We’ve just returned from a busy week at ULearn 2014 where we had a great time meeting a whole range of very passionate teachers and exhibitors.

Along with the two of us (myself and Matt Hall-White) talking to schools about Pond and the Managed Network rollout, we also had Tim Harper and Tim Kong (or T1 and T2 as we prefer to call them) from our Advisory team at ULearn with us. They both spent their time talking with schools about how to get the best out of N4L’s Managed Network, and answering some of the more technical questions about what we’re offering schools.

As well as manning the stand, we hosted a range of presentations throughout ULearn on everything from getting the most out of Pond, how to integrate our web filtering system with schools’ existing servers and our amazing development team talking about how we’ve created Pond and some of the lessons learnt along the way.

The real highlight of the event was the overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic response to Pond from the teachers and providers we spoke with. We got a sense that there is real excitement brewing about what is being created and the difference it will make to teaching and learning in New Zealand. So many of the people we talked to couldn’t wait to get into Pond and many signed their whole school up for our Make a Splash programme which encourages the school to dive into Pond and discover some of the different features over a 5 week programme of activities.

Of course, we couldn’t post about ULearn without mentioning the Gala dinner on Thursday night. This years theme was ‘The Roaring 20s’ and team N4L joined the party. A fine evening of good food, stunning attire and great entertainment made for a fantastic night out.  With Andy our Marketing Manager even being heard to say “Wow, teachers really know how to move!”.

Ulearn 2014 was a great event and we’re looking forward to the next one, but for now it’s back to visiting schools and helping move them to the Managed Network and into Pond.