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A World Bank Blog on ICT use in Education

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Exploring issues related to the use of information and communication technologies to benefit education in developing countries

BETT

Mobile learning in developing countries in 2011: What's new, what's next?

Submitted by Michael Trucano on Wed, 02/16/2011 - 17:20

After finding out that I had visited the recent BETT show in London (billed as the world's largest educational technology trade show -- previous post here), a number of people who also attended asked me versions of the same query:

Where was all of the mobile (phone) learning?

What's happening with educational technology in 2011? A visit to BETT

Submitted by Michael Trucano on Thu, 01/27/2011 - 19:55

a new take on the traditional London phone boothThe annual BETT Show, which takes place every January in London, claims to be the "world's largest education technology exhibition and trade show", with over 600 exhibitors and 100 seminars. Those who visit it are typically overwhelmed by the vast scale of the exhibition space at London-Olympia, by the big crowds, and, for lack of a better term, all of the cool stuff.  As in past years, I was fortunate to be able to participate in the Education World Forum (EWF), an annual gathering of 60+ education ministers that occurs during the two days before BETT begins (the last morning of the Forum actually takes place at BETT itself), and so was able to stay on and tour the BETT exhibition space.  As in previous years, my goal was to visit every vendor and exhibitor.

In case it might be of any interest, and like I did back in 2009, I thought I would share some random impressions (ten of them, in fact) from this tour below:

What do we know about using mobile phones in education? (part 2)

Submitted by Michael Trucano on Thu, 05/14/2009 - 23:36

image courtesy kiwanja.netRecent posts to this blog about the use of mobile phones in education in developing countries have generated a *lot* of page views.  News earlier this year that firms in the United States are beginning to make a pitch for greater use of mobile phones in the education sector highlights the increased attention that this topic is now receiving in OECD member countries as well.

What's new, and what isn't: Observations from the BETT show (2009)

Submitted by Michael Trucano on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 11:33

stopping at Kensington Olympia to get a glimpse of the future | image attribution at bottomThe British Educational Training and Technology Show (BETT) bills itself as the world’s largest trade show of its kind.  This year’s show in London (14-17 January, www.bettshow.com) featured more than 600 distributors and over 30,000 visitors.

A visitor from abroad -- or at least this visitor -- is quickly struck by a number of products and services that appear to be specific to the UK market, or at least indicative of market needs in the UK that differ from other countries.  Two product areas notable in this regard are those addressing issues of cyberbullying and truancy.  These include products that allow schools to notify parents via text message (SMS) when their child is not in school and network monitoring tools designed to detect on-line communication that may indicate where bullying is occurring.