BETT Review B
etween 30 January and 2 February this year, thousands of visitors descended upon London’s ExCeL arena for what had been described as the ‘world’s leading learning technology event’: Bett 2013 had begun. Many exhibitors and visitors had been apprehensive about the move from the Olympia, where the show has been held for the past 28 years, but their fears were unfounded. The awe- inspiring vastness, and sheer size of the new, east-London venue did not disappoint. Additional floor space meant exhibitors had more room to showcase products and provide a greater interactive experience to increased numbers of visitors. It also allowed for valuable, separate learning areas such as the Bett Arena and the Bett Library.
A record year
The Rt Hon Dr Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills opened the event on Wednesday 30 January, declaring the areas of education, training and technology as sectors that will develop into major areas of UK export growth over the next few years. Bett 2013 certainly did its best to support that growth: this year, the show attracted more than 35,000 visitors, and 700 exhibitors, a record number for the education technology extravaganza.
An array of exhibitors
The Education Today team perused the event hall with intrigue, marvelling at the products and innovation on display. We spoke with Grecia Herrera, Head of tMBA International, a programme run by the international, private education providers, Doga Schools. Herrera told us that representatives from the organisation had travelled from Istanbul to exhibit at Bett and had brought along a number of their students who confidently and articulately presented at the stand, demonstrating and bringing to life the technology that they learn in school. They served to evidence the positive effects that stem from the schools learning methods.
Speaking following the event, Ömer Suat
Gündoğdu, Upper Primary and High School Coordinator at Doga Schools, said that exhibiting
at the show had been hugely worthwhile: “This was our second visit to Bett and allowed us to build on the success we had enjoyed in 2012. It was a very busy event and we engaged with a lot of British and international teachers who showed an interest in our t-MBA educational model, which is the first ever high school educational model to be accredited by Edexcel. We also spoke with many parents who are frustrated at the lack of progress-related feedback the UK’s education system currently provides to them.” Education Today also stopped by the SMART Technologies stand, where Director of Product Management, David Lapides, demonstrated what SMART are calling the ‘world’s first’ interactive projector, as well as their interactive SMART Table, a collaborative learning centre that combines learning and play. Lapides said the projector is most likely to be adopted by schools concerned about cost, and the Education Today team felt that the SMART Table certainly had the kind of wow factor that one expects for classrooms of the future.
Bett Award winner (Company of the Year Award (over £3m)) Frog, was also exhibiting and we met with MD, Gareth Davies, who demonstrated the Frog operating system and
February 2013
Additionally, Gary Morrison, Vice President of International Sales at Turning Technologies told Education Today that their company is “dominating the response polling sector in the UK.” They are seeing the most interest from the higher education sector, where their software is particularly relevant to Maths and Science subjects.
Big and small players
As well as meeting with other big industry players such as EPSON, DELL, Luidia and Redstor, there were some smaller exhibitors with equally valid contributions to the education technology sector. One such player is Reggie, the registration app for teachers, allowing the taking of registration anytime, anywhere. App developer, Graham Shapiro showed Education Today how the user- friendly app was initially the brainchild of a head teacher, who specifically requested an app to function in the way Reggie does. The app, available on a free, one-month trial, is a huge accomplishment for Graham, as it is the first app concerning child data to make it onto the Apple App Store. Says Graham: “It’s been a long journey, but the app is totally secure.”
Investing in innovation
“Moving to a new venue gave us the opportunity to really invest in the content of the show,” says Debbie French, Education Portfolio Director at i2i Events Group, who organised Bett. “We worked alongside partners such as Naace, nasen and BESA, as well as teachers, leading enterprise professionals and education thought leaders to put together training that would resonate with all areas of our audience. We are one of the few events that provides content free of charge, and we believe this is key for Bett’s success.” This valuable, free-of-charge content, alongside exhibitors committed to providing the best possible education solutions made Bett 2013 the record-breaking success it was. It marks a great start to a new phase of Bett, which continues next year with Bett 2014, taking place between 22 - 25 January 2014.
showed a bound of enthusiasm for the future of student records, with the production of
frog.me, a modern, online version of a ‘memory box’. Comparing it, visually, to something like Instagram, Davies explained that the service will bring a whole new dimension to students’ personal files, allowing for the recording and retention of vast amounts of personal data throughout a student’s academic career. And best of all, it’s completely private.
Amongst a host of other great exhibitors we got a chance to meet with Steve Beswick, Director of Education at Microsoft UK. He told Education Today all about the Kodu Kup, a new competition being launched to encourage young people to use their programming skills to create their own computer game. “We’re looking for the next Bill Gates!” quipped Steve. You can read more about the competition on p4.
Teacher training
It wasn’t just an array of great exhibitors that Bett had to offer; an exciting collection of continuing professional development (CPD) was also provided, including 150 separate, practitioner-led sessions in the Learn Live seminar theatres, along with separate conferences supporting school leaders, training and development professionals and higher education professionals. The Bett Arena, in partnership with Microsoft, was new to this year’s show and reflected Bett’s reputation as a global meeting place for those passionate about learning technology. The inclusive amphitheatre space allowed thousands of people at the show to collaborate and learn together, sharing ideas and inspirations. Without a doubt, one of the biggest hits of the show was the audience with Prof. Brian Cox, who delivered a fascinating talk about bringing science to life in schools.
uwww.bettshow.com www.education-today.co.uk 9
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