out, I am looking at this option very closely!

My favourite software (does it fit into the software category?) is the development being made by Uniservity (our learning platform provider). They announced the new Life Learning Cloud which looks as though it will enable us to tailor our learning platform to meet our needs, with everything hosted in the “Cloud” -- what I currently call the “ether” when referring to things that are held on the internet away from our school site!

It looks as though it will build on the current trend towards web 2.0 applications in learning -- I hope it will enable even more teachers to make use of collaborative tools and support co-construction of learning between pupils, pupils/adults and adults. Having shown the concepts to my class today, they were very keen to see the learning cells and improved user interface. The potential is there to develop pedagogy in all curricula through ICT using indispensable collaborative opportunities, the discussion about how to apply it has been opened and I look forward to the Beta launch in September 2010. Links:

Epson Brightlink Projector

Life Learning Cloud
Jan Webb is an ICT coordinator, teacher with passion for trying new ideas and using technology to enhance learning and teaching and put learning into learning platform. She may be contacted on Twitter.

Technology Exemplar Network to be Doubled

Lord Mandelson also announced that the Technology Exemplar Network would be doubled in size. This is an online forum in which colleges and training providers can exchange ideas about good practice. For more details, look here:

http://feandskills.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?page=2019

The Minister’s Opening Speech at BETT

Vernon Coaker, the Minister for Schools and Learners, gave the keynote speech which launched this year’s BETT. In addition to announcements such as the rolling out of the Home Access programme, he went over the investment that has been made into educational ICT in Britain since 1997. Read The Register’s take on this here:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/13/vernon_coaker_it_schools_bett/

As you might expect, The Register strikes a cynical tone. However, I found it quite interesting both because of the examples cited of good ICT in schools today, and the gist of the most recent legislation (see also my article about the Children, Schools and Families Bill). Regarding the examples, I am pleased that he mentioned a school in which students can use their iPods for revision purposes. I hope the schools that have banned the use of such devices are taking note (we live in hope!).

He also announced the launch of Scimorph, a resource for helping Year 7 pupils in Science. It uses augmented reality (which seemed to be the big thing, along with 3D, at this year’s BETT Show). I have to say, I tried it and couldn’t see what it added in terms of educational value, but then (a) I’m not a science teacher and (b) I only spent 5 minutes on it. If you have any views on Scimorph, or the use of Augmented Reality and/or 3D in general, I’d be interested in hearing them.

To hear the Minister’s speech, look at the four videos here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/DCSFgovUK

Dawn Hallybone Talks About Teachers Presenting

My WOW at BETT did not come from hardware or software -- well not in the 'traditional' sense. Mine came from teachers taking over the 'traditional' stands and speaking about tools that were free that used in the classroom. The idea was one of pure genius from Tom Barrett and was in its inaugural year. It was a success, teachers are natural presenters and when presenting about something that they believe in -- it makes for compelling viewing.

I learnt new tools and also -- perhaps most importantly how these tools can be used to enhance the teaching and learning of our children, from people who have been there and done it. So on my list for this term is Voki, Voicethread and Google Maps. Thanks must go to all those teachers who signed up to share their inspiration and also to the standholders for letting their areas be 'taken' over. Here is to next year and more passion and presenting and teachers taking over.

Dawn Hallybone is a Senior Teacher at Oakdale Junior School. Dawn was a winner in the Handheld Held Learning Awards last October, will be speaking at the forthcoming Games Mirandamod (see elsewhere in this newsletter) and will be writing in the Games edition of Computers in Classrooms. Follow her blog at http://hallyd.edublogs.org/, and follow her on Twitter.

BETT Stats

This year BETT had 700 exhibitors and 30,000 visitors, making it the largest educational technology show of its kind in the world.

Doug Woods on What was NOT There

For me the 'WOW' factor was something that seemed missing from BETT 2010. Sure, there were projector-less whiteboards, even whiteboard-less projectors, and 3D displays and graffiti walls, but to me all of these were just developments of existing technology and were nothing new to innovate education.

There was, however, a piece of software which seemed to pass under the radar and which I feel has great potential. It was not a new piece of software but an updated version of an existing program. I say it slipped under the radar because I only heard of it via Twitter when I had returned home.

