Best of Bett 2020

London’s annual BETT Show – the long-running exhibition of new educational technology – took place in late January, highlighting the massive array of hardware, software, platforms and products on offer for schools.

The show is amazing, but can also be overwhelming, and it can often be difficult to figure out which of these new objects of desire will actually solve a real educational problem, and which are the latest shiny solutions in search of a problem.

Create an account to read this article

£7.00+ VAT

One-off purchase

Purchase and Download today

Register for free

No Credit Card required

Register for free
Access to 3 free articles
Free TeachingTimes Report every month

array(8) {
  ["distinct_key"]=>
  string(10) "post#87058"
  ["title"]=>
  string(89) "Mnemonics, animation, etymology - and even Dad dancing - help children remember spellings"
  ["categories"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(16) "Digital Learning"
  }
  ["url"]=>
  string(114) "https://www.teachingtimes.com/mnemonics-animation-etymology-and-even-dad-dancing-help-children-remember-spellings/"
  ["post_date_timestamp"]=>
  int(1591977463)
  ["objectID"]=>
  string(12) "post-87058-0"
  ["_snippetResult"]=>
  array(2) {
    ["excerpt"]=>
    array(2) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(176) "Sir Linkalot spelling app won the Best Educational App at the UK BETT awards 2020. Its founder Andy Salmon explains what all the excitement is about."
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "full"
    }
    ["content"]=>
    array(2) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(273) "... am absolutely blown away by this spelling technique! As a dyslexic teacher, I know this is going to be absolute gold for my pupils. The best thing I’ve seen in years and I can’t wait to share it with them. Thank you Sir Linkalot for this wonderful gift ..."
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(7) "partial"
    }
  }
  ["_highlightResult"]=>
  array(6) {
    ["title"]=>
    array(3) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(89) "Mnemonics, animation, etymology - and even Dad dancing - help children remember spellings"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "none"
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(0) {
      }
    }
    ["author"]=>
    array(1) {
      [0]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(11) "Andy Salmon"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
    }
    ["excerpt"]=>
    array(4) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(176) "Sir Linkalot spelling app won the Best Educational App at the UK BETT awards 2020. Its founder Andy Salmon explains what all the excitement is about."
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "full"
      ["fullyHighlighted"]=>
      bool(false)
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(3) {
        [0]=>
        string(4) "best"
        [1]=>
        string(4) "bett"
        [2]=>
        string(4) "2020"
      }
    }
    ["content"]=>
    array(4) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(4472) "Sir Linkalot is my award-winning app that is transforming how spelling is taught in schools and at home. It is brilliant for all common exception words all the way from was, two and they up to accommodation, manoeuvre and even onomatopoeia!It uses a hugely powerful learning tool that is often overlooked. This is the mnemonic – a really tricky word to spell – which simply means a link to help you remember.What Sir Linkalot does is to take the word off the paper and bring to life with short, beautifully crafted, animations. Have a look at this little video clip to see Sir Linkalot in action. The Future of Spelling – I just love the children’s honesty!The animations, combined with the voice-overs of Sir Linkalot and Lady Lexicographer (played by Susie Dent from Countdown), make sure that even the trickiest spellings get lodged in the long-term memory bank. Susie is especially good on the etymology of words. So many everyday words have an interesting story to tell as this example of a ‘Susie Story” shows. Ocean – OriginImpactOver the last 10 years I have presented to 150,000 children (4 to 18 year olds) and 15,000 teachers at 500 schools. The app is not just about spellings. It covers all aspects of literacy: vocabulary, homophones, punctuation, grammar, rules and patterns. So, it is useful for secondary school children too and helps you meet the DfE requirements.It has been my mission to spread the joy of linking and to sell my two books to staff and parents so the good work can continue at home and at school.I started a daily online show a while ago called Sir Linkalot Time with twice weekly appearances from Susie. It involves lots of audience participation with children creating their own links and posting them on social media. Schools are having daily 15 minute spelling sessions calling it ‘Sir Linkalot Time’ where the teacher assigns a child to be the Sir Linkalot monitor who plays the 4 or 5 animations, freeing them up to walk around the class to help children on an individual basis. Independent learning – you’ve got to love it! Parents are given a unique code ‘gratis’ so their child can practise at home.Why Sir Linkalot is differentLinking is a very different approach from phonics but it reaches those learners who have struggled for years with the conventional methods of learning spellings.All too often they would learn the word for the test but it never reached their long-term memory so the next time they wanted to write it down, they would get the spelling wrong.No one has ever tackled tricky words before and this is why it’s getting a lot of attention. Ruth Miskin CBE, founder of the UK’s number 1 phonics programme ‘’Read, Write Inc’’ tunes in to the show every day and thinks it complements her work perfectly as she has nothing, by definition for non-phonetic words, e.g. done, one and some. She was an advisor to the former Schools Minister, Nick Gibb MP. When I met him, he even volunteered a couple of links of his own!It’s been proven that visual learning is the most effective way to retain information as the current method, rote-learning, simply doesn’t work for many students, especially those with dyslexia. Alison Walters, a teacher with dyslexia, said: ‘I am absolutely blown away by this spelling technique! As a dyslexic teacher, I know this is going to be absolute gold for my pupils. The best thing I’ve seen in years and I can’t wait to share it with them. Thank you Sir Linkalot for this wonderful gift.’The fine detailsEach bundle of 20 words (level 1 to 5) contains two types of test: a multiple choice, to ease them in, that has a couple of gimmicks on the Results page to encourage re-testing and a crossword challenge – a much more robust test as every letter needs to be correct.The annual subscription for a parent is £49.99 and monthly is £6.99.. Schools can buy an annual licence (£2 to £5 per child, bulk-order discount – so schools can team up) to enable them to use it in class on their whiteboards (the browser version is app.sirlinkalot.org).The app (850 App Store ratings, averaging 4.6) is achieving incredible results (case study of 1,400 children), in particular, for those students (children and adults) who find spelling an issue or those whose first language isn’t English.Catch me and Susie in action. Hope you enjoy it – even the dad dancing! (Sir Linkalot highlights reel’) https://www.sirlinkalot.org/"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(7) "partial"
      ["fullyHighlighted"]=>
      bool(false)
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(1) {
        [0]=>
        string(4) "best"
      }
    }
    ["categories"]=>
    array(1) {
      [0]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(16) "Digital Learning"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
    }
    ["tags"]=>
    array(1) {
      [0]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(12) "Non homepage"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Digital Learning

