The green agenda also makes an appearance at the conference and it’s great to see a number of companies offering refurbished computers.  Both GreenIT and Camara offer good value PCs and laptops for very affordable prices.  I was interested in EnergyWatchIT, who are claiming to save schools up to €40 per computer per year through their software.

In many ways it’s sad to see how few Interactive Whiteboard companies are at the IPPN this year.  Perhaps it’s not surprising as most schools already own one.  One big absence is SMART Technologies, the biggest IWB company in the world.  While they are being represented by Toomey AV, their huge displays from last year are no more. However, Promethean, IMEX, Resources4Learning and a couple of others are there.  It’s a bit disappointing that there’s very few companies offering software for the IWBs. The only one I can find is Edware.ie, (feature image).  Perhaps some of the more general educational supply companies will have something.

Anyone looking for software is going to be bowled over with MIS systems as mentioned before.  All in all, there are 7 companies offering some form of administration system.  If you’re in the market for one of those, you’re going to be a busy principal at the Expo!

This year, my aim was to attend as many of the fringe events as possible, including the famous BETT Teachmeet on the Friday night.

The exhibition hall is the place to find out what the big “thing” in education is going to be.  Last year, it was 3D projectors.  The year before that it seemed to be services and software to run on Interactive Whiteboards.  This year, it was animation.  Every row of exhibits appeared to have at least one stand offering children the opportunity to create animations, either stop-motion, claymation or cartoons.  The best of the bunch, for me, is “I can animate“, and is well worth checking out.

The other thing that struck me was the number of assessment programs for schools out there.  This isn’t something, thankfully, that has reached Ireland.  My understanding of assessment would be finding out if children had learned what I was teaching so I could follow up with future lessons to continue this learning. These packages attempt to assess schools, in general, using highly complex ways of analysing Ofsted (the British version of the Inspectorate) targets and turning them into all sorts of complicated graphs.  From these graphs, the program outputted strategies for people who could understand the squiggles, bubbles and 3D representations.  I felt this represented the over-obsession with data and quantitative measuring in British schools.

There were a handful of Irish companies exhibiting at BETT.  It was great to see my friends in Edware and Aladdin there for the first time.  Shakespeare in Bits was also around and it was nice to meet their team for the first time.

A surprise for me was the lack of mobile phone app developments and programming language for kids out there.  I was sure there would be loads of stands offering ways to create apps for schools.  I found one tucked in a corner upstairs, with two guys from Belfast behind the desk.  I only found three companies dealing in programming.  One was YouSRC, which is a free language to make programming easy.  The Heppel stand also had information about programming.  Finally Microsoft were showing off Kodu, which I guess is a programming language too.  I was also surprised that Interactive Whiteboards were quite muted this time around and although there were a lot fo companies selling them, only Smart and Promethean seemed to have much buzz going on this year.

All the big players were there: HP, Asus, Microsoft, some Apple distributors, Promethean, Smart, RM and Google.  Google had a super stand, where they gave visitors shots of “Google Juice”, test tubes full of smoothies!  They had a number of their Chromebook on show as well as their certified teachers.

Friday, for me, was both the busiest and most fun day.  It started off in a pub at 8:30am, which sounds ominous but it was a Wetherspoon’s pub and it was hosting a BETT breakfast.  BETT visitors were encouraged to join each other for some food before taking on the exhibition that morning.  I met some familiar faces that morning and it was good to put faces to some names that would be well known on Twitter.

However, 10 hours later, the highlight of my BETT experience started – the BETT Teachmeet.

For those of you who have never been to a Teachmeet, it is an informal event where teachers get together in a room to give short presentations to each other about something that interests them in the classroom.  Teachers who attend can put their name down to speak at the event and, if picked, they have 7 minutes to talk about their chosen subject.  Because they are short presentations, there’s usually time for quite a lot of them.  As well as that, if someone is speaking about something that doesn’t interest you, at least it’s only a few minutes long.

