Round-up from BETT 2009
January 2009
Merlin John
Gizmo heal thyself
The prospect of machines capable of repairing themselves came closer with the launch of The RapMan at BETT.
It doesn’t look much – a metal and plastic cube frame with a moving head to build 3D objects (including, in time, its own parts) with plastic materials. However, it is radical in both creation and practice, coming in kit form so that its construction is lesson number one.
The technology is known as RP/RM (rapid prototyping/rapid manufacturing) and until The RapMan appeared it was not available to schools for less than £1,000. Based on the RepRap created by Dr Adrian Bowyer at Bath University.
Invasion of the robots
Robotics in classrooms took decisive, if mechanistic steps forward with the launch of RM’s new ED-E the robot, a humanoid biped who strutted his stuff in a dance routine written by three 13 year-old girls on a sleepover weekend.
New Go-Robo software from Q4 Technologies allows children of all ages to use, and write control programs for, popular award-winning Wowwee robots like Femisapien and RoboSapien in their classrooms. Up to 11 robots can be controlled at a time.
And the creator of the original, classic Roamer floor robot (turtle) for primary classrooms was showing prototypes of Roamer-Too with extended capabilities and functions. Plus a special guest from the US, CosmoBot, the result of collaborative work with a company called AnthroTronix, working with children with disabilities.
www.rm.com
www.q4technologies.com
www.valiant-technology.com
Building virtual schools for the future
Middlesbrough City Learning Centre has been building virtual schools in the Second Life online 3D world, and put its iSchool work on show at BETT 2009. Its contribution to the Building Schools for the Future programme enables BSF stakeholders to explore scale models of their planned buildings on a Second Life island where they can see how equipment and furniture works in their new spaces.
The idea is to help anyone working in BSF to see what works in their plans – and, hopefully, what doesn’t, avoiding what could become costly mistakes. The CLC team has built up a wiki to share its experiences and record progress.
www.mclc.org.uk
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7829070.stm
www.secondlife.com
Mobile phones unlocked for school networks
Teachers and students can now zap files – text, pictures, audio and video - from their mobile phones straight into an RM Community Connect network via Windows XP on their Asus miniBooks, thanks to a clever little software utility called the RM Connector (£18 per machine). Students can send files directly into their home folders, shared folders and to networked printers, or to the internet.
Turning the tables on PCs
BETT was a tale of two tables – the SMART Table and the Microsoft Surface. Both were instant hits.
The SMART Table, created for use with 4-8 year-olds, is shockproof and waterproof and comes with a specially designed set of learning software. It is controlled by touch and the interface is so advanced that it could be controlled simultaneously by more children than you could actually get around the table!
Teachers get their own software for PC, Mac and Unix so that they can produce their own activities that they can introduce via a USB memory stick. The breakthroughs in gesture technology have also been re-engineered back into SMART’s whiteboards and plasma-screen surrounds.
Microsoft’s Surface, not yet available for schools, is a different creature. It reacts to objects that are placed on it, both inanimate and ‘intelligent’ (like a mobile phone or PDA). The way its sensing technologies allow it to interact with objects and people intrigued visitors. And prototype Finguistics software from RM and Lightbox gave a delightful indication of what is in store for learners and teachers.
www.smarttech.com/table
tinyurl.com/7bc88a
www.microsoft.com/surface
Creating spaces for learning - Imaginarium
At a time of unprecedented school renewal – both new-build and remodelled – schools need to explore ways in which they can match their learning spaces to their visions for learning. BETT 2009 visitors were given this opportunity for the very first time in RM’s open space at Olympia 2, next to the main exhibition.
RM brought in partners and collaborators to open up a huge space with settings of furniture and equipment in all kinds of school contexts. The range on show included mind-boggling sensory technology for special needs, inspiring furniture, a video-interview pod, a green-screen video set-up, a table projector, 3D projection complete with the glasses (a theme elsewhere at BETT too) - and everywhere there were children and teachers demonstrating how to bring these spaces to life.
RM had dubbed it the Imaginarium and it hit the spot. It was a successful proof of concept and it is now clear that schools going through Building Schools for the Future and the Primary Capital Programme need a space like this to visit. Somewhere where they can explore and model their ideas before they even get a whiff of an invoice.
TeachMeet comes of age
What was most innovative at BETT 2009? It wasn’t the technology, the equipment or the furniture. It was the people. And the best place to experience this was at TeachMeet BETT 09. This ‘unconference’ – now an annual event - is a meeting of teachers and those who work with them, a place to share the activities and experiences that inspire their learning and teaching.
The wiki attracted 24 helpers/organisers, 24 presenters, 14 nano-presenters, 181 lurkers (the audience) and 16 remote attendees (by Flashmeeting), with 98 people signing up for an EatMeet at the Pizza Express next door. There were even 12 sponsors (including Futurelab) who helped to ensure there was plenty to eat and drink.
Presentations ranged from challenging, through soul-baring to sheer excellence. And if there was a dull or overly-extended moment a stuffed camel would be launched through the air to signal a change of speaker.
TeachMeet wasn’t just fun but an innovative, democratic, egalitarian form of continuing staff development, full of insight and packed with good humour. And it was packed out without the need for any publicity other than a wiki and a presence on Facebook. So it is no surprise to see TeachMeet Midlands and TeachMeet Orlando lined up on the current TeachMeet wiki.