Mnemonics, animation, etymology - and even Dad dancing - help children remember spellings

12 Jun 2020

array(8) {
  ["distinct_key"]=>
  string(10) "post#88941"
  ["title"]=>
  string(71) "Sir Linkalot is on a quest to improve children’s spelling in lockdown"
  ["categories"]=>
  array(2) {
    [0]=>
    string(5) "Blogs"
    [1]=>
    string(16) "Digital Learning"
  }
  ["url"]=>
  string(99) "https://www.teachingtimes.com/sir-linkalot-is-on-a-quest-to-improve-childrens-spelling-in-lockdown/"
  ["post_date_timestamp"]=>
  int(1602240853)
  ["objectID"]=>
  string(12) "post-88941-0"
  ["_snippetResult"]=>
  array(2) {
    ["excerpt"]=>
    array(2) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(96) "Andy Salmon has revolutionised  the way children learn spellings with his fun memory techniques
"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "none"
    }
    ["content"]=>
    array(2) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(318) "... It was even more daunting for those parents who rely on predictive text and spellcheckers in their daily life.Sir Linkalot was chosen as the Best Education App at the 2020 Bett Awards. This was partly because the app has so many fans in schools. Oasis Academy Mayfield in Southampton ..."
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "full"
    }
  }
  ["_highlightResult"]=>
  array(6) {
    ["title"]=>
    array(3) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(71) "Sir Linkalot is on a quest to improve children’s spelling in lockdown"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "none"
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(0) {
      }
    }
    ["author"]=>
    array(1) {
      [0]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(11) "Sal McKeown"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
    }
    ["excerpt"]=>
    array(3) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(96) "Andy Salmon has revolutionised  the way children learn spellings with his fun memory techniques
"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "none"
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(0) {
      }
    }
    ["content"]=>
    array(4) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(5426) "You will never forget how to spell diarrhoea!‘How do you spell?’… It’s a cry many parents came to dread in lockdown, especially those who were home schooling their children and so were cast in the role of expert. It was even more daunting for those parents who rely on predictive text and spellcheckers in their daily life.Sir Linkalot was chosen as the Best Education App at the 2020 Bett Awards. This was partly because the app has so many fans in schools. Oasis Academy Mayfield in Southampton said: ‘We have improved reading in the last 18 months by over 3 years 9 months on chronological age, and spelling is just under that, across our KS3. We are now out of notice to improve and are one of the most improved schools on the South Coast. If your school uses [Sir Linkalot], then it’s in for a treat.’When lockdownwas announced and schools closed, its creator Andy Salmon made his app free forall parents and teachers. It has been a great success with 30,000 new subscribers during thisperiod. BBC Bitesize wants to partner with Sir Linkalot and use some of hiscontent for the Catch-up’ programme that have put together for the autumn term. Links help children remember  spellingsAndy is an ideal English teacher with his enthusiasm and infectious humour but he was in fact a mathematics student at university. He has the sort of brain that absorbs facts and can bring together different bits of knowledge and put this to good use when it came to improving children’s spelling in an entertaining and memorable way.