The British have started to consider implementing Sony's PSP in trying to have a new medium for teaching their students as well as luring them to keep their attention in school. This combination of technology and play has been a topic of discussion for the upcoming BETT technology fair at Olympia in London starting January 9, 2008.
The goal of this event is to bring together the global teaching and learning community for four days of innovations and inspirations. Some of those inspirations stem from current gadgets children may already own, which is why Sony is getting involved in this technology fair with a few ideas of its own.
Released on September 1, 2005, the PSP was originally just a new way for children to play their games on the go. Now with the recent changes and updates that the system has undergone, Sony has made a push to reveal it's features to British educators and how those features can be implemented in the classroom. One way would be that teachers could create video lessons that their students can download and review wherever and whenever they like by simply downloading them to their PSP and watching it later.
“Why not give children something they already know how to use?” says Mark Stimpfig, one of the directors of ConnectED, the UK educational distributors of the Sony PSP. “It’s very video-based, which contrasts greatly with virtual learning environments, which are very static. If there are two and a half million children out there using their PSPs to play games, then there’s no reason why teachers shouldn’t use them for teaching purposes.”
It will be interesting to see the reception it will receive at the BETT Technology Fair and whether it is feasible or not to promote this kind of technological integration in the classroom.
Source: Gamertell
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