Alison Taylor, CEO:

• Have education trade shows lost their sparkle?
• Will AI really enhance education?
• Will products for STEAM lessons continue to pave the way?

I’ve visited the Bett Show many times over the years and have seen hundreds of innovative products and services designed to help schools and teachers deliver excellent teaching and learning, while addressing some of the challenges they face, such as work overload, lesson planning, marking, student engagement, safeguarding. 

This year’s Bett Show seemed a little different. It appeared smaller, with wider corridors and more space – maybe because there is now a Bett Brazil, Bett Asia and Bett Middle East later in the year? Or maybe because the massive glitzy stands that have previously dwarfed the arena were less dazzling than in previous years?

Appearances aside, there has clearly been an explosion of AI enabled solutions in the past year and almost every other exhibitor had an element of AI in what they’re offering. While the harnessing of AI for education efficiencies and advancement is truly exciting, I admit to finding some of it a little alarming.  I worry that too much automation will be at the expense of personal feedback and mentoring, which is one of the most crucial aspects of schooling for most children.

This year there was also a significant focus on Esports, and exhibitors were drawing crowds of visitors all keen to have a go with state-of-the-art kit.  While awaiting my turn, I stumbled across Data Harvest, a company based not too far from our offices in Cambridge, that specialises in smart data logging devices for science, something I had never considered (I’m no scientist) but that clearly offers multiple benefits and shortcuts for student learning.

Another highlight for me was the beautifully simple Calmer® sound eliminating ear plugs designed to support students by reducing stressful frequencies to help them focus on their learning while in a mainstream environment.  I’ll be testing out my sample in the office!

Then, in amongst the proliferation of tech resellers there were a few VR gems, in various stages of developing interactive content to enhance student experience across many subject areas.  Students can, for example, find themselves in Ancient Egypt, deep under the sea, or inside an operating theatre.  I was most excited to see how these products are being adapted to support students with special educational needs too, enabling them, for example, to escape the classroom and enter sensory zones where they can de-stress. 

Being based in Cambridge, the home of Raspberry Pi, I’m always excited to see products that encourage children to experiment and play with basic coding to build rudimentary machines, which actually fly, navigate obstacle courses, or even blow bubbles, like theBubble:bit from MakeKit – my favourite from this year’s Bett show.

LEGO® has featured heavily in our business activities for the past few years – we work with wonderful team at Play Included® and run several FIRST® LEGO League championships in the UK.  So, I couldn’t resist attending a Learning Through Play presentation from the Head of Product Experience at LEGO Education, which started with each member of the audience making their own duck from six LEGO bricks provided – I’m delighted to say that, although my duck was definitely ‘unique’, it still represented a bird like creature and I was happy to know that, while my feet throbbed from walking the Bett Show corridors, a usually underused part of my brain had been stimulated!