The Computers in Education Society of Ireland, CESI, host a similar event in Ireland a couple of times a year and it’s great fun.  I believe there are lots of them around the UK too but the one at BETT is the biggest.  It has all the glam and glitter of a big event – the bright colours, the pumping music, the big stage – it’s intimidating stuff for anyone foolhardy enough to put their name down to talk; which is exactly what I did.  And, yes, I got picked to talk.  I gave a small presentation on the SmartPhone app I developed and was really happy that, A) I didn’t fall off the stage, and B) the crowd seemed to like it.  To be honest, it felt like speaking at an Irish wedding – the crowd willed everyone on and it was a lovely atmosphere.  Other speakers told us all about blogging for kids, the 29th February project, Facebook fan pages for teachers and lots more.  The evening finished with pizza and networking.  It was a great opportunity to bump into and meet old friends and colleagues, including Mary Farmer, Joe Dale and John Hefferan, as well as some new ones too.

All in all, BETT 2012 was a super event.  I believe it will be moving venue next year so I hope to get to it then.  I would encourage as many Irish teachers to try and get to the conference at least once.  You don’t have to be a geek and there’s something for everyone.  BETT is also a great precursor to some of the conferences coming up over the next few months in Ireland, including the IPPN and the CESI conferences.  I think the organisers are already starting to plan for BETT 2013, so my advice is to plan a visit yourself.

The WOW Factor

Ireland has education conferences.  It often has various technology conferences.  However, nothing prepared me for the immense size of the BETT conference.  I remember walking into the exhibition hall for the first time 2 years ago.  I stood still.  I could not get over how big the place was.  I think it’s bigger than IKEA and it’s jammed full of stalls exhibiting everything you can think of in the world of edtech.  Just experiencing the huge size of the place and the fact that it’s the closest feeling you’ll ever get to being a child in a chocolate factory is worth it alone!

The Variety

The number of different types of exhibits is so big that BETT divide them into zones.  There’s a software zone, an SEN zone and all sorts of other zones.  There are massive multinational companies like Microsoft and tiny companies you’ve never heard.  Dozens of countries are represented on the stalls and I would envisage that almost every country in the world is represented in the attendance.  A great feeling for me was discovering a little gem of a company by accident on the way to seeing something else.  One year I found an Australian stall selling PCs, that were about the size of a portable hard-drive, for €80.  Another stand, the well-known Texas Instruments, were showing off a projector that doubled up as an announcement generator, replacing the need for intercoms.  Whatever you want, there will be someone selling it.

All Your Favourites

Anseo.net spent a long time reviewing the various Interactive Whiteboards for about a year and a half and at BETT, almost all the companies were represented.  BETT gave me the opportunity to talk to the heads of these companies and see what plans they had for the year.  This year, I’ll be trying to talk to some of them again to see where they think the future of IWBs is.  However, if you’re interested in some other aspect of edtech, they’ll be there.

The Next Big Thing

If you want to know what the next big thing is going to be, BETT is where it’s going to be launched.  The last couple of years focused a lot on 3D learning and games-based learning.  This year, I imagine the games-based learning will have developed and there will be a lot of focus on it.  From a hardware point of view, I’d be surprised if I didn’t see a number of tablet computers.

The Irish Connection

It’s not just me that goes to BETT.  Some well known Irish teachers head over to London and it’s great to hook up.  It’s a good place to meet up with colleagues and meet some new ones.  As well as this, a number of Irish companies exhibit at BETT.  I know that Edware, Prim-Ed and a number of others will be there so I try and say hello.

The Surprises

The English are an inventive bunch.  Aside from the exhibition and the talks that go on at BETT, a few UK educationalists have come up with some great concepts.  For example, last year I was walking past a stand where I bumped into someone I vaguely knew on Twitter.  I didn’t realise that he was about to give a talk at the stand.  I also didn’t realise this was part of a concept called Teachmeet Takeover where companies “give up” their stand for 30 minutes to allow someone to present a talk!  Ian Addison is one of the main perpetrators of these surprises and you can read more on this wiki.

