National ASE Event in Birmingham 2007

Our annual pilgrimage to ASE (Association for Science Education) has come and gone for another year. As with last year it, was a great event and gave everyone in the field of Science education the chance to see what innovations and teaching solutions exist in this area. On the flip side it gives small companies like us the opportunity to reach a much wider audience and see many people that we otherwise may never have met. We are already looking forward to next year's event which is being held in Liverpool.

In terms of International focus, there were lectures from such bodies as the 'Institute of Education in Stockholm'. Their focus was on 'Creativity in the Science Classroom' and how best to promote and maintain interest in Science education. The outcome was that variety and creativity in teaching must be implemented in order to create continued interest amongst a heterogeneous student population. This is something very much at the heart of the personalised learning agenda offered by Taecanet, which is giving teachers the opportunity to diversify teaching methods based upon student needs.

On the home front, an interesting lecture that caught my eye was on 'Co-operative Learning in the Chemistry Classroom' offered by Jan Apotheker form the University of Groningen. This talk focussed on collaborative learning in the classroom, and how such innovative teaching methods such as 'peer review' can be used to create useful and engaging discussion in class. Again, it is very encouraging that such pedagogical models are being discussed by experts in this field, as Taecanet offers a 'peer review' mode which allows students to learn reflectively from other students (and expert teachers) in our learning community. It is nice to know we are on the right track and indeed playing a part in revolutionising the way that pupils learn.

From a personal point of view, the exhibition was a great success and we had over 100 visitors to the Taecanet stand. As well as seeing some familiar faces from our subscribing schools, such as Pam from Sacred Heart and Nimet from John Kelly Girls Technology College, we also made lots of new contacts whom we hope to follow up with over the coming weeks. Many teachers thought that on first impression Taecanet looked like a very powerful teaching and learning tool, and to follow this up, we will be offering free demonstrations to all those we met at the event (interested parties please contact chris.davison@taecanet.com) We had prolonged dialogue with members of NAGTY (National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth) about how Taecanet could be used to stretch the most gifted learners and it was very nice to meet up with Barry Meatyard and his associates again.

There was also a lot of interest in the Virtual Classroom, which offers the chance for schools to collaborate on work in real time online, without having to leave the school walls. To view how schools are using this tool to connect with one another and share knowledge, please link to http://taecanet.blogspot.com/2006/10/groundbreaking-day-at-ase.html which gives an insight into a collaborative project at a previous ASE event. For more information on this innovation, please contact ian.nairn@taecanet.com

I wish to extend my thanks to everyone who visited us at the stand, and we look forward to meeting all interested parties for more in-depth discussions in the near future.