Leading online safety experts Smoothwall join forces with VESPA Mindset and Warwickshire County Council at BETT 2019
This week at BETT, leading online safeguarding solutions provider Smoothwall, will be joining forces with VESPA Mindset and Warwickshire County Council to provide expert advice on internet safety and mental wellbeing within an academic environment. For those unfamiliar with BETT, it’s the UK’s leading education technology show attended by over 34,500 educators and decision makers from all around the world. Taking place at ExCeL London from 23rd to 26th January 2019, those attending can expect to see the latest and most innovative information technology set to inspire the future of education. At the Smoothwall stand on Thursday 24th January, Steve Oakes, at VESPA Mindset will be hosting two sessions looking at how active monitoring can impact academic attainment. Steve will discuss how technology can help in recognising and developing mental wellbeing needs to improve examination results. Advanced monitoring technology means that schools aren’t having to physically monitor pupils’ online activity as any risks are picked up and alerted via the solution. This frees up teacher’s time and resources so they can concentrate on pupils academic learning and in turn promote a positive learning environment and higher standard of academic achievement.Smart monitoring solutions will become increasingly important when you take into account Ofsted will now focus on promoting a positive learning environment. This new behaviour judgement will assess whether schools are creating a calm, well-managed environment free from bullying, which monitoring solutions can identify. Those attending BETT will also be able to find out about how to run effective safeguarding across a school cluster. On Friday 25thJanuary, Steve Holley, Systems Engineer at Warwickshire County Council will look at the work they are doing with the safeguarding provider to improve its safeguarding capabilities. WCC currently manage IT systems for schools within the Warwickshire area, monitoring 45,000 staff and pupils across Primary and Secondary schools. To learn about and interact with its market-leading filtering and monitoring solutions, visit Smoothwall on stand D250. Here you can discover its brand-new monitoring solution RADAR and how it can detect children at risk of mental health concerns or cyberbullying, and hear exclusively what new product innovations Smoothwall has in store for 2019.
Russian Grandmaster and maths teacher share learning benefits of chess
Following the pilot of a chess-based educational initiative in Russia, global education technology provider, Promethean, will be bringing Grandmaster, Sergey Karjakin, and a Russian maths teacher to Bett 2019, to deliver a programme of activity which provides insights into the learning benefits of teaching chess in the classroom. After undertaking academic studies that demonstrated learning chess could help to improve student achievement, Moscow Education Department has introduced weekly chess lessons as a mandatory part of the primary curriculum. To support schools in integrating chess teaching into the classroom using technology, Promethean piloted the ‘Grandmaster Challenge,’ which gave all schools in Russia the opportunity to showcase creative ways of teaching chess with Promethean solutions. Commenting on why Promethean launched the chess initiative, Ian Curtis, Head of EMEA and APAC Markets, said: “We’re much more than a technology company. We are heavily invested in education and supporting teachers to develop lifelong learners. In today’s world, technology plays an increasingly prominent role in teaching and learning, just as it does in students’ home lives. In light of this, we wanted to encourage teachers to explore approaches which use modern technologies alongside traditional methods of chess teaching – the objective being to better engage students in learning to play chess.” Having emerged as the winner of Promethean’s Grandmaster Challenge, Bakhova Alfusya Borisovna, maths teacher at Secondary School No 6, Nartkala in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, will be delivering daily presentations on Stand B98 which share her innovative approach to chess teaching with technology. Presenting alongside Sergey Karjakin, who holds the record as the world’s youngest ever Grandmaster, Alfusya will provide insights into making chess engaging for even the youngest of students, while Sergey will discuss why he believes the game has an important role to play in developing children’s mathematical, critical thinking, and social skills. For more information, see Promethean at Stand B98 at Bett 2019 – there will be live chess games featuring Grandmaster Sergey Karjakin and the teacher from Russia taking place.
