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BETT Awards

Pearson Education, RM Plc, BBC Schools Online, Data harvest, Sibelius Software and Gigajam are just a few of the movers and shakers in the educational ICT arena who scooped prestigious last month. Celebrating the diversity of companies operating within the educational sector, the credited the best ICT products on the market, produced by multinationals through to niche firms. Briony Mansell-Lewis, Head of Events, EMAP Education says: "The have been designed to recognise and reward creativity, innovation and commitment of an organisation or company in developing high-quality and effective educational ICT resources. This innovation will continue to provide education as a whole with far greater opportunities and we are pleased that the play such a pivotal role in representing excellence in the teaching and learning process." For more information, visit www.bettawards.co.uk.

Becta ICT in Practice Awards

Practitioners across the UK who are demonstrating exemplary practice in the use of ICT in teaching, learning and leadership have been recognised in Becta's ICT in Practice Awards ceremony last month. The awards aim to identify models of excellent practice and allow this information to be shared with the wider teaching community. Owen Lynch, chief executive of Becta, said: "All the shortlisted entries have been inspiring, reflecting the way in which ICT is increasingly making an impact on our education system. Standards are constantly improving as a more sustained and effective use of ICT is being demonstrated in classrooms across the UK." Nominations for the 2006 Awards are now open to all practitioners. Details of this year's winners and films, and how to enter the 2006 awards can be found on www.becta.org.uk/awards.

E-mail link-up for EU schools

The European Commission has announcedeurp an ambitious scheme to link schools of its member nations by e-mail.

Last month, 300 teachers from 28 countries met in Brussels as part of a Û7m (pounds 5m) scheme, called eTwinning, to get at least 150,000 schools involved.

Institutions register their details on a central website and can search a database of prospective partners to see if there is a suitable match - either by age of pupils, subject or type of project. Eurocrats are hoping that the partnerships will boost children's language skills, cultural understanding and motivation. Visit www.etwinning.net or www.britishcouncil.org/etwinning for more details.

Computer aid after the floods

Young people in Carlisle whose home computers were damaged in the January floods are to be given access to a local school's ICT facilities.

Cumbria County Council and St Aidans School in Carlisle are providing years 11, 12 and 13 students from any school in the area with access to facilities at St Aidans for two afternoons a week, from now until the half-term holidays.

"Many young people who are at an important stage in their studies have been seriously affected by the floods," said Councillor Joan Stocker, cabinet member for education.

"Students have lost course work, some have either had their computer at home damaged and some who are in temporary accommodation are finding it difficult accessing alternative computer facilities. I hope that students take up this opportunity." Students must book ahead, and bring their own floppy discs.

New IT course for GCSE students

The European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) is appearing in schools as a rival to GCSE IT. ECDL course-ware was launched at last month's BETT awards by the IT training and development company Aston Swann. Its ECDL for Students will equip teenagers with "the essential competency in technology needed to get the most out of their education and subsequent employment". ECDL was introduced to the UK six years ago by the British Computer Society. See www.ecdl.com for more details.