EdTech at its best: Bett 2018
Alberto Aldrigo from the H-FARM IT Team & Lyndsey Stuttard from H-FARM International School
The Bett 2018 ended last week in London, the largest EdTech show that gathers educators and school representatives from around the world for the opportunity to explore the latest and greatest technological advancements for education.
Could we possibly miss it? Of course not!
Full of enthusiasm and expectations, we arrived in the UK with the goal of looking for new technologies and inspirations that support the teachers of our schools: Lyndsey focusing on specific materials for the different subjects and Alberto on the classroom equipment.
VR, robotics, and interactive whiteboards were the main themes
Whiteboards are equipment that is taken for granted today, and the tech updates there presented were just minor improvements. Instead, ample space was given to robots, both programmable – useful for learning coding and the basics of robotics – and aimed at interacting with students.
The real news of this year was the VR headsets: on the one hand, there were inexpensive all-in-one devices to watch 3D movies, on the other hand we saw more advanced tools for superior immersion and interaction (like the Acer Virtual & Mixed Reality Headset).
CHANGE was the leitmotif
– change how we teach, change how we assess, change the ways we use technology. Education is an entity that is constantly changing and adapting to the evolution of the world, which was made even more evident by the number of companies offering their best technology products.
Despite having a small designated area of the conference devoted to STEAM Education, there were many vendors demonstrating how their technology pieces would benefit STEAM in schools. Big companies such as Microsoft and Lego showed how they were changing their products to make them more accessible to students of all ages, and to align more with educational outcomes.
From animatronic faces controlled by simple coding software and a multitude robotics, to a wide variety of 3D printers and STEAM in your School books, we got hands on and perused the best options to align with our schools.
We explored how other schools use technology, and we engaged in meaningful discussions leading to shared ideas and enthusiasm for above all CHANGE; to be better, to offer more to students, and to push the boundaries and capabilities of technology.
