A good start to the day; a meeting with Tim Rylands... we discuss various 
aspects of visual literacy, swap some ideas, and I continue in my efforts to get him to come and visit us in HK.
aspects of visual literacy, swap some ideas, and I continue in my efforts to get him to come and visit us in HK.A few bits of software to look at today and I start with Kudlian's I Can Animate as we need to stretch what we do with our Digital Blue and still image cameras. The product works beautifully and the time lapse feature means it will work well in other areas of the curriculum, especially Science and Geography, but the fact it will only work on Macs means it's an unlikely purchase.
2Simple's software gets plenty of plaudits and this year's offerings are no different with 2Publish + receiving positive reviews from many I spoke to. We started using Simple City last year in Year 1, and I was very impressed with this new package. Clearly this could have a major impact at Kellett and I now have a number of evaluation copies in my bag, including their animation solution, 2Animate... note to self; remember to evaluate software.2Simple's collaboration with Lego Education shows great foresight, and well aware of the fact 
that we have much progress to make in areas of Control Technology, I wander off to the LEGO stand, pausing briefly to gawp at Bob Geldof along the way (he surprisingly fails to remember me from 1979). LEGO continues to come up with some wonderful products and we will clearly need to dust down our intelligent bricks later this year. There's a clear need for this type of product as our secondary curriculum continues to develop - we already have work on Flowol planned, but this is an area I'm keen to expand.
that we have much progress to make in areas of Control Technology, I wander off to the LEGO stand, pausing briefly to gawp at Bob Geldof along the way (he surprisingly fails to remember me from 1979). LEGO continues to come up with some wonderful products and we will clearly need to dust down our intelligent bricks later this year. There's a clear need for this type of product as our secondary curriculum continues to develop - we already have work on Flowol planned, but this is an area I'm keen to expand.Next it's back on the VLE trail and a visit to the Studywiz stand. They have a strong prsence in 
Hong Kong and their product looks to do most of what we require... more to ponder although their gift of a flask is much appreciated!
Hong Kong and their product looks to do most of what we require... more to ponder although their gift of a flask is much appreciated!The simple ideas are sometimes the best apparently and nowhere was this more obvious than on TAG's stand. Their Gorillapod flexible tripod is a great idea and I can't wait to get my hands on one. It may even solve some of the problems we have with attaching a tripod to a wheeled chair.
There were plenty of other great things observed on Day Two (more details when I return to HK), the highlight of which is below, but it's also worth mentioning the work of Shooflypublishing. Their Angel Boy graphical novels look very impressive on a whiteboard and there's huge scope for innovative Literacy work at KS2 and 3. Evaluation copies are winging their way to HK as I speak.
Joe Moretti's presentation on using Garageband in the music classroom
was simply stunning. He is clearly a guy far too talented for his own good but his demo was inspiring even for those of us with two left ears (if that's possible). Mr Cox made a great start with our use of Garageband last year and now we have our new Mac suite, we'll be looking to really push on with music and ICT. Joe really showed the wow factor in his presentation and it was a good way to the end the day, if a little daunting!!
was simply stunning. He is clearly a guy far too talented for his own good but his demo was inspiring even for those of us with two left ears (if that's possible). Mr Cox made a great start with our use of Garageband last year and now we have our new Mac suite, we'll be looking to really push on with music and ICT. Joe really showed the wow factor in his presentation and it was a good way to the end the day, if a little daunting!!By the end of the day the feet were beginning to hurt a little, but I'm all ready for a mammoth day tomorrow, with the Teachmeet not likely to finish until after nine. Because of that there will be no BETT update tomorrow, but avid reader(s) can console themselves with the fact I'll be finishing off my BETT report, including all the things I missed out, after I return to HK on Saturday.
