Just a quick update on a program I saw at BETT.

I received CrazyTalk4 today and I’ve put up a short sample of what it can do. Using an existing sound file, I created the animation in about 20 minutes. It’s not perfect by any means but it shows that you can produce something quickly and easily.

I’ve exported it in the format that requires you to download a plugin. This only works in IE as Firefox can’t find the plugin. I could have saved it as an avi or animated gif but wanted to try this format.

Link to it here.

By Friday I was all BETTed out. It was a shorter visit as were returning home so this will be a mix of final thoughts and things I omitted in the last 2 posts.

The whiteboard initiative in England has ensured that lots of companies are selling whiteboards and related software. The most interesting development has been the drop in price of short-throw projectors and the number of different ‘projector on a stick’ solutions with the projector being mounted in front of the whiteboard, often on a height-adjustable board. Given the total cost of a separate board, stand, projector and installation, these new boards don’t look nearly as expensive as they did last year and perhaps it’s now worth paying the premium for the ease of use that these boards bring.

There’s an advertising video from Promethean for their Activboard+2 which illustrates the advantages of a fixed short-throw projector on an adjustable stand.

I’ve always like the Promethean software for their boards but we have very few Promethean boards in our authority. Now they’ve launched a version of the software called Activprimary v3 which will work on any board. I hope to have a good look at this to see how useful it is within the Scottish context.

Visualisers have also come down in price and you can now buy a decent visualiser for under £1000. The Samsung range looked good at BETT.

One product that would have sold well would have been an inflatable chair. Any attempt to have coffee or a sandwich either involved a long wait for an empty table or sitting on the floor getting in everyone’s way. So there’s something for the product designers to think about for next year.

I didn’t have as much time today to visit exhibitors as our team had a meeting with RM, with whom we work closely, and I went to a seminar.

Although I’m sure I’ve walked past every exhibitor by now, there are still some that I’ve only glanced at. Some are avoided because they’re of no interest; some hurried past to avoid predatory young women who want to thrust more unwanted brochures into already straining carrier bags; some ignored because the salesmen seem more interested in chatting to each other than customers; some not noticed because of poor displays and some missed simply because they’re so busy.

The hot product this year is the Virtual Learning Environment with several companies offering competing technologies. Whatever the weaknesses of Glow, at least in Scotland we will have one system and will be able to share across the country. Without some strong guidance from Becta, England’s schools will become isolated within propriatory systems.

I had a look at Podium today. I approached it fairly sceptically as it isn’t that difficult to put a podcast together using free software like Audacity and then linking it to a blog. Having seen a demo, I now think that this would be a good way to encourage reluctant, less ict-confident teachers to get involved in podcasting. Podium provides a simple interface which takes the user all the way from recording the podcast to posting it with an RSS feed. The only techie part is done when the software is first installed and the user has to enter the path to the required ftp server. I’ve ordered one to try out with kids.

Having mentioned the Digital Movie Creator yesterday, I came across a competitor – the Tuff-Cam from TTS. It has a very similar specification to the DMC but appears a little tougher. Its weakness is the lack of classroom software and as pupils find the DMC software very easy to use, the Tuff-Cam may find it difficult to replace the Digital Movie Creator in classrooms.

Just a quick word in praise of the Lego NXT Starter set available from Commotion (amongst others). Control Technology doesn’t seem to be popular with many teachers but the Lego materials make control technology exciting for older children.

Amazing-Grades has a number of free podcasts for download.

At the SEN area, I saw the MagniLink which is essentially a portable cctv camera which connects by usb to a laptop. This was a BETT winner last year but this is the first time I’ve seen it. Technology for the visually impaired is always expensive but this seems to be a very flexible way of providing classroom support.

I went to see Miles Berry & Terry Freedman’s seminar Social Technologies and Learning in Your Classroom: Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and More.

The seminar was full. I’m not very good at estimating crowds but I reckon there were about 250 people there. With only 45 minutes, the talk was rushed with no time for questions. Miles described the technologies and Terry gave exemplars. While there was little there to excite seasoned bloggers, it was a commendable attempt to summarise and exemplify WEB 2.0 technologies. The seminar presentation and accompanying video extracts can be downloaded here. A podcast of the seminar will be made available later.

