BETT 2020 News EdTech hardware at BETT 2020


Delivering value for money: 10 educational challenges


EdTech is here to help by offering teachers and lecturers a wide vari- ety of tools and options to offer a high ROI to students in an environ- ment where time is money. BETT 2020 examines ten of the UK educa- tions sector’s top challenges takes us to higher and further education, and the need to deliver value for money for students across the board.


Higher and further learning tui- tion fees are currently at an all- time high in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. With students now paying over £9,000 per year to attend university, there is a real need to deliver value for money in higher education. This is especial- ly true given rising levels of indus- trial action amongst academics and lecturers. While staff issues are related to tighter education budgets and lack of proper pen- sion schemes, it is important to ensure that this does not have a negative impact on students. For instance, The University and College Union has estimated that recent strike action undertaken by staff at 65 institutions UK-wide in 2018 has cost over 1 million stu- dents 575,000 teaching hours. As education costs for students rise, universities, colleges and other higher education centres must now be more proactive in how they offer a return on their stu- dents’ investment. While we talk about costs, it’s worth mention- ing students are investing lots of time in pursuing education. Thus, maximising learning time is also a priority for educators.


The solution


A recent Jisc survey polled HE students on their preferred Ed- Tech choices. The most requested technology was lecture


capture


software. This allows students to make up missed contact time and/ or revisit lectures. Platforms men- tioned in the survey include Ka- hoot, showbie, Duo and Scholar. Tutors being reachable also has a positive impact on HE outcomes. Technology plays a key role here. Integrated systems like Classflow are accessible at all times, giv- ing more touchpoints


between


tutors and students. In turn, this “borderless classroom” promotes further discussion, analysis and collaboration outside of classroom hours.


Coventry University stu-


dents are using similar platforms to share their work across the world.


Different courses have different needs, but their learnings can still be applied in a wider EdTech con- text. Science students at the Uni- versities of Strathclyde and Bristol prepare for practical lessons by watching a video and complet- ing an online assessment before they head to labs. That way, they already have the knowledge they need to transform into practical skills, maximising their learning time.


A mixture of on-and-off campus tech is proving effective in giving students more access to learning opportunities, but that isn’t the whole story. 70% of HE students also felt confident and able to learn more when their teachers had a knowledge, and were con- fident using, digital classroom technology.


Staff should be trained on any new platforms or technologies. 20% of teachers surveyed by Jisc said they did not have sufficient digital skills to use IT and EdTech solutions to their full. Ultimately, EdTech helps deliver a high ROI for students. The best solutions are simple to use for students and tutors alike, and delivered by teachers who are confident, well-informed, and up to date with any and all technology in use at their respective institutions.


Clevertouch to show IMPACT Plus


With Clevertouch’s fifth-genera- tion screen, the new IMPACT Plus is part of the Plus Series range and designed to meet the needs of the modern classroom. Informed by the government’s agenda, the product is designed to enable ex- traordinary lessons to take place in ordinary classrooms, transforming the learning experience. Celebrating 10 years of continued innovation, the Clevertouch team


popularity of personal touch de- vices, we had a gut feeling that it wouldn’t be long before teachers and pupils would be demanding more”, says Kevin Batley, CEO of Clevertouch. With a turnover of £70 million (70% of the overall business), 2019 has been a tremendous year for Clevertouch’s Plus Series which has seen a 33% growth in unit sales around the world shoot up to 36,000 a far cry from the 100 sold in the first year. By 2023, Plus Series will generate £200 million of revenue for the business through rapid expansion and product investment. Clevertouch has spent the past decade building relationships with key EdTech influencers and solution providers. From software companies to app developers, Clevertouch have found the ideal partners provides the largest range of resources for the classroom. If a teacher requests a new feature in the software, or for an app they've seen in their app store to be added to the Cleverstore, the Clevertouch team aim to fulfil the request within six months. Clever- store is owned by Clevertouch and unlike the competition will never show external advertising. Boasting the dynamic duo of edu- cation software - Lynx and Snow-


works for the end user and will fit seamlessly into any environment. It should never be the other way around. Designed for the USA, CleverMessage was built original- ly to send emergency message in case of gun man situations where students need to know what to do. With pre-set messages, these can be pushed out to classrooms to protect everyone in a school. Clevertouch also supports future pathway solutions saving school thousands on having to buy new technology. Every Plus Series has Android and Intel based OPS slots, these can be used as upgrade paths to download all the latest firmware and Android updates to keep the screen running at full ca- pacity. The current Plus Series An- droid module runs LUX 8, which makes teaching easy with some unique features including super glide touch, handwriting recog- nition, class voting, Whiteboard, split screen mode, spotlight, Cloud accounts, Chrome browser, Goo- gleDrive, CleverMessage and Clev- ershare.


ViewSonic’s EdTech Trends to watch in 2020


Of all the 2020 EdTech trends, ViewSonic says the ones to watch are those that focus on connectiv- ity, media enrichment, and stu- dent-cantered learning. From the Internet of Things and interactive whiteboards


to immersive aug-


mented reality and digital curric- ulums, the EdTech landscape is a complex mix of hardware and software solutions. Of the many 2020 EdTech trends, a few stand out as more than just passing fads. Leveraging the lat- est technology presents educators and learners around the world with amazing new opportunities. And when a new technology is applied according to proven educational practices, students of all ages and abilities are set up for future suc- cess.