‘I thought ofmy first link in March 1995, when I learned that Columbus was the capital ofOhio,’ he says. ‘I thought of Columbus himself, coming and going on histravels, and saying ‘Oh, hi’ every time he returned. You repeat that, and itstarts to sound like Ohio.’In 2000 herealized that linking could be used for spelling, and he spent the next eightyears developing this idea, travelling the country to deliver lessons, writingbooks, and finally launching the Sir Linkalot app in 2018.What is the secret of his success with tricky spellings? Unlike mostspelling experts, Andy doesn’t focus on phonics. He leaves that to Ruth Miskin CBE,government advisor and founder of the UK’s no 1 phonics programme Read, Write Including.She tuned in to Andy’s daily show at 2pm called Sir Linkalot Time  on SirLinkalot’s Youtube channel. The USA is in the middle of this wordInstead of Look-Cover-Write and Check and other traditional approaches to spelling, Andy uses stories, words within words, animations, a visual approach and lots of toilet humour which children – of all ages! – clearly love. Throughout July, people voted for their favourite links and last month Sir Linkalot went through the Top 20 doing a ‘Link of the day’. It won’t surprise you to read that three of the top five were related to either pee, bum or poo. Toilet humour wins every time Not many people can turn the number two into a toilet but once you have seen the T as a cistern, the w as a bum and o as poo it sticks in the mind. Children’s reactions to the link for ‘Two’When viewerswere invited to vote for their favourite links in July, diarrhoea camein at number 1. Sir Linkalot knows that the tricky bit is in the middle. Mostpeople can manage dia– and the ending –ea Those letters in themiddle are a challenge but the Sir Linkalot animation and mnemonic RunnyRunny Help Oops! does the trick. Some peoplespell interest without the first e because that is how they pronounce itbut once they see those two Es transform into eyes that get bigger and biggeruntil they explode, they won’t make that mistakeagain. It’s a perfect way to illustrate interest. Accommodation tripspeople up with its double consonants so Sir Linkalot illustrates it with twocats chasing two mice around the house.Susie Dent fromCountdown, aka Lady Lexicographer, appears in many of the lessons to give the originof words that have an interesting story to tell. Take the word nature.  This comes from the Latin natura ‘birth,nature, quality’, and links to nativity, innate, neo-natal. The word definitelycomes from the Latin finire to complete and links to finish, finiteand infinite. Biscuit is a hard word to spell but seeing thecu becoming a cup is a great visual prompt and there is also a story: inFrench bis means twice and cuit means cooked. Twice cooked – thatwould be the reason why biscuits are so crisp.Friday at 5 with the familyDuring lockdown Andy could not go into schools sohe started using Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to deliver lessons and keep in touch with his followers. Every Friday, he hosts a live AMA session (Ask MeAnything) on his Insta Channelcalled Sir Linkalot Live: Friday at 5 where followers can ask him a question about howto learn any fact (spelling, Maths, World Capitals, Science facts, Historydates…anything). This is not quiz; it is a two-way street as hechallenges his viewers to think up links. The best ones win a badge and the overallwinner is awarded a T-shirt.’ It’s very much a family show,’ says Andy, ‘withthe parents joining in as well as teenagers and the weenies, of course. All youneed to play is an imagination. It’s a fun way to finish the week.’To see howbusy Sir Linkalot and Lady Lexicographer have been during lockdown, take a peekat this: Lockdownwith Sir Linkalot"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "full"
      ["fullyHighlighted"]=>
      bool(false)
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(3) {
        [0]=>
        string(4) "best"
        [1]=>
        string(4) "bett"
        [2]=>
        string(4) "2020"
      }
    }
    ["categories"]=>
    array(2) {
      [0]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(5) "Blogs"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
      [1]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(16) "Digital Learning"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
    }
    ["tags"]=>
    array(4) {
      [0]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(3) "app"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
      [1]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(8) "Literacy"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
      [2]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(12) "Non homepage"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
      [3]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(8) "spelling"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Blogs

