Games and Learning

As part of my job i got the chance to visit a show called BETT in London early this month. (The show is about technology and education and is largest in the world of it's type) My company are quite a big part of the show but it's the first time that i have ever been so i was really interested in what they had on offer.

Any of you involved in education will know that whiteboards and interactive applications are always big topics as are Virtual Learning Environments, so they're was plenty of these on display. There was also a lot of cool new hardware like the assus one pc and loads of netbooks. Microsoft were demonstrating their new "surface" system which was interesting but gives all the impression of a piece of technology looking for a use. It probably has more potential as a games platform and display tool than as a learning technology but you couldn't fault it for engaging people as they went past. As i watched a demo of it I kept thinking about how an RTS would work with this interface. (No more mouse or controller just point here with your finger and go there with the other finger.)

Sony were also at the show and had a PS3 on display running buzz, but not really talking about it at all. They were really trying to stress the possibilities of using the PSP as a launch point for accessing schools portals.

There was an interesting roleplay game for history or modern studies students to explore Gazza in a similar style to Fallout. Not quite fallout but still interesting.

The most impressive thing on display form my perspective had to be the "professional" version of guitar hero/rock band. One company was showing off how GH could be used in the classroom as a music creator but it also had on it's stand a modified GH controller with about 64 small buttons on it that was used for actual guitar lessons. Nice but you've got to think, at this level of complexity, surely it would be easier to learn to play on a real guitar.