The Talks

There are loads of workshops running at BETT.  This year I aim to go and check out at least one or two.  There are topics that are relevant to Irish teachers about leadership, about technology and about best education practice.  I haven’t decided exactly what I’m going to see so will report back when I do.

BETT is the biggest educational technology conference and it can be daunting.  The biggest tip I was given was to plan ahead.  I guess I can only pass on the same advice.

The Edublog Awards are an annual event for celebrating, you’ve guessed it, educational blogs. Anseo.net was a happy recipient of the “most influential blog post” a couple of years ago and we’re hoping to do well this year as we’ve been nominated again (thanks by the way!) This year our nominations have a distinctly Irish flavour. So without further ado:

Best individual blog –> The Inside Lane – Nigel Lane’s blog is our first nomination. Nigel is probably the most prolific Irish teacher blogger right now – certainly on Tumblr. Nigel blogs about issues in Irish education, his own classroom practice and reblogs some inspiring edtech articles. This is a blog that every Irish primary teacher should have on their reading list.

Best individual tweeter –> @fboss – This was a very tough one as there are so many great tweachers in Ireland. However Fred Boss set up #edchatie and has helped run some fantastic Twitter projects throughout the year. A worthy nominee in our opinion.

Best group blog –> Irish Teachers’ Blog – Nigel Lane is a relatively new teacher but his influence to educational technology has been immense. He has already published a book charting a day in the life of Twitter users and has given some great talks at conferences. This latest venture is an aggregate blog of over 25 Irish educators around the country. Nigel’s only flaw is that he is a Blackburn Rovers supporter.

Best new blog –> Irish Teachers’ Blog – See above.

Best class blog –> Michael’s Class Blog – A new blog by Irish primary teacher and his 3rd and 4th class. It is jaw-dropping how often this blog is updated and you can see that the kids in this class are active in all that goes on in the blog. Lucky kids to have such a great teacher!

Best student blog –> The School Stuff – Similarly, this class are very lucky too. Their teacher has given the students free reign to tell us all about what they learn everyday. You can see the amount of learning that goes on in this class each day from the fantastic descriptions the children give about life in 5th and 6th class.

Best ed tech / resource sharing blog –> Seomra Ranga – Irish teachers have this site bookmarked more than any other. Now in its 4th year, Damien Quinn’s site has grown to offer hundreds of resources for free to teachers around the country.

Most influential blog post –> Tweets and Sweets – This article shows how a simple Twitter interaction became one of the most inspiring pieces of collaborative learning between two schools on either side of the Arlantic Ocean.

Best twitter hashtag –> #edchatie – created by @fboss, this weekly edchat with an Irish flavour is one of the main reasons Irish teachers sign up to Twitter. Sometimes it’s the catalyst for teachers to start using technology in their classrooms.

Best teacher blog –> A Crucial Week – A new blog run by a Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) which is kept up to date really well. It gives some super teaching tips as well as gaining an insight into the world of the Irish education system.

Best School Administrator blog –> Fintan’s Blog –  This principal frequently writes about issues relating to his school and surrounding area. Always honest, it’s a great insight to some of the work that Irish principals face each day.

Best free web tool –> Twitter – Without question, Twitter has fast become our number one source of educational content. Not a day goes by where we don’t learn something new from our PLN.

Best educational use of audio / video / visual / podcast –> SCC English –  St. Columba’s College lead the way in Ireland for educational podcasts. Not just useful to Irish students, these podcasts would help any English student in their schoolwork.

Best educational use of a social network —> Carlow Educate Together NS – Carlow Educate Together have used Facebook to interact with parents for a couple of years now. It has now become one of the central places for parents to interact with the school. During the “snowmageddon” which gripped Ireland early in the year, the school was able to update parents regularly with opening and closing times. They also sent some fun projects to families to help them pass the time as well as learn things.