Sir Linkalot is on a quest to improve children’s spelling in lockdown

9 Oct 2020

array(8) {
  ["distinct_key"]=>
  string(10) "post#88893"
  ["title"]=>
  string(45) "KAZ: Why a little competition is no bad thing"
  ["categories"]=>
  array(3) {
    [0]=>
    string(25) "Applications and Software"
    [1]=>
    string(5) "Blogs"
    [2]=>
    string(16) "Digital Learning"
  }
  ["url"]=>
  string(75) "https://www.teachingtimes.com/kaz-why-a-little-competition-is-no-bad-thing/"
  ["post_date_timestamp"]=>
  int(1602240754)
  ["objectID"]=>
  string(12) "post-88893-0"
  ["_snippetResult"]=>
  array(2) {
    ["excerpt"]=>
    array(2) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(118) "Keene Braganza, managing director, KAZ Type Limited, describes the benefits of launching an international competition "
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "none"
    }
    ["content"]=>
    array(2) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(317) "... we wanted them all to have a fair chance. We launched it in January with the slogan ‘Go online and test your speeds against the best of the best.’ The competition ranfrom January 10th – June 30th, 2020. The student with the highest numberof words per minute would be awarded a ..."
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "full"
    }
  }
  ["_highlightResult"]=>
  array(6) {
    ["title"]=>
    array(3) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(45) "KAZ: Why a little competition is no bad thing"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "none"
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(0) {
      }
    }
    ["author"]=>
    array(1) {
      [0]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(14) "Keene Braganza"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
    }
    ["excerpt"]=>
    array(3) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(118) "Keene Braganza, managing director, KAZ Type Limited, describes the benefits of launching an international competition "
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "none"
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(0) {
      }
    }
    ["content"]=>
    array(4) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(5101) "Mew Hansiriphan of Shrewsbury School with his winning trophy and certificateThe jury is outwhen it comes to competition. Some believe it can cause aggression and set individualsagainst one another, running against that spirit of cooperation andcollaboration that schools work so hard to foster. Others believe thatcompetition can make children anxious so they don’t focus on the task in handand almost rule themselves out of any contest before it begins. However, at KAZ we like the idea ofcompetition because we are all about improving touch typing speeds andconfidence, helping people build their skills and speed to levels they did notbelieve were possible. So, we looked at ways to make our competition accessibleto all comers.In the beginningThe idea of acompetition started when we interviewed Robert Pattison, principal of Dublin Oak Academy, an internationalboarding school educating boys from the age of 12 to 16. He was keen to findsome touch typing software that would not involve allocating too much time forlessons and practice.The boys learnt thebasics in hours but Mr Pattison wanted to make sure they remained motivated sohe set up an inter-form competition where the typing champions of each classwere pitted against one another. This generated excitement, so much so that hefound boys were neglecting their studies to improve their typing speeds!Obviously, the competition had fired them up.Soon we werehearing a similar story from other schools. Alan Tsui is now AcademicEnrichment Programmed Leader at Willow Brook Primary School Academy in EastLondon. He came across KAZ Type in 2014 when he was working at a Central LondonIndependent Preparatory School: ‘The children I was working with at the timewere very enthused by it, especially being able to challenge each other withtheir typing speeds. Many were also partly motivated by the fact that I had setthem a personal challenge to exceed my typing speed.’  The launch Last Christmas we decided to run a competition for schools across the globe that were using KAZ Type. We have students from countries as far apart as Malaysia and South Africa and we wanted them all to have a fair chance. We launched it in January with the slogan ‘Go online and test your speeds against the best of the best.’ The competition ranfrom January 10th – June 30th, 2020. The student with the highest numberof words per minute would be awarded a KAZ Touch Typing Winner’s Certificateand a City & Guilds licence. The winning school would receive The KAZTouch Typing Trophy 2020, a year’s free subscription to KAZ, as well as pressand social media publicity.The advantages of our competition Schoolscould join in at any timeChildrencould test their speeds at a time and place to suit them – this was very handyas it turned out!Studentscould take the timed test as often as they wished and their best score would besavedAleader board would be published on the KAZ site each month so students couldsee if they were on a par with the highfliersTheresult was to be announced in July so they had five months to enterSchools with a KAZlicence could check up on student progress at any time. This meant thatindividual schools could run their own in-house tournaments and maybe evenpitch staff against students. Levelling the playing field One of the concernswith competitions is that so often it is the same few people who enter and win.But a good competition should be open to all and should offer opportunities forstudents who are not always in the top tier. One of the bigadvantages of KAZ is that there is a version for people with dyslexia and otherneurodiverse conditions. Its special feature ensure dyslexia learners cansucceed with touch typing:Theunique ‘preference screen’ minimises visual disturbancesItsproven Accelerated Learning teaching method using ‘brain balance’Itdevelops ‘muscle memory’ – so spellings become engrained It isspecially formulated so it does not overload the working memoryItbuilds confidence and self-esteemIt took our companytwo years of development, plus advice and support from the Dyslexia ResearchTrust to create the SEN / Dyslexia version which has proved effective forlearners with dyslexia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia, ASD, ADHD and Tourette’s.And the winner is … Mew Hansiriphan ofShrewsbury School was crowned champion, with a score of 65 WPM and 89%accuracy. Touch typing is oneof the activities on offer at all pupils at Shrewsbury as part of the school’sco-curricular societies program. It is very popular with pupils and ischampioned enthusiastically by teacher Karen Mitchell, head of learningsupport.She said: ‘Ourpupils very much enjoyed the challenge of taking part in the KAZ WorldwideTouch Typing Tournament. We were thrilled to be told that the competition had beenwon  by one of our fifth formers (Year 10s).Mew worked extremely hard at improving his touch typing speed and accuracy andhe is to be warmly congratulated for his achievement.’We would like toadd our congratulations too!https://kaz-type.com/"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "full"
      ["fullyHighlighted"]=>
      bool(false)
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(3) {
        [0]=>
        string(4) "best"
        [1]=>
        string(4) "bett"
        [2]=>
        string(4) "2020"
      }
    }
    ["categories"]=>
    array(3) {
      [0]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(25) "Applications and Software"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
      [1]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(5) "Blogs"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
      [2]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(16) "Digital Learning"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
    }
    ["tags"]=>
    array(4) {
      [0]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(21) "digital learning club"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
      [1]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(8) "Dyslexia"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
      [2]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(12) "Non homepage"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
      [3]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(12) "touch typing"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Applications and Software

