By Maureen McTaggart
With 750 
people attending the BETT awards dinner at the Hilton Park Lane Hotel, London, in a ballroom the size of a footaball pitch, winners furthest from the stage had to squeeze through an ocean of tightly packed tables to collect their trophies.
Thankfully Annika Small’s table was close to the stage because the former chief executive of ICT research hothouse Futurelab, and now education director of The Tony Blair Faith Foundation (TTBFF), picked up the Outstanding Achievement award at this annual glittering event. Paying tribute to her outstanding service to ICT education the judges said, while at the helm of Futurelab she encouraged risk-taking and experimentation that was underpinned by academic rigour - an approach that was “blue sky thinking with feet planted in the classroom”.
The winners of the 12th annual BETT Awards 2010 were announced on the first day of BETT 2010 (Wednesday January 13), the world’s largest technology in education show. The awards highlight outstanding educational hardware and software products, industry and personal excellence within the education ICT sector and are organised by Emap Connect (the BETT show organiser), the Government’s educational technology agency Becta and the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA). Entries are judged by a team of more than 60 education experts.“The UK is in the midst of the largest investment in school buildings and equipment for generations. This key moment in education is being seen as a momentous opportunity to design, deliver and equip learning environments that are capable of supporting a new vision for education, children’s services and communities,” said Ray Barker, director of BESA. “The BETT Awards is a robust, criteria-led, quality mechanism for promoting the best of technology solutions that really work in classrooms and BESA supports them in order to assist and ensure the success of this practical vision for transformation.”
Categories were renamed and a number of new ones introduced for 2010, including Digital Collections and Resource Banks, Digital Devices and ICT Service and Support, that encouraged new and some of the smaller, less well-known companies to come forward.
The audience at the Hilton warmly welcomed Annika’s award for her years of championing ICT for learning. Always up for a challenge, she says her ambition for her now job with TTBFF is “to contribute to significant changes to the education system by mobilising an innovative global programme".
Commenting on the new Digital Devices category, won by A1 Technologies Limited for The Rapman, a 3D printer that allows students to build 3D models in plastics from a 2D design, which made its debut at BETT 2009, judges said: “The RapMan allows for the teaching of many different design principles from initial concept to pre-production prototype, and is a fascinating example of design in its own right.”
A1 Technologies were not exhibiting at BETT which was a great shame as they handle other breath-taking technologies like Anarkik 3D's Cloud9 software which allows students to explore and create 3D designs, "feeling" their way through the shapes by use of a haptic mouse. They are bringing to schools what are known as "rapid prototyping" technologies that were formerly beyond their financial reach.
Winners of the 12th annual BETT Awards
Early Years Solutions
Q&D Multimedia Ltd for Pretty Things
Judges’ comments: “In Pretty Things objects have physical properties: water splashes, blocks falls, sand pours and magnets repel – to name just a few. Children can manipulate these objects easily by using a mouse or keys – and the results are printable. An addictive programme which children (and staff) will want to use time and time again.”
Primary Digital Content
Race to Learn from Cambridge University Press and Williams Grand Prix Engineering Ltd
Judges’ comments: “With a helpful teacher introduction and age-appropriate activities, Race to Learn is a well thought through support for cross-curricular learning.”
Secondary, FE and Skills Digital Content
Serious Games Interactive for Global Conflicts: Palestine
Judges’ comments: “The 3D graphics are engaging and are equal in quality to commercial games products: therefore, the students are drawn in. The pack of support materials and website, make this a good introduction for teachers who haven’t previously used games. It is also a useful means by which to stimulate discussion in the classroom.”
Digital Collections and Resource Banks
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery for Pre-Raphaelite Online Resource
Judges’ comments: “The ease of use and attractiveness of the images are what make this collection so compelling: teachers will not doubt find a huge number of imaginative ways of using this resource in the classroom.”
Leadership and Management Solutions
Vivo Miles for Vivo Miles
Judges’ comments: “Vivo Miles had adaptable functionality to promote and reinforce the values and ethos of individual schools and their pupils in different contexts.”
Special Educational Needs Solutions
The Royal National College for the Blind for Robobraille
Judges’ comments: “Very user friendly and extremely easy to use. You don’t need to be an expert in converting documents or an expert in Braille and it uses existing resources available to all UK schools and most homes.”
Tools for Learning and Teaching
The BBC for BBC Learning - Book Notes
Judges’ comments: “This is a great way to collate all those notes into one place, sharing them with friends, or downloading those produced by other teachers (including those in other schools) and other professionals. All the original text is online, so it mimics a real, annotated book. A development of what good teachers and learners are already doing in the classroom.”
Digital Devices
A1 Technologies Ltd for The Rapman
Judges’ comments: “It is made of transparent Perspex, so you can see how it works, providing an interesting discussion point across the curriculum. Maths students could relate it to coordinates; in Design and Technology there is the mechanics interest they can even build it themselves; in English, students could imagine a future where anything is printable.”
ICT Exporter of the Year
Manic Monkey Ltd
Judges’ comments: “Their approach has been flexible and innovative, taking time to understand local conditions and to tailor their products accordingly.”
ICT Service and Support
Espresso Education
Judges’ comments: “With over 5,000 face-to-face training sessions and the ongoing professional development of thousands of teachers annually, the company is dedicated to providing continuous service and support.”
ICT Education Partnership Award
Learning Possibilities (LP+) working in collaboration with Wolverhampton’s e-Services Team?
Judges’ comments: “Learning Possibilities (LP+) demonstrated evidence of an effective partnership based on shared values and an ethos of transforming education. The partnership has enabled the local authority to provide bespoke support and entry points to the learning platform, rather than a one-size.fits-all approach.”
ICT Company of the Year
Inclusive Technology
Judges’ comments: “In times when there is a lack of support for special educational needs, Inclusive Technology has a proven track-record in championing the cause of special educational needs/inclusion through ICT. The company has gone above and beyond the expectations of an ICT-solutions provider.”
Outstanding Achievement in ICT Education
Annika Small
Judges’ comments: “Annika made a significant impact on ICT and learning by shaping Futurelab and developing it into an organisation that punches well above its weight. She created a climate in which risk-taking and experimentation were encouraged, underpinned by academic rigour. All the while, she and her team worked closely with teachers and learners, simultaneously influencing policy-makers.
“Her approach is best described as ‘blue-sky thinking with feet planted in the classroom’. She attracted a high-quality team, which made Futurelab a prestigious and exciting place to work. Annika has taken her expertise in technology and learning to a further challenge in her new role of developing a deeper inter-faith understanding and respect among young people. But her legacy at Futurelab remains, and provides those that follow with an excellent platform on which to build."
BETT 2010
January 13-16, Olympia, London
Films showing winning resources in use will be available From April 2010 at www.becta.org.uk/bettawards.
www.bettshow.com