The program I am referring to is John Davitt's Learning Score, which I am sure some of you will know and may have used. Rather than a program which pupils use, it is a program which a teacher can use to create lesson plans (have I bored you yet?). The difference in this program lies in the way in which the teacher creates the lesson plans; it is done in a manner very similar to a music composition program (hence Learning Score) in which parts of the lesson (e.g. introduction, activities, resources) can be allocated along a timeline. The length of the timeline can be varied according to the length of the lesson and each lesson part can be varied in time. Each part can be linked to a digital resource, say a presentation, video or a document and each can be called up by the program at the correct time. The final lesson plan (and each of the parts) can be stored on a hard drive or a VLE and called up when required.

For me, the program is so simple in its concept and in its use that I am really surprised that more teachers don't use it instead of creating lesson plans on paper. With the ability to store and link lesson plans (scores) and resources on a VLE, it helps schools start to make sense of having a learning platform.

Doug Woods is an ICT in Education Consultant and Trainer. Read Doug’s blog at http://www.dougwoods.co.uk/blog, and follow him on Twitter.

The BETT Awards 2010

Each year, a number of educational products and services are recognised as ‘excellent’. For the list of 2010’s shortlisted candidates and the winners, go to the BETT Awards website. I think it’s worth looking at the finalists too, not only the winners.

Too Much Emphasis On Technology?

Peter Robinson discusses what he sees as the real value of BETT.

I started going to BETT about 25 years ago when it was housed in the Barbican. I made the ritual visit again this year, on the Friday, and Olympia seemed to be more packed than ever. Suppose I was rather surprised because I thought there wasn’t much money in the coffers. Certainly the queues were long and tiring and I couldn’t get a ticket for the Teachmeet seminar, the one I really wanted to go to. The Teachmeet seminar is so good because it is about educators saying what they found useful and things they have done. It overtly forbids people using the session as a sales pitch, which is a wonderful antidote to the main thrust of the exhibition.

Despite everybody saying things like “teaching and learning and pedagogy come first”, in practice this very hard to see at BETT. The technology takes over. I never forget a few years ago one of the BETT prizes went to an adult educational centre in a college where the ratio of computers to learners was very poor; I cannot but feel that the learners benefited from the process of sharing and having to work with one another. Of course some of the innovations are wonderful. My problem is that I am so often denouncing the educational claims (see my article called ‘harnessed by technology’ in the next edition of Computers in Classrooms) that the real innovations slip through my fingers. This time, having a met and talked to a few people (my main reason for going) I slunk away early and went visited the Tate Modern instead. Must try harder.

Peter edits the ICT Basic Skills Briefing.

National Education Network Reporting…

Simon Finch informs me that the NEN stand at the BETT Show had student reporters -- indeed, I saw them now and again interviewing people around the show. The youngsters even met the Minister for Education, met Bob Geldoff, and were on live internet radio each day with Russell Prue. They wrote news stories and published on the (launched at BETT) Making The News website (which appears to work best with Internet Explorer).
Follow NEN and Simon on Twitter.

Seminar: Breaking the Bonds of Learning

Reviewed by Terry Freedman. This keynote session was different to the format of previous years in that it consisted of a few short presentations by a panel of speakers, followed by questions from the audience.

Playful learning

Stephen Heppell kicked off the proceedings by saying that now we have to harness education to suit the children’s excitement, which is the opposite to the situation we’re used to. We’re in a bottom-up revolution.

Professor Heppell’s bottom line is that the kids love using technology, and they invent ways of learning with it. They’re having fun, and that’s how they learn -- hence his large space in the BETT Show called ‘Playful Learning’.

My interpretation is that Heppell is almost like a latter day Bob Dylan:

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The Times They Are A-Changing

He said that when the blinkers come off, and projects are uncapped, children’s achievement soars. The question then becomes: ‘How good might kids be?’

I agree with this. The best analogy I heard came from an HMI (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate) inspector. He argued for open-ended tasks by saying that if you ask someone to swim 100 metres, and they do it, you know they can swim 100 metres. But you don’t know if they could have swum even further. Having a closed task means putting a cap on what you allow the youngsters to achieve.