The Plus Series follows the Clevertouch ethos - once you've purchased a screen you will never have to pay extra for software, believing that the price is the price at the point of sale.


supported by family business owners and brothers Kevin and Nigel Batley, bought the first gen- eration of touchscreens to market at a time when the whole indus- try (manufacturers and education end users) were still very much focused on buying and installing interactive whiteboards and pro- jectors. Not only are Kevin and Ni- gel the muscle behind one of the largest audio-visual distribution businesses in the UK, they are the brains behind many of the indus- try’s most famous innovations. Most notably the world’s very first large format interactive touch- screen, showcased at BETT 2009 and


surrounded by interactive


whiteboard manufacturers. Weigh- ing in at 100 kilos and costing £8,000 for a 65” Clevertouch interactive touchscreen, it was a risk, but a risk that the brothers instinctively believed was going to pay off. “Although there was no market for interactive touch- screens in education, given the


P6 AV News January 2020


flake, as well as over a hundred apps in various languages, sub- jects and age groups, Plus Series has everything a teacher would need in the classroom. Support- ing both types of teaching style - on the fly and pre-prepared, the software can be accessed via the Cloud to allow teachers to work on their content from anywhere. Resources can be easily shared between colleagues or schools. And the Plus Series follows the Clevertouch ethos - once you've purchased a screen you will never have to pay extra for software, be- lieving that the price is the price at the point of sale. If a new version of the software is released, it can be installed at no extra cost. Other touchscreen


manufacturers, in-


cluding Smart and Promethean, charge schools a subscription to use their software, on top of the cost of the screen. Led by feedback from teachers and IT departments, Clevertouch aims to deliver technology that


While recent trends of big data crunched with the latest machine learning, we think that’s so 2019. What we’re seeing emerge in 2020 is a humanistic approach to applying the latest technology with a strong focus on connectivity, ver- satility, and student-centred learn- ing. Here are a few of the trends we’re excited about in EdTech this coming year.


Immersive learning involves learn- ing through an artificial environ- ment that


simulates situations


in which the learned information could be used. Traditional ap- proaches might involve role-plays, field trips, or realia in the class- room. (For a focused example, think flight simulator training for pilots or virtual dissections.) However, the rise of accessible augmented reality (AR) and vir- tual reality (VR) are making new opportunities available. They are also combining in amazing ways to produce mixed reality (MR). Ideally, truly immersive learning would use a VR headset to expe- rience everything from historical drama to environmental science. However, AR is more accessible as


BETT 2020 Dates and hours:


Wed 22nd January, 10:00 - 18:00 Thu 23rd January, 10:00 - 18:00 Fri 24th January, 10:00 - 18:00 Sat 25th January, 10:00 - 15:00


Location:


ExCeL London, Royal Victoria Dock, 1 Western Gateway, London E16 1XL, United Kingdom.


most mobile devices are equipped with the necessary cameras and displays. A quick look at even a shortlist of top apps (like this one) will show a strong focus on edu- cational uses, which makes it an EdTech trend to watch in 2020. Video-assisted learning has be- come more common in recent years as front-of-classroom dis- plays have become higher-tech. Gone are the days of “video day” being a television on a trolley be- ing wheeled into the classrooms from a storage closet. Today, many classrooms feature their own Inter- net-connected projectors or inter- active whiteboards.


And the benefits of video-assisted learning are obvious. From enrich- ing a lesson from a lecture or text- book to introducing new learning modalities, adding a video com-


with learning disabilities or fine motor skill impairment.


•Video recording can restructure lessons to accommodate be- havioural or attention issues (plus just general review).


•Using 1:1 devices reduce the ef- fect on those with mobility impair- ments and allow self-pacing. •Specialized age- and level-ap- propriate software supplements a variety of learned skills from math to spelling.


Interactive whiteboards also go a long way towards improving ac- cessibility by adding more media options, interactive software, and more customizable content. Many other 2020 EdTech trends point towards the rise in personalized learning or individualized learn- ing. From video-assisted learning to digital curriculums, the over-


Of all the 2020 EdTech trends, ViewSonic says the ones to watch are those that focus on connectivity, media enrichment and student-cantered learning.


ponent to lessons both improves students’ learning outcomes and reduces teachers’ workload. As video-enabled displays and per- sonal devices become more avail- able, video is likely to be incorpo- rated even more. Education worldwide is


shifting


towards more inclusive, stu- dent-centred learning. A key com- ponent of making an inclusive learning assistive


environment technologies


is to


using better


teach students with special needs. EdTech of all kinds helps bridge the gap when teaching differently abled students.


•Audio recordings and text-to- speech assist the visually impaired or dyslexic.


•Electronic worksheets help those


all trend is a more agile, adap- tive, student-centred approach to learning. As a result, blended learning and flipped classrooms are popping up all over the world. Teachers are leveraging technolo- gy to meet students partway with material that is better customized to individual learners’ needs. Add into the mix an ever-rising availability of personal devices, it has become easier than ever for students to access learning mate- rials in their own time at their own pace. It will be up to educators to leverage modern connectivity into adaptable learning experiences.


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