“When a man
is tired of London, he is tired of life, for there is in London all that life
can afford.”
This was an old quote that came to my mind as I
boarded the plane to go back to Finland after four amazing and incredible days
at the BETT Show 2016 at the ExCel Centre in London’s Docklands. I was
overwhelmed with ideas and inspiration to take back to my own school.
Being a newbie at BETT
I had heard about BETT, the world’s leading education technology event, but never experienced it in real life until now. I felt very curious to learn more about today’s innovative classroom technology, to listen to education experts and to meet teacher friends from different countries.
Focus on
things that appeal to you
There were 868 exhibitors at the BETT Show. Of course it was impossible to visit all of their stands. I quickly realised that I had to choose the ones that appealed the most to me. Since I have a SMART Board and work with SMART Notebook and SMART amp, my natural number one choice was SMART Technologies at stand D80. It was so great to talk to the SMART Exemplary Educators that represented SMART there.
SMART is a company that really cares about students
and teachers because they provide tools that go with the technical revolution
that is changing the landscape of today’s classrooms. There is no avoiding it,
classroom technology is part of our reality. We’re living in the 21st
century and as teachers we have an obligation to embrace it. We need to keep on
exploring all the benefits it brings to both teachning and learning.
Walking
around at this technology event
When walking around in the huge hall at BETT I realised that lots of companies around the world truly want to transform education through technology and offer students tools that help them develop skills of creativity, communication and collaboration. I saw many exhibitors selling interactive boards, but also exhibitors showing great apps to use on tablets or mobile devices in schools. There is a jungle of different types of tools out there and all of them try to enable students to become active and independent learners and thinkers.
Things I
liked at BETT
The atmosphere at BETT was very international and inviting. I loved to sit down at BETT Arena, which was the central stage for inspiration at this event, and listen to expert speakers giving the visitors their insights about education technology. Lots of tweeting going on there!
Right behind BETT Arena you could follow artists
writing and painting inspirational quotes on the walls. My favourite ones that
I saw there were “Technology is helping
us to bridge the gap between countries” and “Change the rules, change the tools, change the future”. So true, I
couldn’t agree more.
I was also excited to see that some companies focus on
different types of classroom furniture. The traditional way of having desks in
straight rows is giving way to more flexible learning spaces. I saw desks,
tables and chairs in various shapes and colours that were easy to rearrange in
the classroom depending on what type of activity you are doing at the moment.
BETT is where
a lot of discovery takes place
I really recommend a visit to the BETT Show 2017 for
every teacher that is looking for inspiration as far as classroom technology is
concerned. It was a unique experience and it answered all my expectations I had
before I came there.
