The Educator Magazine UK May- August 2023 - Magazine - Page 15
Mel Gomes, Head of IT Commercial
Management and Contracts, Royal Holloway, University of London
“I’m Mel and 2023 was my third in
person Bett. I found the content to be both
interesting and wide ranging, delivering
in-person added value to the year round
online content Bett produces. An example
of this was the Damian Hughes session in
the main arena which complemented the
interview broadcast on the Ahead by Bett
hub earlier in the year. Ahead by Bett itself
continues to develop, filling a space that
was notably absent for the Higher Education sector when I first attended Bett in
January 2020. Ahead has introduced a
relevant mix of strategic thinking,
commercial learnings and insight in to the
tech market, all of which I know there is a
demand for in the sector. With the change
in date next year, which will mean there is
no back-to-back clash with the UCISA
leadership conference, I would expect
demand to grow for Ahead by Bett,
particularly with targeted marketing. The
open space of the Sandbox encourages
people to join crowds and listen into
sessions, and it was notable how busy
the final session of the three days there
became, on Chat GPT, considering it was a
Friday afternoon. I look forward to Ahead
by Bett 2024 and more contemporary
sessions on commercial and strategic
thought leadership, which really adds
value to the HE tech community.”
Prof Perry Hobson, Director, Breda
University
“While Ahead by Bett is still the ‘new kid
on the block’ compared to the main Bett
exhibition, it has already come a long
way in a very short period of time. After
only 2-years it’s already attracting several
thousand registrations with a wide range
of interests across the spectrum on how
edutech can be used and the way in which
is rapidly changing higher education. It’s
insightful to be able to listen to not only
the leadership of universities talking about
their transformations , but also to those
companies who proving to be the movers
and shakers in this space, as well as to
individual academic innovators and also to
students about how technology is
transforming their education experiences.
I was so impressed with my first Ahead by
Bett in 2022, that I brought over seven of
my colleagues from Breda University in The
Netherlands to London in 2023.
They were simply ‘wowed’ by the range
of ideas and technology across the whole
Bett exhibition within the ExCel Centre.
More specifically, they were impressed at
the insights that they gained from the
various presentations, panel sessions and
workshops that were given in the
Auditorium, Sandbox and the
Collaboration Space that are an integral
part of the Ahead by Bett section of the
exhibition”.
started on the next steps for the 2024
Ahead by Bett!”
Sarah Knight, Head of learning and
teaching transformation, Jisc
“It has been a privilege being part of the
Ahead by Bett Advisory group this year
and being able to work with the team on
planning and designing such an excellent
and engaging programme for this year’s
event. I have attended many Betts over
the years and participated in 2022 Ahead
by Bett and this year’s event surpassed all
expectations.
Ahead by Bett’s journey has only just
begun, and for January 2024 here are a few
ways it’ll be improving:
I was delighted to see the range of
organisations attending as well as the
variety of roles and this shows how digital
transformation is such a high priority.
The sessions offered insights from a wide
range of perspectives and a highlight for
me was included hearing Paul LeBlanc
discussing the future of higher education.
We were delighted with the participation
in the collaboration space where we ran
our workshop on the framework for digital
transformation, as well as the panel session
on the international students’ digital
experience. With planning for next year
already underway, we can’t wait to get
Dr Maren Deepwell, Chief Executive,
Association for Learning Technology
“I'm Maren and this was the first time since
2019 that I was able to attend Bett in
person again! As CEO of ALT I found the
show very interesting and it was great to
be able to see innovation and new
technologies in practice.
Our session at Ahead by Bett was very
busy, and generated an active discussion in
the collaboration space, with contributions
from sector leaders based in the UK as well
as international delegates. In response
to new findings from our Uk survey, we
discussed key issues in the relationship
between technology and learning, the
role of teachers and our vision for digital
leadership.”
• Optimising the Connect @ Bett meetings
programme, rolling out opportunities for
more meetings and group discussions for
EVERYONE at Bett
• Helping educators upskill with professional development opportunities to
become brilliant buyers and users of the
right EdTech for their institution
• More thrilling keynotes and thought
leadership from practising educators and
changemakers
• A greater focus on inclusive education
with more on neurodiversity and special
education needs and disability (SEND)
Most excitingly, next year will see Ahead
by Bett triple in size in 2024, taking a
deeper dive into the impact of AI, whilst
diversifying and internationalising the
audience further to make it an even more
dynamic, diverse and transformative
event.