Game for anything

Released 15/01/2010

Bean bags and Wii's were the order of the day in the gaming zone. Matt Jane braved excitable teens to find out more

Far from winding down for the weekend, Friday at Bett was buzzing as visitors flocked through the doors. The threat of snow had lifted, although it was by no means bikini weather, and the turn out reflected this, with an atmosphere of excitement greeting those who made the journey.

Top of the list for me this year was to look at engagement and gaming, with whole sections of the show dedicated to this area of technology. Bryan Plumb of Bee-it.co.uk spoke passionately about the potential for social media in education, suggesting that, far from shying away from these tools, schools should embrace them through properly run channels.

The Frog stand played host to users of their VLE, who were happy to speak about how it has opened up the school and allowed all pupils to engage and interact, wherever they may be. One memorable anecdote was that of a pupil who was suffering from a long term illness, but was able to use the online facilities to keep up with her education. The cherry on that cake was that she recently passed her exams with a C grade.

Mitt Nathwani of Turning Technologies suggested that schools can use technology to engage pupils wherever they are. With classrooms no longer restricted inside four walls, he demonstrated technology that can allow for interactive voting through hand held devices whether in school or on a field trip.

A visit to Professor Stephen Heppell's gaming zone proved how popular gaming can be. With pupils relaxing on bean bags playing Wii games or Manga High's maths tuition games, it felt more like a gathering in a front room than the centre of a huge auditorium. I was a little surprised to hear that some of pupils enjoying the games had mock GCSEs in a few days, but they were happy to discuss their activities and were obviously enjoying the break from the books.

While the sun sets on the penultimate day of Bett 2010 and the stands are refreshed with complimentary pens for the final day, there is a growing concensus that this year's show has lived up to the hype and been better than ever. I can only speak for myself when I sum up my Bett experience as being 'lovely jubbly'.

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