Being a Google for Education Certified Innovator means a lot to me. I’m part of an incredible community of inspiring educators and a programme that is truly making a difference through the wide range of Innovator projects (like mine, Media By Example). The latest Energiser event to fall in a school holiday for me was January 24th in Lonon. I jumped at the opportunity! This trip also allowed me to attend Bett Show 2020.
You can read about my Academy experience in Sydney by clicking here, and my previous Energiser event in Singapore here.
Let’s start with Bett.
Bett Show 2020
I trained in the UK for four years and, before moving to Hong Kong, worked as a qualified teacher for an additional three. Somehow, I made it to 2020 without knowing about Bett Show. I’d never heard of it! Such a shame! Bett is a huge annual event in London that brings together educators and educational technology companies for demonstrations, training, showcasing and presentations. I only went because it was the day before the Google event. I was in the area and everyone seemed to be talking about it. I thought I’d swing by.
Amazing!
I wasn’t there for long. It started before I arrived in London and clashed with the Google event on one of the days. I wasn’t able to have a good look at all of the educational technology on show and I only attended a few presentations. Why? I was too busy taking selfies! Bett was full of Twitter connections who I finally had the opportunity of meeting in person. I love it when online connections become offline friends!
I unapologetically share this quote regularly. It’s so true!
“Social media won’t replace a handshake, but social media done right will change the first meeting from a handshake to a hug.”
Brian Fanzo
In between selfies, I did manage to attend some presentations (these all led to more selfies). It was a pleasure to listen to long-time Twitter friends Abid Patel and Evo Hannan as well as arguably the most influential educator in the UK, Ross Morrison-McGill (from Teacher Toolkit).
Bett 2020 was a fantastic experience! UK educators especially, don’t miss this annual opportunity to be inspired! I should have gone every year that I was in the UK!
Google Certified Innovator Energiser #LON20
As expected, I had an amazing day at the Google UK offices and, more to the point, with my fellow Google for Education Certified Innovators, most of whom I had never met offline before. Again, this is always exciting. Here are a few highlights from the day:
I was asked to share my Google Innovator project, Media By Example. This was an excellent opportunity to bring it to a new audience (in a country that it’s badly needed, I feel). Of course, everyone was very supportive, encouraging and keen to help. It’s making great progress so I speak about it with great pride.
I got to hear about many other Google Innovator projects that are also making great progress. These included exciting work from Elizabeth Nye Di Cataldo, Elena Vercher and Raúl Martínez. Follow these awesome educators on Twitter and watch as their projects come to life!
Advocacy was once again a big focus of the event. How can we, as educators, make our voices heard and advocate for what we believe in? We broke off into Advocacy Labs to explore different platforms. These included podcasting, writing books, blogging and others. I was very proud to lead the blogging session and share my experience. One of my attendees, the lovely Rakel Cedersjö, is up and running already. Check out her new blog post and leave an encouraging comment for her!
Jetting off again!
I was in London for two days before heading off to holiday in Europe. Just two days – but I feel like I made the most of them! Thank you to everyone in London for making my Bett and Google experiences so special! See you all again very soon!
If you’re interested in becoming a Google for Education Certified Innovator, you’re in luck! The 2020 Academy dates and application deadlines will be released this month. Register for updates here so that you don’t miss the big announcement! As always, let me know if I can help in any way.
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Hi, Adam, it’s so good to read about BETT and the Google Energizer. It was really great to meet you there. Thank you for your inspiration and support!
/Rakel
Hi Rakel,
Thank you for the kind words. I can’t wait to see how your blog grows from here! Keep tagging me in your posts.
So lovely to meet you too!
Best,
Adam