Last week, CREATE Education attended the BETT show alongside our technology partner Ultimaker with a shortlisting in the BETT award ‘Open Educational Resources’ category. Not only are we proud to announce this achievement, but we are delighted to share that the CREATE Education project was also  recognised as 5* winners in the STEM category of The Tech for Teachers Awards!

It was a busy few days from 24th – 27th Jan, as we made our annual foray down to London’s ExCeL for the BETT show. From 3D printing, Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence, the role that technology has to play in education continues to evolve. From our experience with CREATE Education, we know that collaborating with the pioneers in education, building a community, sharing best practice and enabling peer to peer learning are critical to aiding the adoption of these new technologies. It is for these reasons that we were thrilled to hear in the run-up to the event, of our shortlisting in the ‘Open Educational Resources’ category of the BETT Awards. Additionally, The CREATE Education Project was selected as a 5 star winner in the STEM Category of the Tech for Teacher Awards, with the award presented at the BETT show on Weds 24th January. What matters in education, is what works – and Tech for Teachers is an awards scheme launched in 2017 by the publishers of Technology & Innovation and Teach Secondary magazines, aimed at identifying the very best classroom innovations in seven, curriculum-linked categories. Only resources with the potential to have real, measurable impact on teaching and learning – as well as boosting engagement and easing the pressure of workload for educators – are recognised.

We were proud to showcase our community and resources once again at the BETT Show. This annual event is a celebration of technology in education with many thousands of education visitors attending each year and we had a very enjoyable and busy 4 days talking to many passionate teachers and education professions about the benefits of 3D printing across the curriculum and for all ages from Reception up to University level. The stand shared with Ultimaker displayed a range of projects for Primary and Secondary schools along with the eCraft2Learn digital fabrication and maker movement in education project.

This year we were delighted to be joined by some of our community members and exhibit some of the amazing 3D printing projects they are doing with their students. On Wednesday we were joined by teachers and students from Brookmead Primary school who were showcasing their PGL Obstacle Course Design Project.

On Thursday Dr. Matteo Borrini, Forensic Anthropologist and Principal Lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University spent the day with us talking about his Skeleton2Go 3D printed teaching aids and the fascinating 3D printed facial reconstruction of “Carmilla” a lady believed to be a vampire that was exorcised in Venice in the 16th Century.

Finally on Friday we were joined by CREATE Ambassador Tom Brewin Head of Creativity at Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School and his 3D printing hub team who were showcasing some of their student GCSE and A Level Design & Technology Projects incorporating 3D Printing. We would like to thank all of our stand visitors and in particular, we would like to extend a huge thanks to CREATE Ambassadors Graham Ogunleye and Alex Martinucci who were with us on the stand for all 4 days of the show spreading their enthusiasm and expertise to anyone who would listen.

Paul Croft, Director of 3DGBIRE and Founder of the CREATE Education Project explains, “ I am very proud of my team and the community supporting the CREATE Education Project. I have been working with the 3D printer manufacturer Ultimaker for some time and have been impressed by how accessible and reliable their 3D printers are. Coming from a family of teachers I am fully aware of the challenges in modern classrooms for using game-changing technology. Therefore, I am passionate about bringing these two worlds together and developing a community where our free resources can help provide the next generation with the skills that will help them thrive in the new digital economy. Long term we believe that by removing the barriers to adoption, including budgets and availability of resources, we will be able to address the skills gap in this country and beyond by giving the educators the tools they require to reap the learning and development benefits with confidence.” Michelle Chatterley, Head of The Create Education Project adds, “Our small team in-house do an amazing job and deserve every credit but without the on-going support and collaboration, hard work and dedication of our pioneering Ambassadors, Hubs, Friends and Industry Partners we would not be inspiring others in the way we do today.  We still have so much to achieve and look forward to the continued success of our open source community.” It has been an all-around fantastic start to the year for The CREATE Education Project and our technology partner, Ultimaker!