I also know from my own experience that having open-ended projects, in which the students get to make informed decisions about the work they will undertake, results in not only higher achievement, but a much greater passion for learning. The two go hand in hand, of course.

I think Professor Heppell spoilt it somewhat by saying something along the lines of, “We’ve got all this wonderful technology and what did we do with it? Someone came up with the idea of managed services.”

OK, I get it: what would you rather talk about: something like helping to design a new school, or managed services? The trouble is, unless you get the basics in place, and make sure the stuff actually works all the time, it’s pretty difficult to do exciting things anyway.

Heppell’s view is that the kids are using technology whether with our co-operation or not. He mentioned the fact that in some schools the students carry two phones, one of which is to hand over to a teacher when their phone is confiscated. Set up rules like ‘don’t use your mobile phones’, and the youngsters will just circumvent them anyway.

You can gain more of an insight into Professor Heppell’s views by reading this interview with him.

Not all kids are digital natives

Angela McFarlane took a somewhat contrary -- and, perhaps, a more academic -- line. She said that we do kids a disservice if we just assume they can use the technology without any intervention, because large numbers of young people don’t. I thought this was interesting because it ties in with what Edith, a schoolgirl, said when we discussed ICT with her. She said that although she and her friends are ‘digital natives’, there is still much they don’t know, and so they feel that they’ve been ‘under-taught’. Lovely expression that, isn’t it? I think she was basically saying that she and her friends don’t know what they don’t know.

Professor McFarlane also objected to the idea that education has to be ‘fun’ all the time, contending that sometimes it is having a challenge that leads to the greatest learning gains and the most personal sense of achievement.

I think she was right. However, I don’t she and Heppell were as far apart as might be imagined. From what I’ve seen and heard, the challenges that youngsters set themselves in their technology-centred games are not trivial. What I was thinking of when she objected to the idea of ‘fun’ was the fact that I enjoy trying to do the crossword. I get a lot of pleasure out of that, and the harder it is the more fun it is -- but only up to a point. When I attempt crosswords whose instructions require a PhD to decipher, the fun element soon disappears. It seems to me that the concepts of ‘fun’ and ‘challenge’ are, mostly, positively correlated rather than inversely related.

She went on to say that we don’t have a vocabulary to describe learning which is outside the academic qualifications structure. Hmm, so nothing changes then: when I did my Masters dissertation 25 years ago I had to invent a vocabulary or, more accurately, define particular terms like formal, informal and non-formal education very dogmatically in order to be able to discuss the issues I wanted to raise, because there was no commonly-agreed nomenclature.

The issue for me is: how do you discuss learning gains in any objective sort of way if grades aren’t involved? I’m not saying they should be, but it seems to me that we can’t just shirk the problem by talking in vague terms about things like fun, or motivation. I mention the latter because lots of people talk about ICT and technology being motivating, but my view is that if you really want to motivate kids, give them an iPod or something. ‘Motivation’ seems to me a pretty trivial reason unless it’s bound up with educational gains in some way.

I agreed with much of what McFarlane said, simply because in general terms I think that those people who advocate, in their blog posts, that the teacher should no longer be the sage on the stage but the guide on the side are encouraging teachers to abrogate their responsibilities. A teacher should be able to decide when being the sage, and when being the guide, is most appropriate.

In fact, if you stop and think about it, any blogger who truly believed in the 'guide on the side' idea to the exclusion o0f everything else wouldn't write extensive blog posts at all. They would write a headline and a statement, and then wait for the community to add their comments.

However, I think she did Heppell a disservice by implication, because if you look at his work over the years, and beyond the soundbites like ‘Be Very Afraid’ and ‘Playful Learning’, it’s clear that there’s a lot of emphasis on reflection and assessment. See, for example, http://rubble.heppell.net/learnometer/, where he states:

Reflective teachers are a valuable and scarce resource; they need to be nurtured and supported; potentially almost all teachers can be powerfully reflective in their own context and culture, given the opportunity and support.

Also, he was involved in a mobile phone-based assessment project called e-viva which showed that assessment can be innovative and use the technology that kids already possess.

The bottom line for McFarlane is that there is a significant minority of non-users of technology amongst young people, so the approach of just standing back and letting it happen doesn’t always work. I think anyone who has given serious thought to these matters would not disagree.

