Inflate to learn

Honestly it is such an exciting time for learning. For ages I've been going on about agile buildings and how these new 21st century designs can be configured and reconfigured. Suddenly it really is happening and people are finally abandoning their corridors and stairwells to build truly multifaceted, agile, places for learning. And at the same time as the learners are being let out of their boxes (timetables, curriculum subjects, classrooms...) it seems the humble silicon chip is being let out of its boxes too. Passing from an NCSL event in Harrogate to an RM event in Birmingham - both very enjoyable - I was really pleased to find a host of exciting new technologies - 3D worlds to inspire creative writing, interactive horizontal surface, the little open source palmtops and more.

But best of all was this old friend the inflatable space. I have been a great fan of inflatable things since put the inflatable angel wings onto computer booth screens in the Millennium Dome and saw how seductive they were - then i came across these little inflatable booths in Les Watson's inspirational Saltire Centre at Glasgow Caledonian University and have been evangelising them ever since at conferences and elsewhere. So I was VERY pleased to find that RM had bought one and were showing it. The sepulchre-quiet inside is interesting (give or take the compressor) but as a way to build mutuality, collaboration, focus, and FUN they take a lot of beating. "http://www.inflate.co.uk/" if you want one too!