Michael Conlon
Former teacher, school leader, and survivor of many education reforms. Now an Education Transformation Consultant, Michael specialises in turning big tech promises into actual classroom wins.
Reflecting on BETT 2026, what emerged, beyond the multiple pieces of hardware and software that do more or less do the same thing, was a much calmer sense of direction to last year when AI was being plastered over every stand and without any sense of purpose. More specifically at XMA we could sense the following.
The value of community: We’re always fond of saying “Devices don’t teach children. Teachers teach children”, and so BETT is a place for people to connect, to share ideas and progress, inspire and influence each other in ways which are authentic and important and stripped of the hype. Teachers and leaders spent purposeful time exploring what is in the market and connecting with vendors who are looking to add value rather than just deliver transactional technology. At XMA we had endless conversations around the present and future of learning and teaching and how our solutions and capabilities support a digital strategy, from devices to deployment, thinking about the “Why” and less about the “What”. We ended Day 2 with marvellous dinner with our key customers, allowing them to network and build a community of their own.
We found it hugely impactful to have some of our customers deliver talks in our mini theatre and reminded us that they are often our best champions, talking out the value of our partnership and how XMA deliver solutions that really support their needs and ambitions and gave us the opportunity to expose to other potential customers the breadth of our capability.
Human centred AI: AI was an inevitable focus for attendees, speakers and vendors but this year there was a more thoughtful, grounded approach. We really began to get down into the weeds of how AI actually supports teaching and learning, be it from Microsoft or Google, or embedded in apps like Canva, Kahoot, Adobe and Thinglink, to mention just a few. This is an important step and customers were beginning to challenge the value that some of them bring. Professor Hannah Fry and Amol Rajan explore the ethics of AI in their Keynote, very much reflecting our approach in XMA that AI must retain that human connection that support pedagogical principles. There are issues like misogyny and bias that schools need to tackle through Digital Literacy programs and be assured that what they are putting in front of teachers and pupils is part of a framework that has guardrails and can evolve over time.
Esports: Esports made its presence felt again, with schools beginning to value gaming as a legitimate way of introducing digital skills and Team benefits. They’re understanding the potential of how Esports help explore things like event management, broadcasting, team leadership and nutrition, a very credible cross-curricular dynamic. New qualifications are starting to cement this understanding and standards and frameworks are being built to ensure this is not just a flash in the pan.
On-device AI: Terms like NPU (neural processing units) and TOPS (Trillion operations per second) are beginning to become more familiar with customers as they begin to get to grips with the idea of AI work being done on device rather than in the cloud, and what speed and sustainability advantages a device with these kinds of chips will have. Vendors like Microsoft are building platforms that take advantage of this, allowing teachers the ability to build AI tool that support learning and teaching aligned to the educational standards in your country.
There was a good mix of smaller vendors, table top stands and technology-adjacent, many of whom we’re confident will grow and grow until their stands are prominent in the main floor. There is always almost too much on show at BETT and for many of our new attendees they felt it quite overwhelming at first. Despite being a veteran I still get blinded by the dozens of screen manufacturers and little STEM robot solutions that there are – an almost too crowded market in some respects, Dozens of talks and presentations, vendors and software, the show is at it’s best when people can navigate it through their field of interest and plan their day with comfortable shoes!
Finally, some solutions really come to life when you see children using them – that is often a clue in terms of how engaging the technology is and a reminder that we teachers work in service of these children’s future, so we should value what they tell us. I’d have a purely school children day but I realise that for some, many hundreds of kids in that space would be too much!
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