How to educate the innovators of tomorrow using technology
Technology permeates every stage of a child’s day, and embracing this is no longer a choice for schools. The students in the classrooms of tomorrow will be our tech innovators of the future, and head teachers must equip schools with the IT infrastructure and technology to handle the growing needs – and expectations – of their pupils, whilst also ensuring it’s affordable and secure for everyone. We are already seeing great strides in tech innovation within education. 2018 research by Ranstad Education highlights that the schools that have already adopted the latest tech do have higher pupil engagement. It predicts that lessons will become more project-based, with more interactive content to engage pupils – much of this can be aided through the use of schemes such as BYOD (bring your own device). BYOD schemes are found to allow pupils to feel responsible for their own devices, preparing them for more technologically advanced workplaces and making them active information-seekers; it also encourages pupils to work cooperatively. Despite the clear benefits, these schemes still have points that schools must consider and respond to. For example, welcoming a host of new and different devices into the school can compromise cybersecurity, something that is of utmost importance in a school environment. Everyone from academy trusts to head teachers and schools as a whole must be aware of new problems that arise with the constantly changing digital world, and act accordingly with companies that can organise the installation of safe IT infrastructure. We must also focus on delivering tech advancement in the classroom that improves the lives of our teachers, who are often burdened by overcomplicated admin processes. Technology can automate parts of the marking process, help teachers to design tests more easily, and keep better track of pupils’ work. Teachers can also give immediate feedback, important for the fast-paced pupils of the internet age. The more time we give to teachers, the more time is given to the pupils – who will be more engaged if we give them the digitally connected education they need. At BETT 2019, Stone Group will be showcasing our new scheme: AccessIT, to demonstrate the need for technology to enable learning, the potential for it, and what kinds of products and services can be offered in response to the growing need. The importance of digitally savvy schools cannot be overstated. Equipping classrooms for the tech innovators of tomorrow should be a priority, and there are ways to reach that goal while balancing the books. If you’re visiting BETT 2019, you can find Stone Group at stand E270.
How the next generation of edtech empowers teachers
The edtech industry has rapidly grown in recent years, with tech giants, start-ups, and everything in between embracing educational initiatives. A simple analysis of the market’s growth reflects an emphasis on education reform Craig Scott, VP of technology at ViewSonic, explains how the most effective edtech resource is one which empowers teachers… Teachers shouldn’t have to learn tech to teach, and the next generation of EdTech is on a mission to provide holistic solutions to educators through interoperability, streamlined communication, and improved user experience (UX). However, greater consideration reveals that the EdTech market is at a crossroads that straddles commercially-driven oversaturation, and altruistic educational goals. When it comes to EdTech, I say without hesitation, the most effective resource you can have is an empowered teacher. However, through little fault of their own, teachers often lack the confidence to teach using tech. Many have either been insufficiently trained on specific resources, limiting them experiencing the full benefits of its functionality and capabilities, or simply don’t have the confidence to use the technology that appears in their classrooms overnight, much less how to teach it to students. As a result, the decisions they make about using it in their classroom often fail to make any real impact on teaching or learning. Empowering teachers For technology to be embraced and adopted by teachers, it needs to be holistic, reliable, streamlined, easy-to-use and simple to implement; from experience, this is exactly what the next generation of edtech providers is determined to provide to educators. When fully understood and used correctly, audio-visual (AV) systems such as digital whiteboards, interactive screens with multi-touch functionality and tablets for example, have the potential to create a wholly immersive and engaging learning environment. Through the use of digital whiteboards alone, teachers are able to display rich content and dynamic example, making their lessons more effective, engaging and creative. And as teachers become more confident with these types of technology, they can encourage students to interact with activities and tasks relating to the lesson – be that through full-colour images, detailed diagrams, or even video content, helping to encourage active learning, all the while promoting a more inclusive environment. We have to remember that today’s students are digital natives; they gravitate towards technology and use it with ease. Being able to use technology to bring concepts to life in a visual way, either through images or video, can really improve their classroom experience, and in turn, significantly increase their level of engagement. Benefitting students Active learning is also a good way to bring students together, regardless of their abilities or skills. Traditionally, students are put in pairs or small groups and asked to work around one computer or several books. However, the challenge here is that one student tends to take the lead, leaving the others to sit either side, meaning they often lose interest or switch off. Introducing effective edtech resources means teachers are able to simply and easily set tasks and get groups working on the same board at the same time, giving each member more of an active role, and equal responsibility. The quality of the work carried out by students is also improved as teachers become more confident introducing new technologies to set homework and incorporating it into projects. When edtech empowers teachers, it empowers each and every student sitting in front of those teachers – the edtech leaders of tomorrow. Surely, this should be the ultimate aim of all edtech providers? It certainly is for ViewSonic. Visit ViewSonic at Bett 2019 at Stand D180 or go to viewsonic.com for more information.