KAZ: Why a little competition is no bad thing

9 Oct 2020

array(8) {
  ["distinct_key"]=>
  string(10) "post#44392"
  ["title"]=>
  string(21) "Write Wipe Write Wipe"
  ["categories"]=>
  array(4) {
    [0]=>
    string(19) "ECO Friendly Design"
    [1]=>
    string(15) "Learning Spaces"
    [2]=>
    string(9) "Materials"
    [3]=>
    string(24) "Rethinking the Classroom"
  }
  ["url"]=>
  string(49) "https://www.teachingtimes.com/writewipewritewipe/"
  ["post_date_timestamp"]=>
  int(1538577185)
  ["objectID"]=>
  string(12) "post-44392-0"
  ["_snippetResult"]=>
  array(2) {
    ["excerpt"]=>
    array(2) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(179) "As dry-wipe surfaces regain and even grow in popularity in learning settings, we look at what makes a good surface, and what doesn’t as well as the constraints of each solution."
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "none"
    }
    ["content"]=>
    array(2) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(312) "... boards learners simultaneously held up to show the teacher their answer. “We know that when we ask learners to do presentation work, they do their best work” commented Juliette Heppell at London’s BETT in January, “so why wouldn’t we want all work to be like that?”.  And if ..."
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(7) "partial"
    }
  }
  ["_highlightResult"]=>
  array(4) {
    ["title"]=>
    array(3) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(21) "Write Wipe Write Wipe"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "none"
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(0) {
      }
    }
    ["excerpt"]=>
    array(3) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(179) "As dry-wipe surfaces regain and even grow in popularity in learning settings, we look at what makes a good surface, and what doesn’t as well as the constraints of each solution."
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "none"
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(0) {
      }
    }
    ["content"]=>
    array(4) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(5654) "Is it that there’s something about the sense of audience: something about learners being on show that makes them work so well? Or is it that, now information technology is no longer in its infancy, that the novelty (so-to-speak) has worn off and we want to revert to the visceral, instinctive action of picking up a pen and making a physical mark on a surface? Whatever, it seems that dry-wipe surfaces are back, they’re here to stay and they now can be much much more sophisticated than the hand-held boards learners simultaneously held up to show the teacher their answer. “We know that when we ask learners to do presentation work, they do their best work” commented Juliette Heppell at London’s BETT in January, “so why wouldn’t we want all work to be like that?”.  And if you think once students walk out of the learning space the work is lost – wiped off and gone for ever – then think again. With the camera on a mobile phone or tablet it’s recorded and can ultimately be uploaded to a digital portfolio. Dry wipe surfaces typically fall into two formats – vertical (which we’d traditionally recognise as wall-mounted but which are now equally available as freestanding, mobile panels), and now horizontal (tables) too. There’s something about the physical space the learner takes up with vertical surfaces that puts a single person ‘in charge’ but horizontal surfaces absolutely change that dynamic: when you’re gathered around a table, a much more collaborative approach is evident, one where everyone participates on an equal footing.But whilst it’s relatively easy to create an impromptu dry-wipe surface (pretty well any gloss surface will, to some extents, work) what is it about surfaces that make the best dry-wipe – ones that will remain stain-free for years – and which should you avoid at all costs? IKEA’s Lack gloss white coffee tables for example at, depending on where you live, kr59, US$14, A$20 or £8 (well it had to be cheapest in Sweden!) work perfectly well for a while, but in time they’d doubtless stain (although at that cost, arguably you could replace them). Nobody would claim that they’re designed, manufactured