However, these things are happening every day of the school year by individual incredible teachers who just get on with it.  Two such teachers are Kate Murray, principal of St. Augustine’s NS in Galway and Cathal O Connell, Teacher, Holy Spirit Boys, Ballymun.  Working with 15 schools on the Dublin-Galway rail line and some education centres, the project aimed to connect schools along this line in some cross curricular subjects and share these projects on a blog.  Irish Rail and the NCTE came on board(!) and the results can be seen on http://keepontrack.scoilnet.ie

Some of these projects are simple but have fantastic learning opportunities.  Murray has published a number of curriculum plans that schools who wish to try a similar project – (JJ Kavanagh’s bus route from Waterford to Dublin anyone??) – could adapt and build upon.  Each school also made a digital collage of the story of their project all of which can be seen on the blog.  However, the biggest learning comes from the huge collection of information about each station along the way!

I checked out Clara at random to see what was there.  I was amazing to see so many activities that had taken place.  Apart from the collage, the school gave a complete history of Clara train station with lots of photographs.  They made a video of the train coming in and out of the station.  They showed how the project integrated with several subjects on the curriculum.

Image from Clara on Keep on Track Project

The technology wasn’t the important thing here. It didn’t matter what kind of computer they used, if they had access to expensive video cameras or anything like that.  It was all about how they were going to present their findings and about what they were learning about.  One could instantly see that these children know everything there is to know about trains and their town and village!

The only shame is that this project wasn’t headline news nationally.  There is no longer any reference to it on Irish Rail’s web site and while I can’t be 100% sure, I cannot find any reference to it on the NCTE’s web site.  This is a project worthy of a television documentary where hundreds of children from across Ireland came together to create something huge and something very special.  I hope that this isn’t the last we will hear of the Keep On Track project. Perhaps it might run again with more support from Irish Rail and others. However, whatever happens, all 15 schools should look back and know that they did something more innovative than anyone else has in many years.

Download some more informatio about Keep On Track.

Why?

Well, it’s the nice mix of talks, aimed at ICT specialised and non specialised teachers. It’s the way they fuse the primary, post-primary and third levels together. The workshops last about 1/2 an hour, which works perfectly for my concentration. Anymore and I switch off, this way, I get a couple a golden nuggets away without feel lethargic. The CESI meet the night before as always was exciting and new. My only wish for CESI meets is to stick to the current bite size format that has made them so successful. 2-5 minutes presentations are a brilliant idea. There was a noticeable lack of companies selling their wares, which again works for me. The entrance to the conference opened up with a lively static art display from the recent Twitter and Art project that highlighted the great art that children could share through technology.

I attended 3 workshops-the first a research paper and it’s findings on why teachers shy away from technology and what type of technology is being used. Interesting to find out that the digital camera is the most used as a teaching resource in the primary classroom, even above the Interactive White Board. However, the talk failed to help the teachers present to realise that it’s not all about the software or the money you spend on technology. A digital camera, scanner, projector and even an Internet connection for twitter or Facebook are often enough to enhance the learning experience.

The second workshop I attended was given by Never mind games . I think we all went to it thinking we would learn how to make video games for learning.

The workshop turned out to be much cleverer than that. The lads from Never mind spoke about the learning theoruy behind making a game. What makes game playing so attractive? The visual, the audio? Not really, in a very small way perhaps. The things that hook a learner in a game are

• constant progress-moving up levels
• Clear understanding of what the player doing in the world-why they are there, what they have to do along side hints or resources you might need.
• Freedom within bounds
• Predictable learning curves
• Achievable rewards

These principles can be easily applied to teaching anything you like. Just have a think about it. Good teachers have a clear learning objective, the children know what it is and know what things will look like when they get there. There should always be a rationale for the learning and a clear reward system. What’s in it for them?

The final workshop I attended was with Ciaran McCormack of Fis, apple and digital media and a million other things that he has been responsible for creating! The theme of the conference was story telling, Ciaran showed us a couple of apps which are brilliant for this-puppet pals, comic life and garage band. Great stuff.