You can find out more about Professor McFarlane’s research and views by reading the article entitled The Myth of the Digital Native.

Turn on, tune in and switch off

Max Wainwright of 2Simple had an interesting take on things. His basic message was that we need to get away from technology every so often, and enjoy being outdoors. Using the somewhat dubious criterion that fewer kids in today’s classrooms have broken arms than when he was at school, he concluded that kids are to closeted with their technology indoors most of the time.

I know what he means, and he was at pains to point out that he wasn’t advocating broken arms! It was refreshing to be reminded that not every pleasure in life can be enjoyed via a computer screen.

What about impact?

Tim Rylands said there is too much focus on ‘free’, too much focus on ‘new’. He said we needed to consider the impact on learning. I liked his story of a school headteacher who said “We do excellence and enjoyment on Friday afternoons.”!

He said we should let kids teach the teachers. Actually, I tried that once, and it was one of the most successful in-service training sessions I’ve run.

Steve Beard Discovers a New Game

Microsoft are normally known for their operating system and office application, and in recent years for their SharePoint environment. From time to time they release cool applications for free, in the past we have seen Photosynth and DeepZoom to name two.

At BETT this year I stumbled across the latest application from Microsoft that gave me a buzz. Those that know me know that I spend too much time playing on my Xbox 360 and used to do a lot with schools on writing computer games. So when I came across 'Kodu' I had to download it and have a play. Fortunately my train from Euston was delayed by 3hrs so I was able to download and install the software before leaving London.

What gets me about this software is that I never knew it had been released or that it has been available on the Xbox 360 for a while. After being suitably impressed with the PC version, running it on Windows7 within Parallels on my Mac, I decided to download the Xbox 360 version (400 Microsoft Points) on Sunday morning. I then spent the next couple of hours with my 5yr old son writing and playing some very basic games, but having a lot of fun.

So if you are after developing problem solving, programming, sequencing or PLTS then pop over to http://fuse.microsoft.com/kodu or visit the games marketplace on your Xbox and download it. At present there is no way of sharing your games between the pc and Xbox, but you can have multiple people editing the game and you have the ability to share with your friends on the Xbox.

Check the Shropshire ICT Blog (http://educationblog.org.uk) for more details over the next couple of weeks.
Steve Beard is a School Improvement Consultant in Shropshire Council.

Seminar: ‘Power Up’: How ICT is transforming BSF schools

Reviewed by Terry Freedman. I attended this seminar presented by Steve Moss of Partnership for Schools, the organisation which oversees the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme for the rebuilding and refurbishment of secondary schools. It has recently acquired responsibility, too, for the Academy-building programme, and the Primary Capital Programme. The idea is to enable Local Authorities to have dealings with a single body rather than several.

The BSF programme ends in 2023, and the ICT component of the funding equates to £1,765 per student. The purpose of this money is to promote innovation, change management and transformation. This is distributed on an equitable, rather than an equal, basis across the LA.

For example, a school with children with severe educational needs will need more specialised, and therefore more expensive, equipment than other schools in the area, and should therefore enjoy a greater share of the pot of money available.

Moss said, “We need to make these places [schools] compelling.” In other words, kids -- and teachers -- should want to go there.

The seminar contained some useful nuggets:

· Do things differently in order to do them better.

· A school in the Midlands (England) used Second Life to see what its proposed plan would be like with people in it, using avatars. This struck me as a really good use of Second Life, which I sometimes think is a problem looking for a solution.

· Learning is a social activity, but some schools have disabled it!

· Finally, some great advice for schools wishing to try new things. Someone in the audience raised the issue of how to innovate when the managed service provider won’t let you. The reason for that, said Moss, is that should anything go wrong, or should there be any temporary lowering of the quality of the service because of the changes made, the managed service provider stands to be financially penalised. The answer is simple: the school should tell the company that, for the next X weeks whilst there is a period of transition, they will suspend that part of the contract. Good, commonsense advice.

A Projector With No Bulb

I was impressed with Casio's Bulbless projector, £750, 2000 lumen's and a 5 year or 10,000 lamp hour life warranty, writes Sean Carragher. Simply technology that could potentially save schools money, with not having to replace expensive bulbs! They need further exploration but looked impressive.

