The Bett show takes place in London every year. Held at Olympia exhibition centre, it's the world's biggest ICT Education event, drawing thousands of educators from all over the globe. If you ever get the chance it is worth going for a day. You will come away buzzing with ideas for software, hardware and internet based resources. Here are just some of the highlights of the show.

Hardware

USB visualisers that are simple and elegant. Basic model £249. Just plug in and use. Takes power from the usb port.

Portable MP3 players and recorders for Key Stage 1 includes set of four or six storyphones and base unit for charging. Simple and straightforward for children and teachers. This was a very crowded stand at Bett. It has won some awards and received very good reviews. Also available in latest TTS catalogue.

Portable scanning pens that can scan text in a book and export it straight into a Word document. It does a line at a time and is surprisingly accurate. The pens did have to be connected to a computer. There is also a pen that turns handwritten notes into text.

E-beam edge creates an interactive whiteboard wherever you go, turning any flat surface into an interactive whiteboard.

Mount your whiteboard so you can turn it and move it up and down. An interesting solution to problems caused by a whiteboard being mounted in an unsuitable location.

Easysense Vision is the latest in the range of data loggers from Data Harvest with data displayed on the inbuilt screen as well as on the monitor.

Software

Zu3D - Brand new stop-motion animation software for Windows PCs. Stop motion software developed in consultation with a professional animator - trained by Aardman (the creators of Wallace and Gromit) and primary school children. Download a free demonstration version. A device to capture video such as a webcam, digiblue, dv camera etc is required. Seems very user friendly and has a lot more effects than the digital blue software. There is a gallery on the website where you can view stop motion animations by children using this software.

2Create a superstory - New software from the ever popular 2Simple range. Features include: Incorporate text, drawings, imported images, sound and object animation; bring characters to life with the use of lip sync; compile simple time lines to map story elements; use the magical Augmented Reality template to see drawings move both on and off screen; save stories as SWF Flash files so they can be shared online and embedded within your Learning Platform.

Open Source Software for Schools A great website supported by Becta to share information about how free open source software can be used in schools. It has case studies about the educational use of open source in schools. It also has blogs, forums and news updates. The stand at Bett was giving away a CD with over fourty pieces of free software that they have found useful in schools. A copy can be downloaded here.