Specialist Schools & Academies Trust seminars

Friday
11:00
SSAT at BETT: Leading School Led System Transformation

David Crossley, SSAT

This session will explore the impact and potential of the Raising Achievement Transforming Learning and Leading Edge Partnerships in school-led transformation.

12:30
SSAT at BETT: New School - Old School?

Tony Parkin, SSAT

Building schools for the future, harnessing the technology, extended schools and community learning hubs, personalising learning - schools are transforming and turning visionary phrases into new realities - though we need reality checks!

14:00
SSAT at BETT: Working Together - Collaborative Technologies Raising Achievement in UK Schools

Dave Moran and Paul Hynes, SSAT

The session will showcase ideas for using cheap (and often free) technology to aid collaboration and impact on students learning. The theory and pedagogy of the new collaborative opportunities will be backed by real examples happening in schools now.

15:15
SSAT at BETT: Virtual Learning - Real Solutions

Mike Cameron, SSAT

Taking the example of one (real) school, this seminar will look at the journey taken to get to where it is with their Virtual Learning Environment. With input from a senior leader at the school, the focus will be on the pedagogical, management and workforce changes that have made the venture a success.

16:15
SSAT at BETT: Making Personalised Learning an Everyday Reality

Guy Shearer, SSAT

Case studies from across the Specialist Schools and Academies network, signposting successful strategies that are helping to make personalised learning a practical reality.

In terms of your own continuing professional development, what would you hope to gain by attendance at any of the above sessions? Could more be done to showcase the Specialist Schools and Academies at BETT? Post your views and help shape future BETT seminar programmes.

Vocational Qualifications seminars

Thursday
12:45
Digital Repositories in Further and Higher Education: Their Implementation and Value


Dr Neil Jacobs & Amber Thomas, JISC



The session will arm delegates with up-to-date information on how and why UK colleges and universities are implementing repositories. Repositories allow effective management of, and access to, learning and research materials by working together, using common standards and agreements, so that users have access to a distributed national electronic resource.

14:00
Designing Spaces for Effective Learning


Ros Smith & Dr David Rathe, JISC

This session will present findings from JISC research into effective technology-enabled learning space design for HE and FE. The principal of an FE college featured in the publication, 'Designing Spaces for Effective Learning' (JISC 2006) will illustrate an innovative new build designed to support blended wireless-enabled learning on post-16 vocational courses.


Friday
16:15
Lessons Learned from Implementing a Virtual Learning Environment Across Two Local Authorities in England

Ian Usher, NAACE/Bucks CC

Visitors will gain an overview of school and local authority-level issues associated with implementing a Virtual Learning Environment, discover what works and what doesn't in using VLEs schools at both primary and secondary level - all this will be illustrated by work carried out in a variety of schools across two Local Authorities.


How will attendance at these sessions improve your understanding of Vocational Qualifications? Are the FE and HE sectors adequately covered at BETT? Post your views to stimulate debate and help shape future programmes.

Cross Curricular Seminars

Wednesday

14:45
Internet Safety - Who is responsible?

Karl Hopwood: Headteacher, Semley CE VA Primary School

This session will outline some of the risks and benefits associated with the use of communication technologies in the primary classroom. It will showcase some resources for both key stages and suggest ways in which to integrate the teaching of internet safety into the everyday curriculum.

Learning Objectives: to understand some of the possible ways of delivering internet safety messages within the classroom. to know where to access resources to help to deliver aspects of internet safety in order to keep children safe. to have a raised awareness of the risks and benefits of using communication technologies to support teaching and learning in the classroom

16:15
Mobile Learning: Breaking Down the Barriers

Lyndsay Grant and Tash Lee, Futurelab

Mobile technology offers enormous potential for young people to learn in new and exciting ways, at home, school or in the community. This seminar challenges our preconceptions of how, when and where we learn and explores innovative ideas for enabling learners to learn wherever they are, using mobile technology.

Thursday

15:15
Social Technologies and Learning in Your Classroom: Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and More

Miles Berry & Terry Freedman, British Computer Society

Emerging 'web2.0' applications have the potential to transform e-learning, by giving central place to social learning through communication and collaboration and opening up choice and voice dimensions of personalisation. The session explores case studies of how wikis, blogs, podcasts and folksonomies are being used in the classroom and beyond.

15:15
Digitisation and the Changing e-Content Environment

Catherine Grout, JISC

This session will introduce the JISC's two Digitisation Programmes that are creating an exciting range of new digital resources of value for life long learning and research. It will also comment on trends in the e-content environment for user access to resources and on how public sector funders of e-content are beginning to work together to address some of the gaps in e-content provision and to improve the users experience when accessing digital resources.

16:15
Learning Design Tools to Support Practitioners' Innovation with Learning Technologies

Diana Laurillard and Dr Harvey Mellar, Institute of Education

A summary of lessons learned from collaborative research projects on the pedagogic design of learning technologies, across FE and HE institutions in London. The focus is on the tools and mechanisms for ensuring that research links through to its use in teaching. Participants will be invited to engage in the practitioner community.

Friday

16:00
Primary Learning Network collaboration to create a personalised learning website

Chris Jukes: Headteacher, Mount Pleasant Lane JMI and N School

This workshop will be looking at how a number of primary schools have collaborated with each other.

15:15
What Does Good ICT Look Like?

Terry Freedman, Janet Roberts & Russell Ingleby, NAACE

What does good ICT look like and how do we achieve it? Several leading classroom practitioners pass on some tips - prepare to be challenged!

16:15
Lessons Learned from Implementing a Virtual Learning Environment Across Two Local Authorities in England

Ian Usher, NAACE/Bucks CC

Visitors will gain an overview of school and local authority-level issues associated with implementing a Virtual Learning Environment, discover what works and what doesn't in using VLEs schools at both primary and secondary level - all this will be illustrated by work carried out in a variety of schools across two Local Authorities.

Saturday

13:15
New Tools '07 - Forget the Horizon Enjoy the Here and Now - Ways to Make a Difference using ICT

John Davitt, British Computer Society

12 practical and proven ways to make a difference to the quality and range of student's learning with ICT as a catalyst.

13:00
Digital Media Education

David Baugh, Denbighshire LEA

Using Digital Media in education has huge potential for encouraging creativity in classrooms. There is extensive evidence that shows that using digital media with students increases: motivation, on task time, thinking skills and collaborative skills. This session will show how digital media can be integrated into everyday school activities.

What ideas or practice would you hope to adapt and incorporate into your own classroom practice from attendance at any of these sessions? Are there enough cross curricular sessions in the BETT seminar programme? Post your thoughts and help shape the discussions about the future of the BETT seminar programme.