BETT 2012 returns to educate & innovate

BETT 2012 is firmly established as an educator’s most effective route to the latest technological innovations. Taking place from 11 – 14 January 2012, BETT features more than 650 leading suppliers to the education market, an extensive seminar programme, a high-level leaders’ conference and numerous exciting features and zones. During times of budget cuts it is increasingly important for schools to be making wise investment decisions and this can only be done by seeing and evaluating all possible solutions to their requirements under one roof on the same day. A comprehensive seminar programme, Learn Live, will provide four tracks of interactive and inspirational sessions. The tracks include: ICT Learning & Teaching; Leaders; SEN; and ICT Buying & Integrating. Sessions can be booked in advance by visiting www.bettshow.com/learnlive. The Education Leaders @ BETT conference will once again provide a high-level strategic programme which explores the most pressing issues facing leaders today. With roundtable debates, workshops, panel discussions and presentations, this interactive programme focuses on the current issues facing school leaders today. Topics include curriculum and assessment change; maximising the benefits of greater autonomy and teacher recruitment and retention. New Worlds of Learning will be the central feature of BETT 2012. Hosted by Professor Stephen Heppell, children will be showing how easy it is for schools to use technology to interact with schools from around the world and share ideas in order to enhance learning. To explore how technology is currently used within the many different educational institutions in the UK, New Worlds of Learning will feature speakers from a variety of establishments including academies, independent schools, international schools and free schools. These representatives will share their experiences of how technology can best be incorporated into these different environments. Both the speakers and the children will be featured in the continuous broadcast stream from BETT Radio, which will be running live throughout the event. With more than 650 exhibitors launching and demonstrating their products and services, visitors to BETT 2012 will also have first-hand access to the most cutting-edge technologies available in the market. Here’s a preview of just some of the exciting products you can expect to see at BETT 2012: Cross-curricular creative software In order to maximise return on investment when purchasing software, it’s important to consider how it can be used throughout the entire school, and not just by single departments. One such solution, already installed in thousands of schools worldwide, is Serif’s Design Suite, offering what it calls a cost-effective, complete creative solution for ICT across the curriculum. The Design Suite includes DrawPlus, PagePlus, MoviePlus, WebPlus and PhotoPlus; covering the key creative areas of web graphics, vector drawing, video editing, DTP, web design and photo editing. To discover more, visit Serif on stand K36. More than interactive whiteboards On stand N2, visitors can discover Promethean solutions addressing the big issues concerning schools at the moment. These include productivity, data driven decision making, assessment for learning and collaborative learning, as well as how integrated technologies can be used to improve teaching and learning. Promethean’s portfolio of solutions encompasses many types of usage, including whole class, small group collaboration, personal, online and mobile learning, as well as supporting assessment across the full range of modern technology. Meanwhile, on stand P2 Avantis will be demonstrating its LearnPad, an exciting new way for children to interact with today’s digital content. It is a touch sensitive 10” tablet device, complete with a range of pre-installed content, can easily replace bulky and unreliable PCs by allowing children to safely and quickly access approved applications, websites, flash based eLearning content as well as educational online videos and other digital curriculum content. Driving down operational ICT costs Northgate Managed Services is demonstrating its innovative ICT solutions such as cloud based services, specialist managed services and the range of consultancy services that focus on driving down the operational costs of ICT. On stand D70, schools are showcasing how they have worked with Northgate to implement core and specialist technologies to ensure the delivery of 21st century learning that fits the needs of their teachers and learners. Knowledge of the world Visit stand P47 for the chance to view Oddizzi, a new multimedia website for primary schools that builds knowledge and understanding of the world. Oddizzi was showcased at BETT 2011 in beta form and since then has become fully operational with more than 500 interactive pages of content and maps, live news feeds, games that test global knowledge, and a bank of creative lesson ideas and activities. Improve spelling The Spellzone course is designed to teach and improve English spelling in schools, colleges and adult training centres. Written by Shireen Shuster, a dyslexia specialist (author of Stile Dyslexia), Spellzone is suitable for helping students with dyslexia. It is also used worldwide by students learning English. Some features of the spelling course include: word lists; look, cover, write, check tests; games; interactive course tests; results storage; and a comprehensive spelling dictionary with sounds and translation into 35 languages. Visit stand SN26 for further information and to access a free trial. BETT 2012 is free to attend. Visit www.bettshow.com/register to register. You can also keep up to date with the event’s news and developments by following the event on twitter @BETT_show, or on Facebook, www.facebook.com/BETT_Show.