Broadcasters will be showing many new products and services at this year’s BETT and one of the most eagerly awaited (and, it has to be said, most controversial) offerings will be demonstrated on the BBC’s stand. BBC Jam (formerly known as the Digital Curriculum) is a free online service for teachers and students that will offer an array of downloadable digital resources (including video, text, graphics and sound) for all ages. Users will be able to use them as they wish, provided it is for non-commercial educational activities. “It will have a full learner-centred focus and teachers will be able to adapt it and run it alongside the commercial resources they already have,” explains Frank Flynn, head of learning at BBC Education. BBC Jam is set to go live at the end of January. “We’ll be showing sample content from the launch units such as key stage 3 French and key stage 1 literacy and numeracy,” adds Flynn.

There will also be a chance to see some of the results of a major creativity project called Blast, which the BBC has been running for the past three years. Aimed at 13 to 19-year-olds, Blast is designed to give young people a voice and a means of expressing that, adds Flynn. “It could be through music, dance, script writing, film making, writing, poetry or whatever,” he says.

At BETT, a selection of films and other work produced by teenagers will be presented in collaboration with the educational research centre Ultralab and Apple Computers. “It’s a fantastic spectrum of offerings,” notes Flynn.

Visitors to the BBC stand will also see Shakespeare Shorts - 60-second digital creations based around Shakespeare that have been created by students. More than 1,000 schools submitted content, some of which, says Flynn, is quite remarkable.

Teachers’ TV will be one in February and has already made a big impact on the educational scene. The Department for Education and Skills-funded venture is editorially independent and more than 32,000 people have registered to receive weekly schedule information, says Nigel Dacre, chief executive of Education Digital, which produces Teachers’ TV. “We estimate that 20 per cent of the teaching workforce that have digital television are watching us and that’s a good figure,” he adds. The Teachers’ TV website has also become a popular destination for many teachers, not least because all programmes are available to download.

The channel will have a much higher profile at this year’s BETT, as every day it will produce a 15-minute update programme covering many of the major events of the day. This will be broadcast on the Teachers’ TV channel, made available online and shown on monitors dotted around the show.

Channel 4 Learning already offers an impressive range of digital resources for primary and secondary schools in the form of CD-Roms, DVD-Roms and online resources and this line-up is being strengthened at BETT, especially in the areas of science, religious studies, design and technology, modern and foreign languages, and personal, health and social education. ClipBank (one school licence per library pound;250 per year, three subjects pound;675) the online digital library, has been extended to include libraries for DT, French, German and Spanish (there are already libraries for science and geography). Each library offers around 250 video clips from TV programmes lasting between one and five minutes. “Some schools have put the library on to their server and use it as they wish,” explains Tana Wollen, head of learning resources at Channel 4 Learning.

Other offerings include a suite of science CD-Roms which include three new Seeing Science CD-Roms (pound;50 each) for KS1, Material, Habitats and Living Things and The Physical World. There are five new science CD-Roms (pound;65) for 11 to 16-year-olds covering materials, the human body and waves and radiation. There are also new CD-Roms for KS2 history and geography.

Blue Dragon interactive story book is available on DVD (pound;29) and has been joined by a new Blue Dragon CD-Rom (pound;50) which contains five new stories, which can be used independently or in conjunction with the DVD title. The story book includes animated stories and interactive activities.

Worlds of Faith (pound;50) is a versatile CD-Rom that has sections designed for pupils aged 9 to 11 and 11 to 14. The title looks at the six major world religions and includes video clips of children from around the world practising their religion. A new series of PHSE DVDs (pound;29 each) offer A-Z sections on drugs, love and sex, and mental health.

Don’t miss

BBC Jam BBC Stand F30

This will be the first opportunity to see some of the new online digital resources the BBC will be offering teachers and students as part of what was formerly known as the Digital Curriculum.

www.bbc.co.uk

ClipBank Channel 4 Learning Stand D42

Described as ingredients that teachers can add to their personal teaching recipe, ClipBank offers libraries of video clips that can be used to describe or illustrate specific points, topics or concepts. This year sees new design and technology and modern foreign language libraries added to the service.

www.channel4.comlearningshop

Teachers’ TV BETT TV Stand X34

Watch out for roving reporters and camera crews as Teachers’ TV produces a daily highlights programme. On the Teachers’ TV stand, you’ll get a chance to check out the website, which offers many resources.

www.teachers.tv