BETT is big – very big. About 30,000 people are expected to come to see over 600 exhibitors. If I’d remembered to take the camera cable, I’d have uploaded a picture to illustrate this. Just believe me it’s big and busy.

The sheer scale of the exhibition means that there’s a great deal to see but also means that it’s easy to miss things. Hopefully, the various blogs will provide different parts of the jigsaw.

I forgot to mention yesterday that I’d been asked to look for secure computer desks. RM’s Intelidesk worked well but is no longer sold. I found desk units that included built-in computers but that was of no use for situations where there was already a PC and didn’t allow for easy upgrading. There were units which secured the base unit but left the keyboard and monitor open to mischievous attack. I found two companies which supplied units which would securely hold different styles of base unit and allowed the keyboard and monitor to be locked away inside the unit. My favourites were the Eurotek Smart Top Desk and the Verso Desk from Desktec.

So what caught my eye? Some of these things are new, some old and some new versions of old.

I like the new Digital Movie Creator 3 from TAG Learning. The DMC 2 was a good machine for kids and this latest version improves on it. There is now a fold out screen like a more expensive video camera, the video resolution is higher and the memory can be expanded with SD memory cards. The software has some enhancements but is still very noisy – great fun for kids but really annoying in a classroom. The head camera looks fun. It could be used with children with motor difficulties, to film sports activities from the participant’s point of view or attached to a floor robot. To kickstart the use of video, Tag Learning has 4 different ‘How to Make a Movie‘ kits. These contain scripts, sound effects and video clips – all for £15.

I loved CrazyTalk 4 from Techknowledgey. It allows you turn digital photos into animated talking actors. This is not the only software to do this but it is very easy to use and produces great results. It may appear just to be a bit of fun with little curriculr use but I can see this having a place in early years and with children with additional needs. Imagine the kids’ faces when a story is read by an animated animal or seeing themselves telling a story in another language. I’m looking forward to playing with this program. Techknowledgey also sell iClone which lets you control an avatar.

Finally, I liked the experiment kits from Cambridge Brainbox. The kits are inexpensive, easy to put together and suitable for primary and secondary. To the probable delight of the more mature reader, they also have what they call metal construction kits but which looks very much like meccano. I know what my grandson will be getting for Christmas in a few years.

Tomorrow, amongst other things, I’m going to take a close look at Podium which is podcasting software from Softease and wander around the Special Needs area and Special Needs Fringe.

BETT tomorrow – what am I hoping to find?

In terms of hardware, I’m not expecting anything particularly exciting but I would like to see some of the existing technologies at more managable prices. I’d like to see a resaonably priced short-throw projector to avoid the cables or need for permanent projector fixtures. I’d like to see a moble device that I can use as a diary, send and receive emails, browse the internet, with a decent screen, able to fit into my shirt pocket and affordable.

In terms of software, I’m not really sure that there’s anything particular I’m hoping to find. There are still a number of technologies which are not intuitive to use – Flash being the one that springs to mind. I know that 6 year olds can create blockbusting movies with Flash but every time I’ve thought of getting to grips with it, it has felt too geeky. So something to help me master Flash would be welcome. I find it hard to get excited about software nowadays because the impact of software on kids is more determined by the way it’s used than the quality of the software.

In terms of seminars, there seems to be less variety than can be found at SETT and far too much which focuses on specific aspects of the English curriculum. There’s one on WEB 2.0 technologies which I’ll try to attend if I can get a ticket. (I’m not prepared to pay the extortionate pre-booking fees.)

So far all this sounds a bit negative so why am I bothering to go to BETT if there’s not a lot that I want to see?  Well, the joy of BETT is that there are always surprises. You find a piece of software which does something really well or hear about innovative uses of ICT in the classroom. There’s always some interesting ideas to take back to schools.

So this year I’m going with a fairly open mind, with nothing in particular to search for but hoping to be surprised.