Bett 2019: BenQ to demonstrate how collaborative technology is reinventing education
BenQ UK, the internationally renowned provider of digital lifestyle devices, will showcase its latest classroom-ready collaboration solutions at Bett 2019 (23 – 26 January 2019) at the ExCeL London on stand B180. BenQ will showcase its extended range of flagship products for the education market including new Mainstream and Premium Interactive Flat Panels (IFPs). These new IFPs are optimised with a flexible user interface, multi-account management system and EZWrite annotation software to bring a truly collaborative learning experience into classrooms. The enhanced IFP panels also feature InstaQShare software, which is designed for seamless wireless presentation and collaboration. It allows for smooth streaming of both visual and audio files, plus users can mirror content from mobile devices and invite up to 16 participants. The Premium IFP range also supports multi-touch capability up to 20 points, allowing more students to participate in discussion and engage in group activities. BenQ ensures classrooms embrace innovation without compromising student’s health and the team will demonstrate its IFP features that create a healthy learning environment for students. For a comfortable viewing experience, the BenQ IFP’s automatically activate Flicker-Free, Anti-Glare and Low Blue Light features by detecting the movement of users close to the screen. However, the BenQ Premium panels are also equipped with a Germ-Resistant Screen which is powered by a multi-layer coating of a non-toxic enduring nano, ionic silver agent that kills germs accumulating on screen surfaces, even after thorough cleaning or long periods of use. The BenQ Premium panels also incorporate an air-quality sensor to help monitor CO2 concentration levels in classrooms and remind teachers to adopt necessary mechanisms to keep students highly productive during class. On the show floor, BenQ will host presentation sessions throughout Bett 2019, with education product advocates. The speakers will share their knowledge of BenQ’s latest interactive classroom-ready collaboration solutions and provide live case studies of their experiences using the products in the classroom. Visitors are also invited to join BenQ on stand B180 for a drink every day during Bett 2019 or drop by the stand to take advantage of refreshments, charging points and meeting tables. See the Bett 2019 website for more details on BenQ
Vivitek’s Solutions Support BYOD & Promote Engaging Learning Experience At BETT 2019
On stand number C135 at BETT 2019, Vivitek, a leading manufacturer of innovative projectors and visual presentation products, will show how its range of high performance solutions propel classrooms and lecture halls into the digital era, ensuring connectivity, engagement and state-of-the-art learning aids for teachers and students alike. Vivitek’s comprehensive offerings for education are supported by a generous five year warranty on projectors, ensuring that its solutions are a long term investment for education institutions. With technology becoming more central to learning, and students and teachers all increasingly bringing their own devices into learning spaces, Vivitek will showcase its BYOD solutions with the NovoConnect range. One product of the NovoConnect range is the NovoTouch wireless collaborative flat panel solution which offers an all-in-one option for the classroom and students. The NovoTouch platform is Android based and it can accommodate wireless connectivity from mobile devices or laptops with Windows, MacOS, iOS or Android operating systems. NovoTouch multi-touch brings true collaboration into the classroom to solicit participation from multiple students either on-screen directly, or connecting device screens simultaneously – making it ideal for classrooms, meeting areas and public areas. Similarly, Vivitek’s NovoCast – a standalone wireless BYOD collaboration system that can be combined with any existing screen or projector – offers a collaborative and seamless approach to group work, allowing a split screen display from four devices. All NovoConnect solutions feature digital annotation and voting-polling capabilities as well as teacher preview, ensuring that ideas in the classroom can be shared with ease. Meanwhile, when it comes to school announcements, timetable sharing, scheduling for events, or the cafeteria’s daily menu; Vivitek’s NovoDS Solution is a great signage tool, which is intuitive to use and simple to set up. Plus, with the NovoDS Cloud service, school staff can easily remotely publish real-time info to display screens anywhere on the campus, making it perfect for real-time announcements or use in emergency situations. The solution has been designed to make it simple to create vivid, true-4K digital signage content instantaneously, thanks to easy-to-use software features without the need for any programming or special training. Just power on and connect the NovoDS devices to the internet, then users can monitor, control, and upload and refresh content to any of the devices in their cloud, from anywhere at any time. Visitors to the Vivitek’s stand will also be able to experience the popular Qumi projector series. The portable HD LED projector is ideal for the curriculum in primary schools, offering a range of capabilities, high quality picture and built in wireless connectivity. The Qumi range is compact, making it easy to move from one classroom to another, plus it features a built-in battery so everyone can get the most out of its use. The Qumi range ensures productive and engaging workshop sessions for teachers and students. Also on display will be the DH4661Z Full HD laser solid-state illuminated projector, which has been developed for large screen projection in smaller spaces. Capable of being installed in places that would be a challenge for conventional projectors, the DH4661Z utilises Vivitek’s advanced technology and delivers on the promise of low maintenance combined with low costs. With critical factors covered for educational institutions that are constantly balancing budgets and resources Vivitek ensures long term solutions for educational institutions’ projector and visual presentation requirements. Commenting on its presence at BETT 2019 Holger Graeff, General Manager, Vivitek EMEA, said: “At BETT 2019, Vivitek will continue to set the bar for visual and audio presentation solutions for those in the education sector. With our focus on BYOD, we will display a full range of connective capabilities that promote collaborative and engaging learning experiences for both teachers and students. With an understanding of the education sector’s budgets, the reliability and value for money of our solutions ensure that Vivitek is an attractive proposition for users in education.” About Vivitek Vivitek, a brand of Delta, offers an extensive line of visual display and presentation products. Vivitek’s line of digital projection and display products incorporates the latest innovations and technologies to meet the market demands for education, business, home theatre and large venue. For more information about Vivitek, please visit www.vivitekcorp.com or www.vivitek.eu