So, thank you ICT Ed for a great conference. Please, be back next year even better! There’s a challenge!

Friday night started off with a CESI Meet held for the first time in a room without a bar!  However, we were all drunk with enthusiasm after inspiring mini talks.  These were the most entertaining and varied talks from a CESI Meet that I’ve experienced.  We had Tommy Colliston, (@trusttommy on Twitter), a 16-year old student telling us how he can’t understand why teachers won’t use technology.  Fergal Canton introduced us to some interactive poetry as memories of my Leaving Cert came sailing back.  Brendan from Chessossity showed off his new venture which aims to teach children how to play chess.  We had some transition year students telling us about some work they did making an iPhone app with Never Mind Games.  Catherine Cronin and Ira Socol outlined their own visions for education. Another interesting talk was from John Heffernan who spoke about job seeking in the education sector.

As always at CESI Meets, there was a 15 minute break out session where Steven Howell and I spoke about teaming up 1st, 2nd and 3rd level to create software.  Hopefully, we can put a real structure on this.  I also introduced my new project Targetboard, which seemed to go down well.  At the end Fred Boss asked us to write a collaborative Fairytale using Twitter.  Fred gave us the first line and we all had to tweet the next line of the story.  It was good fun and the Minister for Education made an appearance as the big bad wolf  - (“all the better to tax you with my dear”).

At the end of the proceedings, it was back to the Anner Hotel in Thurles for post-Meet drinks.  It was great to meet face to face with some of the people I have met online over the last number of months.

The main part of the conference started the next morning with two excellent keynote speakers – Christian Payne and Ciaran McCormack.  Payne is better known as his Twitter persona, @documentally, and he told us his story about being a storyteller and the tools he uses to tell these stories.  Ciaran McCormack, who is best known in Ireland for his work with Fís, noted the big problems we are having in our education system – mainly at second level.  He showed lots of examples of the great stories being told by very young children with videos and sample clips from the Fís Film Awards and the Fís Book Club.

Splitting into workshops, I was up first to give my talk on starting on Twitter.  I had about 25 participants and signed almost all of them up on the service.  Hopefully some of them will perceiver with it and we’ll be welcoming them on future education chats.  However, I have a suspicion most of them only wanted to sign up to Twitter to follow Jedward on the Eurovision

The second talk I went to was from Never Mind Games about how the theory of Computer Games can be mapped on to teaching.  Any computer game has 3 parts:

1. A Purpose – what do we want the user to do and why?
2. A Direction – how do we want them to do it?
3. A Goal – what reward will they get for success?

It was interesting to see how this thinking maps quite well into a drill and practice system of teaching and learning.  The guys at Never Mind Games believe that a student will try to solve the same problem over and over again in order to achieve an award.  This award might be a graphic saying, “you have unlocked an achievement”.  In the real world, it could be a sticker.

The third workshop was an Apple iPad literacy-fest from Ciaran McCormack where he shared some excellent apps with us including Puppet Pals, Comic Life, iMovie and Garage Band.  We got a chance to play around with them and I must say I was very impressed with them all.

The capstone talk was from Dermot Casey from Storyful who made us think about shifting our perceptions of things.  An example given was the perception that “Maths is hard.”  He argued that this could be simply an inaccurate misconception.  He also concurred with Dan Tapscott (the author of Grown Up Digital) about this generation of students and the way they think.  It was a great way to sum up the whole conference.

A lovely (and heartening) aspect of the conference was an idea by Bernie Goldbach to display some of the images created in the Digital Art Week that took place a couple of months ago.

The one thing I found really great about this conference was, although technology was used in every single presentation, there was little mention of it.  The technology was simply the tool used to learn something.  Learning was very much the centre of everything.  Well done to everyone involved for another brilliant weekend.