Sean Carragher is a Lead Practitioner for ICT, Bradford Academy. He is interested in Elearning and New technologies and their impact on learning.

The Unconference

This year saw an expansion of the ‘unconferencing’ aspect of BETT. For some time now there has been a TeachMeet event on the Friday evening, at which people give short or even shorter presentations about things they’re doing in their classrooms. This year, Think Different, the company responsible for the seminar programme, offered us the opportunity to have things going on for three evenings, ie Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Tedx

The indefatigable Drew Buddie organised a mini TED event, known as TEDx, on the Wednesday. The proceedings started with a great video of a talk by Kiran Bir Sethi:

Interestingly, the comment she makes at the end, “If not us, then who? And if not now, when?” echoes the questions asked by Hillel, one of the great Rabbis in Jewish History:

“If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?” (Taken from the Jewish Virtual Library.)

The event was interesting, because there were talks by people one would not normally come across in education. One of the most inspiring, for me, was a talk by Dougald Hine. He is a founder member of the Space Makers Network, a group dedicated to reusing, and revitalising, empty premises. In Brixton (London), for example, he and his colleagues pointed out to the owners of the abandoned part of the street market that you would never be able to revitalise it by having one person at a time move in to a shop, because (a) nobody would and (b) people wouldn’t venture there anyway. So they ran a competition and, to cut a long story short, they had a whole load of people take over a whole load of shops all at the same time.

What’s this got to do with educational technology? Not much, except to remind us that connecting with each other in the physical world is at least as important as connecting in the virtual one!

Amplified

Drew also organised Amplified, on the Thursday night. Unlike the previous night’s event, this one involved a round table discussion, which was videoed. There were two in fact. I found myself sitting on a table with Tim Rylands, Miles Berry, Neil Adam and a few people I don’t know, discussing games-based learning. You can see this discussion, and other videos, such as the Mirandamod discussions mentioned below, at Leon Cych’s channel on Blip.TV.

Teachmeet

A couple of guest writers have mentioned Teachmeet in this newsletter, so I won’t comment here except to mention a few facts. It took place on the Friday evening. In case you’re not familiar with the idea of Teachmeets, they were started some years ago by Ewan McIntosh as a forum in which teachers can share what they’re doing in their classrooms. They have evolved somewhat, with the one at BETT having become something of an institution, and with several regional ones taking place throughout the year.

Although there are variations in the way they are organised, the basic idea is that people may volunteer to do either a 7 minute or a 2 minute presentation. Names are selected at random from an electronic hat.

This year also saw the introduction of something called Teachmeet Takeover, in which some companies allowed their stands to be taken over for half an hour at a time by teachers, who could talk about such things as Web 2.0 applications they found useful. Teachmeet was organised by Tom Barrett and Stuart Ridout, and Teachmeet Takeover was organised by Tom Barrett.

Virtual Learning Environments

Mark Allen told me: I have to say that I think I'm maybe a bit jaundiced and have done too many technology shows -- both as exhibitor and as punter -- to be impressed by much. Hardware doesn't really do it for me anymore: some of the devices were cute -- the odd mini-tablet here or sensors there were well-executed, but nothing surprised me. On the software or services side, it was, I thought, equally dull. The vanity stands of the huge corporates, with their vast acreage and slick presentations, just leave me cold, and I didn't see much of note in the smaller and sometimes more interesting stands upstairs either.

What I was looking for was not so much 'clever stuff' as 'smart ways of working', and tools to support this. I'm pretty focussed on VLEs at the moment and found that they all seemed to be doomed to go the way of the 90s VCR -- 'can we cram yet more features and functionality into this thing?'

For me, that's a big mistake: what I'm looking for is something that's so agnostic that it's practically invisible. Something that says 'you want to use Google Apps? You want to embed this blogging service or that video hosting service? That's fine. I'll just provide you with single sign-on and a safe container for your users, which you can customise any way you like.' The closest I got to that was 'my learning space' from cdsm, a Swansea-based outfit. MLS bills itself as 'the social learning platform', and although it's early days yet, it does appear to have some aspects which even teenagers might even find credible. It also supports Google Apps for Educators and the Amazon EC2 Cloud, SIMS, SharePoint and others. See their website at http://www.cdsm.co.uk/products/mls or follow them on Twitter.

