The Bett show starts on 22nd January, and as usual we have produced an unofficial guide called Getting the best out of Bett.Assessing “soft” skills
Do you have anything you’d like to add to the discussion, Terry?
The scene was a meeting at the Edusummit conference at UNESCO in Paris in 2011. The question came from the Chair.
Thank you, but no: everything I was going to say has already been said.
That was my response, because I didn’t see any purpose in repeating points that had not only been made, but also generally agreed upon. In fact, my contributions to many meetings are based on Salvator Rosa’s, dictum:
Be silent, unless what you have to say is better than silence.
The question is: does that make me a good collaborator, or not so good? How do we measure such things? And does any of it matter anyway?
5 tips for BETT
My annual guide to Getting the Best out of BETT is pretty much complete. I’m just waiting for one more item to be sent to me, and then it’s all systems go. I’ll be making it available to subscribers to our newsletter first, and then more widely. In the meantime, I thought I’d publish a few extracts from it. These extracts are just a small sample: there are over 150 suggestions altogetherFirewall foibles, and how I survived them
It was when my wireless router told me that there was no printer on the network that I finally flipped.The Barefoot Ed Tech Expert: TeachMeet Takeover 2014
One of the features of BETT over the last few years has been TeachMeet Takeover. This is where teachers and other people involved in ed tech “take over” a company’s exhibition stand for between 15 and 30 minutes to give a talk, presentation or demonstration to anyone who happens to be interested in what the topic happens to be.10 reasons to attend BETT
It’s that time of year again. No, I don’t mean the Christmas lights and shopping, but starting to think about BETT in January. If you’re serious about educational technology you really must try to get there, even if you can only manage a day: you’re bound to see something that you find interesting and useful.The BETT Blog Begins!
Here’s a new blog to start looking at and to put into your RSS reader*: the BETT 2014 blog. So, the first thing I’ll do is declare an interest: I’ve been asked to contribute to it, which is quite flattering, but that’s not the reason I’m writing about it. I think the important thing about the blog is that it provides a variety of views and suggestions from different people
Read MoreAn Interview with Dominic Savage
In this interview, Dominic Savage OBE discusses, amongst other things, the purpose of the Education World Forum, the effect of increasing access to devices, and what schools need to do as far as investing in ICT is concerned. Mr Savage has been the Director General of BESA since 1984. The following is not a verbatim account, but has been checked by Mr Savage before being published.BETT 2013 Interviews: Steve Wheeler
ICT thinker, lecturer and writer Steve Wheeler talks about being at the BETT Show for the first time this year, and the things people are discussing in the world of ICT.BETT 2013 Interviews: David Mitchell
Quadblogging founder David Mitchell talks about what he saw at the BETT Show this year, and quadblogging.BETT 2013 Interviews: Andy Black
Edtech guru Andy Black talks about what wasn't at the BETT Show this year, and some of the trends he spotted.BETT 2013 Interviews: Simon Finch
E-safety guru Simon Finch talks about why pupils should be allowed to use social media, why teachers should use it, e-safety and identity management.BETT 2013 Interviews: Yolanda Halston
In this video, Yolanda Halston, of the Educational Apps Store, talks about pupils collaborating and other matters.BETT 2013 Interviews: Prad Samtani
Review of BETT 2013
The BETT Show is, I’m reliably informed, the biggest education technology show in the world. It takes place in London, England, every January. This year it was slightly later, but I’ll come to that in a moment. The first thing I’ll say is that even if you didn’t attend you may find this article interesting, as I suspect that several comments will apply to any education technology conference.
Impressions of BETT 2013
Getting the most from the BETT show
Eleven years ago I wrote an 8-point guide to BETT, in my newsletter, and have reproduced it below. I think the points still stack up, especially the one about having a good breakfast! I hope you enjoy reading this blast from the past (9th January 2001 to be exact). And when you have done so, why not download the up-to-date bumper edition – 125 stupendous tips, and completely free? The URL is at the end of the article.
At the time this was written, the web was still relatively new to a lot of teachers, and Google had been on the scene for about three years. At that time it was still only a search engine. The newsletter was sent in text format from my own email address using my personal email client, which at that time was Eudora. Ah, such days of innocence!
Unofficial Guide to BETT 2013 Out now!
Planning for BETT 2013
Typewriters? No thanks!
There is something romantic about an old manual typewriter. The clattering of the keys sounds somewhat industrial, which connotes “industrious”. Bashing away at a typewriter is what real writers do. No spellchecker, no thesaurus, no internet, and no forgiveness if you make a mistake. So typing something that looked reasonable, and which didn’t involve too much correction fluid, gave one a sense of achievement.