BETT is well known for its freebies, but you can also spend some serious money.  I resisted the temptation of gonks and lollipops and hunted down free innovative ideas instead.

Free Advice
From a wide range of talks, I attended a NAACE Seminar given by Robert Hart of intuitivemedia on personalised learning using ICT.  The message is clear, students use their computers far more at home than at school and in much more creative and collaborative ways.  The challenge we face is to bridge the gap between home and school use of ICT, both in terms of technology and pedagogy.

Futurelab
If you want to know the latest research on the future of ICT, Futurelab is where to head.  They do an excellent magazine and e-newsletter which you can subscribe to for free.  They have just launched a blog called flux for educationalists to discuss and share the latest in innovation.

BBC Jam
Jam is an interactive website with the motto “explore, learn, create”.  You can learn whilst playing interactive games, then create your own cartoons, projects and games to challenge your friends.  I watched a demonstration of an instantly appealing geography activity involving a group of dishy looking characters called The Operatives.  This an excellent example of online resources that students can do at school and be encouraged to try at home too.

Flashmeeting
If video conferencing is proving costly and/or difficult to set up, Flashmeeting could be your solution. It is a simple, secure, easy to use tool that allows up to 20 individuals or small groups to come together.
All you need is Flash and a simple webcam, or even just a microphone.  You don’t need to download any special software and it uses the most commonly open ports. It will even record the session and give you a URL to play it back.

Regional Broadband Consortia
BETT is a great opportunity to see what the RBCs are offering.  I visited the E2BN stand and was given a large number of cards for exciting sites such as Myths and legends, e2bn gallery and making the news.

Cultureonline
Cultureonline has just won two awards at BETT for exploring and creating art and music. See ArtisanCam and SoundJunction.

Moodle
A VLE for free, is this possible?  Sadly, it doesn’t come with the person you will need to set up and maintain it.  However, judging by the number of people hovering around this stand, Moodle does seem worth consideration. 

Best freebie
Without a doubt the most sort after freebie this year was the BBC Jam bags.  As I was concentrating my efforts on finding free resources, they were all gone by the time I got there.  Imagine my disgust when I met up with the rest of our group all proudly displaying theirs.  It seems that looking for free innovation at BETT comes at a price after all!

Add a comment
Did you find anything good at BETT, be it free or not?  If so, add a comment below.