Mark Allen is a school Governor. His website is http://vleco.posterous.com and he also on Twitter.

Mirandamod discussions

I chaired two Mirandamod discussions which took place at the Mirandanet stand on the Wednesday and Thursday. These were on the subjects of ICT CPD: personal and professional perspectives, and Digital Literacy: enhancing learning.

What’s nice about the Mirandamods is that they attract such a variety of people: teachers, academics and others. Keeping everyone on topic is a bit like herding cats, but it’s all very interesting, and good fun. You can view the discussions on Leon Cych’s channel on Blip TV (see above).

The next one is on Games-Based Learning, and takes place on March 9^th. For details, see the Mirandanet link above.

ICT CPD

On the subject of ICT CPD, Christina Preston and Dr John Cuthell of Mirandanet are carrying out research to get a picture of what ICT CPD is being provided nationally in the UK. If you’d like to take part, the questionnaires are online.

Any discussion of ICT CPD would not be complete without mentioning both the Naace website and the Vital website.

Naace courses may be found on the ICT CPD for Free website. The Vital website is a collaboration between the Open University and e-Skills. The website is, in fact, a portal. As well as straightforward courses, there are other types of CPD available too, such as the Hot Seats, such as the e-Safety Hot Seat and Live Discussions, such as the one I’ll be starting off on May 2^nd on the subject of 5 effective strategies for leading and managing ICT in schools. There’s a list of these ’15 minute’ activities here. They don’t all last for only 15 minutes; some of them, like mine, actually last for an hour. Others are organised in 15 minute chunks.

I registered with the Vital portal some time ago, and was impressed by its usefulness once it went live properly. One of the benefits of registering is that you can publish links to your own work. For example, Peter Twining, who is in overall charge of the project, included a link to one of my articles in the (very useful) What is a wiki? page on the site.

Gerald Haigh on the Assistive Technology Party

For me, the best thing at BETT wasn’t a 3D digital projector, or a wondrous vision of a future management information system, or even a robot handing out sweets. It was a party that took place in the basement of the Olympia Hilton just across the road from the Exhibition Hall.

Let me hasten to explain, though, that good though the drinks and company were, my real, deep satisfaction had everything to do with the purpose of the gathering, which was to launch the British Assistive Technology Association (BATA).

You see, through my many years of writing about ICT I’ve encountered children with disabilities whose lives have been changed by assistive technology. Sometimes the solution’s simple and obvious, such as a change of background colour and font size on a screen, or a shield to stop a child’s partially controlled hand from sliding around on the keys. Or it’s something almost miraculously clever, like the technology that enables a totally immobile user to control a computer by eye movement and blinking.

The businesses that make these devices are often small to medium (the phrase ‘niche product’ really means something here) and are entirely dedicated to the service of their clients. So much so that they aren’t really competitors -- if one supplier doesn’t have quite what’s needed, they’ll gladly send the customer to another.

That very nature of the sector, though -- a wide range of small to medium businesses, interspersed with a number of charities and other organizations -- has meant that assistive technology, as an entity, has lacked clout in the hard-edged world of jousting for the attention and support of government and its agencies. (It was Martin Littler, CEO of Inclusive Technology who revealed that officialdom sees the AT sector as “men in sheds”) And on the other side of the coin, it’s not always been easy to let families and support networks know the breadth of what’s available for children and adults with disabilities.

The answer is for the suppliers to come together as a powerful lobby group, speaking with a united voice both in the corridors of power, and to families who are seeking good advice and support.

Hence the British Assistive Technology Association, formed in the Autumn of 2009 and formally launched on 14th January 2010, the second day of the BETT Show. Founder Chair is Martin Littler, a wise, well known and implicitly trusted leader in this field. BATA, he says,

“…is going to lobby for this important group of technology users and for the world beating British assistive technology industry which is ahead of the United States in key areas and streets ahead of Europe. “

The atmosphere at the crowded launch was warm and enthusiastic. There was a genuine feeling that here was a collaborative, positive development that brings grace and dignity to the sometimes hard, highly competitive, outcome-led world of educational computing. Even the Schools Minister Vernon Coaker, who spoke, found the time, and the words, to tell of being moved by his visits to a special school in his constituency, and to wish the Association well in terms that were transparently genuine and heartfelt.