To showcase the talent from children all across Ireland the website www.theprimaryplanet.ie  is providing a national platform for publishing the pupils’ work and along with extra reading material, video clips, blogs and surveys, The Primary Planet looks very committed to giving the senior primary school children real reasons to read and write. Created by teachers for all the right reasons and with a teachers’ planning aide to accompany the order each month, this creative endeavour is definitely worth supporting. You can email its creator Stephen to subscribe or request a sample paper to be sent to your school at editor@theprimaryplanet.ie . The Primary Planet has over 150 schools already subscribed for its April Issue so, if you are like me and see the value of a real newspaper for children, the wait is finally over.

Stephen Keane is a primary school teacher in Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim. Having taught in the senior end for 6 years, he felt it was high time something was done about addressing current affairs and news headlines with the children in a safe and secure forum. Who can argue with that! You can contact Stephen at editor@theprimaryplanet.ie for more information about The Primary Planet Newspaper.

2010 conference photo

There will be a number of workshops on blogging, Scratch, Edmodo, Game-based Learning and a couple on Twitter.  The great thing about the talks and lectures is that they are pitched at a level that is accessible to everyone.

A number of interesting events take place during this conference.

The night before the main event, CESI, (Computers in Education Society of Ireland), host their famous CESI Meet.  There’ll be dozens of fellow teachers talking about things they do in their classrooms.  Even better is that the talks last from 2 to 15 minutes so if a talk doesn’t suit you, you don’t have long to wait until the next one!

After the great success of Digital Art Week, the images created by children all over Ireland will be displayed throughout the conference.  This is a great achievement for all the children involved.

There’s always a number of interesting surprises that come down the line so come down to Tipperary for a great weekend of learning.

The ICT in Education Conference takes place on Saturday 14th May.  For more information, please visit their web site http://www.tippinst.ie/schools. You can also follow them on Twitter with the username @ictedu

Telling the Easter Story Interactively

While a teacher can simply read the story of Easter to children, the Internet is full of interactive versions of the story of Easter.  Here are three examples:

• http://www.topmarks.co.uk/easter/ – this web site tells the story of Easter from a Christian perspective.  Once the story has been read, there are a number of activities and fact files.
• http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/re/b-dag/ngfl-container/re-unit2-en.html - a complete lesson on the story of Easter.  The story is told in a much simpler, child-friendly way than the one above.  There are loads of activities to accompany the story.  It was designed for use on an Interactive Whiteboard.
• http://www.squiglysplayhouse.com/WritingCorner/StoryBuilder/EasterMorning.html -A a personalised story with a Christian message about Easter.  The story begins with an Easter Eggs hunt before the children’s mother or father comes back from church to explain the real meaning of Easter.

Easter Bunny Podcast

Why does a rabbit hide eggs around the garden or in the house? What has it got to do with the story of Easter at all?  Get your (older) pupils to read  http://www.topmarks.co.uk/easter/EasterBunny.aspx, about how the tradition of the Easter Bunny came along. It’s a simple and short explanation. Once they’ve read it, get them to create a short podcast or presentation about the tradition of the Easter Bunny from their perspective.

Easter Egg Gallery

Paint is one of my favourite tools that come free on a computer as it gives children all the basic tools to create digital art.  Making an Easter Egg on Paint is beautifully easy.  Children start with the ellipse tool to create the outline of their egg and in moments, they have created their own personalised Easter Egg.  Upload the results to the National Children’s Gallery or your own school web site.

Play Educational Easter Games

Why not integrate some online Easter games into your maths or literacy classes? http://www.akidsheart.com/holidays/easter/egames.htm provides a number of Easter themed games to help you integrate different subjects into your Easter themed classroom.

Create Your Own Easter Rap

Get the children inspired by the Hip Hop Bunny at http://i.flowgo.com/greetings/rapeasterbunny/rapeasterbunny.swf and then ask children to create their own hip hop rap to tell the story of Easter.  For even more learning experiences, the children can make a puppet show or a stop motion animation and upload it to YouTube or your school’s web site.

In the meantime, have a great Easter!