or advertised as dry-wipe, (it’s no more than a quirk of what was selected as an aesthetic treatment) and are manufactured using a gloss melamine foil – a material that just isn’t the most durable for a horizontal worksurface. In a learning space, they’ll inevitably have more than a coffee cup put on them, so it’s therefore unlikely they won’t, over time, get at least a little scuffed and scratched. For what they were originally designed for, this isn’t an issue – it’s simple aging. But when you’re then writing on them, it would represent a real problem. What makes them, and many other gloss finishes stain (it’s frequently referred to as ghosting) is ink becoming trapped in the porosity of the surface. Even glass – one of the least porous of materials – will trap some ink in its surface (only much less so than a surface that is more so) to the extent it’s pretty well imperceptible to the naked eye. And it is this that makes glass, or alternatively vitreous enamel (the same chemical composition) when you judge them by performance alone, probably the best dry-wipe surfaces that are widely available. You’d like to think there were a series of formal standards for dry wipe surfaces to enable you to determine what’s good and what isn’t, but despite searching we could only find the 2010 European standard, EN 14434 and this we understand is being revised. But even with the best dry-wipe materials though, without an appropriate cleaning regime, the surface will deteriorate, and it has to be said that a piece of thick felt glued to a chunk of wood is, despite the popularity of the traditional board rubber to do the job, not the best way by far. Because over time the felt simply becomes impregnated with ink and it therefore becomes more of a case of redistribution than cleaning, with old ink being pushed around the surface, whilst it gets more and more ingrained into both the surface and the rubber. And whereas proprietary school supply catalogues boast that their liquid spray cleaners for dry wipe surfaces are ‘alcohol-free’ in truth, the ones with alcohol tend to give far superior results: the alcohol mixes with the ink and evaporates quickly out to the surface where it can be wiped away, preferably with something like a microfibre cloth (that should be regularly washed) or alternatively, although clearly not as environmentally friendly, with a disposable wet wipe. In all cases, what you’re trying to do is to remove the ink, and to keep whatever you’re cleaning it with, ink-free too.Whilst there are some great glass vertical surfaces commercially available, the trouble with using glass as a table surface in learning environments is, and forgive the pun, clear to see: it’s vulnerable when it suffers impact, and if this did happen, the result inevitably carries significant danger. With vitreous enamel (the same chemical composition) on the other hand, the constraints lie around how the material is manufactured: finely powdered glass (frit) is fused to a metal (usually steel) substrate by firing. In the cases of mass-manufactured items (such as cooking utensils, baths etc) the steel ‘blank’ has been pre-fabricated to pre-determined sizes and profiles, but when if it was necessary to cut it (for example in furniture manufacture or if you wanted bespoke wall-boards to cover an entire wall) it’s"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "full"
      ["fullyHighlighted"]=>
      bool(false)
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(3) {
        [0]=>
        string(4) "best"
        [1]=>
        string(4) "bett"
        [2]=>
        string(4) "2020"
      }
    }
    ["categories"]=>
    array(4) {
      [0]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(19) "ECO Friendly Design"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
      [1]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(15) "Learning Spaces"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
      [2]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(9) "Materials"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
      [3]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(24) "Rethinking the Classroom"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

ECO Friendly Design

Write Wipe Write Wipe

3 Oct 2018