BETT Roundup: Games boost students' skills

Nintendo helps boost literacy, maths in Greenwich

Nintendo games are being used to increase literacy and maths skills in a classroom pilot backed by Greenwich City Learning Centre.

Students and teachers at Bishop John Robinson Primary School are using Nintendo DS portable gaming consoles with games such as Big Brain Academy in classes and during breakfast clubs to teach and test.

The games let students race each other and have immediate feedback, which has helped students become more interested and improve their skills.

Stuart Swann, the deputy manager at Greenwich CLC, said the trial will be rolled out to the adjoining secondary school: "What is evident is the immediate impact the sets are having on engagement and attitudes to learning. Some children which may have previously found engagement in group sessions intimidating or problematic are now engaging and enjoying, for example, group writing. Their use in mental maths sessions has also been successful, as has engaging and improving the concentration of children with specific learning difficulties.

Majority of parents back online reporting move

Some eight out of ten parents surveyed said they back a move to online school reports announced yesterday by the government, which would let them check their children's progress in real-time, over the web.

The poll, commissioned by Pearson Phoenix, showed that 82 per cent of parents were in favour of such online reporting, while 47 per cent said it would help them feel more involved in their child's education.

"It's obvious that there is a real desire from parents to be more involved and using the Internet to get real-time reports is going to be a vital part of that involvement. The widespread nature of the Internet and forthcoming government initiatives mean that it will not be long before all parents will benefit from fast and secure access to up to the minute assessments," said Roger Plant, Education Systems Director, Pearson Phoenix.

New education technology suppliers group launches

The Suppliers Association for Learning Technology and Interoperability in Schools (Saltis) launched at BETT with a call for the free movement of content, e-portfolios and records between devices, applications and institutions.

Formed out of the British Educational Suppliers Association, the group has 32 industry members and nine non-commercial partners, all pushing for government to support industry in the move for interoperability - currently a topic of some debate between government agency Becta and Microsoft.

Crispin Weston, the chairman of Saltis, said: "Technical standards need to be sanctioned by government and implemented by industry - too many initiatives in the past have failed through lack of support from one side or the other... Working with other interested bodies, we can together develop the technical infrastructure that is urgently required to underpin flexible markets and the delivery of more effective learning technology to UK schools."

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