Conferences for Kids (big and small) - Learning without Frontiers and BETT 2011

In the past week I've attended Learning without Frontiers and BETT, and it got me thinking about the similarities and differences between these events - and the effect they had on me.

Learning without Frontiers was great. It was the first 'work' event that I've taken my kids to. The special 'Let us Play' day on a Sunday (for free!) was a fantastic way of showcasing some brilliant technologies and exciting both me and the kids. The highlight for us all was Jason Bradbury's Dot Robot show:

Jason Bradbury showing us the coolest hovering
robot (4 blades) controlled from an iPhone app.

(If you're interested in this event, I've a full annotated photo album on Facebook)

After the show we got hands on the latest Microsoft Kinect and Surface as well as playing on some new iPad apps and highly engaging story software.

The Microsoft surface - like a huge coffee table computer.
Archie is playing a spelling game, dragging letters around
and making, in this case, the word 'ant'. I played a multiplayer
Chemistry lesson making molecules - it can cope with loads
of simultaneous users.

BETT on the other hand I found simply overwhelming. BETT is the UK trade show for educational technology and resources. Just look at it - it's huge beyond belief, filling Olympia - and very hot.

Looking down on the ground floor of BETT 2011

I think because it was so busy and huge that the conversations with the stands became overly pressured. In face at one point a freelancer on a software stand aimed at primary schools told me:

"you don't get a demo unless there's a sales opportunity, we're not interested in University people just looking for ideas"

Ouch. He had me pegged, but if there's no room for 'looking for ideas' at BETT then that's a real shame. Learning without Frontiers was the polar opposite - we were all there 100% for the ideas and the chat (although I did buy copies of Jaons Bradbury's books!).

So perhaps it's not fair of my to compare a platform designed for improvements in Learning (LWF) with a trade show (BETT), but the former inspired me to be excited by what future technologies could do for education, and the latter made me want to run back to Brighton and avoid the inevitable sales calls for the next month...

In defence of BETT: The LEGO stand was fab, I just love their new 'WeDo' software for letting primary school kids build and program moving lego models.

UPDATE: Just read this excellent write-up of BETT from Danny Nicholson, someone who clearly got a lot from the day. Maybe I just need tips from Danny on how to make the most out of something like BETT!