Technology can—and should—make learning fun. A clear trend at the Bett UK trade show was the wide range of games and interactive challenges designed for educational purposes, with solutions highlighting different ways to help students grow and learn while having fun. During the presentations, teachers shared success stories and discussed how to harness e-sports for educational purposes.

 “There is a strong focus on motivating students through what they’re calling ‘EduEntertainment,’” said Adriana Martinelli, director of content at Bett Brasil, who visited Bett UK and supported the Brazilian delegation in London, which included about 100 participants. 

“Students develop skills such as teamwork, leadership, and strong digital literacy. ‘You should have seen how excited the students were when they first walked into the classroom for the e-sports class—all the questions they asked about processors and graphics capabilities, trying to figure out how to get the most out of the machines,’ said Tom Sneddon, principal of a British school that launched a course on the subject in partnership with Lenovo.”  

Among the event’s central themes, a key focus was the goal of ensuring that everyone has access to a quality education. Inclusion through technology was, therefore, a topic that was widely discussed. This was evident both in the product demonstrations by exhibitors—Microsoft, for example, showcased Code Jumper, a tactile system for learning to code even for those who are visually impaired—and in the discussions during the presentations.

In addition to new inclusive solutions, schools today need to be more aware of existing resources. “There has been a huge shift over the past ten years in terms of accessibility through technology. Some features that used to require an additional fee now come standard with the hardware,” said Fil McIntyre, inclusive technology lead at TechAbility. “Technology we don’t use is of no use at all. What happens if students and teachers don’t know these features are there?” he asked.

Using technological innovations—which have the potential to aid education—requires a great deal of responsibility on the part of educators and companies. At Bett UK, we learned about initiatives aimed at ensuring the safety of children and adolescents, such as the EdSafe Alliance for the educational use of Artificial Intelligence. “There are some very exciting applications already in use. But these tools must be secure in terms of data use, and they must be utilized ethically and efficiently,” said Jeff Merriman, who, in addition to being a member of EdSafe, is one of the co-founders of the DXtera Institute.

* This content is brought to you by Red Balloon English School in partnership with Bett Brasil. Registration for the conference and accreditation to visit Bett Brasil 2022 are now open. Additional updates will be shared leading up to the event and will be announced on the website brasil.bettshow.com and the official social media channels @bettbrasil.