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The Tech/Talk plus Environmental Control Unit from Inclusive Technology has won the Early Years, Primary and Secondary Special Educational Needs Hardware BETT Award 2005.
The win was announced at a glittering ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, on 11th January.
The Tech/Talk plus Environmental Control Unit, created by US company AMDi, is an eight message communicator with the added capability of switching mains electrical devices or lights on or off. Users with physical disabilities can control the environment around them and link speech output with a tangible effect, reinforcing the spoken message.
"We always seek to provide the highest quality products in our
catalogue and I am delighted that this is being recognised in the prestigious
BETT Awards," said Trish Hornsey, Managing Director of Inclusive
Technology.
"We have a long association with AMDi and their Tech/Talk plus Environmental Control Unit continues their tradition of high quality, innovative communication devices."
BETT is the largest educational technology event in the world, with up to 25,000 teachers attending each January. Like the Edinburgh festival it now has a fringe, with specialist special needs companies exhibiting independently at the Special Needs Fringe in the Olympia Hilton next door.
Over 300 products are nominated each year for a BETT Award. Ray Barker, Director of BESA and Joint Chair of the Judges, comments: "The BETT Awards provide that much needed link between the ICT industry and the teaching community. The BETT Awards also play a key role in demonstrating how ICT can be embedded into subjects across the curriculum. The year-on-year rise in entries illustrates how important the BETT Awards have become in the eyes of teachers and suppliers alike."
Two additional Inclusive products were shortlisted for BETT Awards. Choose and Tell: Nursery Rhymes, a beautifully illustrated story program, was shortlisted for the Early Years and Primary Software, Content and Tools category. The SuperTalker by AbleNet is a flexible, progressive communication aid that was shortlisted for the Early Years, Primary and Secondary Special Educational Needs Hardware award.