Full subscription and voting membership of BATA is essentially for businesses and voluntary organizations. Individuals, though, can be Associate Members free of charge.

http://bataonline.org/

Gerald writes the ‘Five Things To Think About’ column on the National Leadership website. His latest one is here: http://future.ncsl.org.uk/News.aspx?ID=211. Follow Gerald on Twitter.

Paul Haigh’s Views

Paul kindly said to me “help yourself to http://haighysblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/visit-to-bett-2010.html for paragraphs you need.” However, it’s such a wide-ranging post that I doubt my précis would do it justice. Take a look for yourself. In a nutshell, Paul enjoyed meeting people but thought that electronic whiteboards were being pushed too much.

Merlin John liked…

Merlin John, erstwhile ICT editor at the TES, and now publisher of the Agent 4 Change website, tweeted his ‘WOWs’ from the BETT Show, and has given me permission to republish them. I have selected the following four.

ACE. Meaningful tests that help teachers help learners even better www.acetest.org

Design Your School. Tailored for BSF etc. Can't see a flaw. www.designyourschool.com/

Anithings. Easy, lovely animation. http://www.anithings.com/

JIT. Just2Easy Infant Toolkit. Can't think of cleverer, cheaper software. http://www.j2e.com/

The Politics Game

Bill Lord says: There were quite a few things which were new or exciting at the BETT Show which included the new 2Simple piece of software (2 Create a Super Story) and the Speaking and Listening resources from TTS but for my WOW application I have gone for a resource provided by a public body.

I have chosen the latest resource from the Houses of Parliament education service called Be an MP for the week http://www.parliament.uk/education/online-resources/games/mp-for-a-week.htm . It is aimed at Key Stage 3 (ages 11 to 14), which is out of my usual area of interest but I think that it is well developed with interviews with sitting MPs and handy hints to advise the players going through their day as a parliamentarian. A simple to access game which takes you through the usual responsibilities of a MP with the player able to choose different scenarios and levels of difficulty and something I recommend highly.

The education service does have resources for Primary although I might be tempted to use this one with a group of Year 6 (aged 10-11) children.

Bill is a Literacy Adviser. Read his blog http://lordlit.wordpress.com and follow him on Twitter.

NComputing -- Virtual Desktops

Not a new concept, writes David Luke; some primary schools have used systems where a number of keyboards/monitors shared one computer with virtual desktops. The problem has always been that this resulted in a slow access to resources and software. Ncomputing appears to overcome this problem, mainly because modern computers are more powerful and use only 35% of the processing power under normal circumstances.

Reviews from schools, both primary and secondary, are very positive and they talk about the reduction in electricity costs, saving on purchasing computers, reduction in heat production and a significant reduction in the carbon footprint. One college has 90 virtual desktops running form one mini server. The company itself claim that using their L-series system allows 30 virtual desktops from one shared computer. The attraction of such a system is obvious, but my question would be how does the system cope, when students are using processor hungry applications, such as, video editing.

David Luke is a National Strategies Consultant in Kirklees.

Acknowledgements

I’d like to thank the following people, for their contribution to this newsletter, providing additional information, acting as a sounding board whilst preparing my presentations or video-ing the presentations so that I could look at them afterwards in order to see what could be improved.

Mark Allen

Steve Beard

Kate Brennan

Sean Caragher

Simon Finch

Elaine Freedman

Gerald Haigh

Paul Haigh

Dawn Hallybone

Nina Howse

Andy Hutt

Martin Jack

Merlin John

Mike Lane

Bill Lord

David Luke

Claire McCulloch

Louise McDonough

Alison MacGregor

Nicola Petitt

Peter Robinson

Dave Smith

Sarah Swain

Jan Webb

Doug Woods

Final comment

I hope you’ve enjoyed this special BETT edition, especially with its different ‘voices’. If you would like to contribute to this newsletter, please read the suggestions and guidelines on the ICT in Education website.

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Disclaimer

Good morning, Judge. I wasn’t even there; it wasn’t my fault; he made me do it, etc. Seriously, though, all the information and links in this newsletter have been checked, and offered in good faith. For the full text of the disclaimer, please see

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