In Conversation
Melendy Lovett Senior Vice President, Texas Instruments
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www.digitalLEARNING.in
Learning Inspired Tools www.education.ti.com
Melendy Lovett, Senior Vice President, Texas Instruments, in conversation with Dr Ravi Gupta, talks about the company’s new offering—Nspired Learning technology—that she claims can make science and mathematics learning more interactive
Could you elaborate on the objective of introducing the Nspired Learning technology in the K-12 segment? Our objective is to use technology to provide deeper understanding of Maths and Science subjects and help students gain higher test scores. We are looking for ways that help the teacher give newer, better and diverse ways to reach more students in the classroom and enable them to progress in these subjects. What are the products being offered by TI? The solution that we use is Nspired Learning. It includes the teacher demonstration tool, which the teacher uses to present and conduct the class, and take review and analysis after the class. There is also the student interface which can be the hand held Math and Science learning devices or a computer. We have our assessment system which wirelessly connects teachers and students in the classroom and also allows teachers to get real time feedback on the understanding level of the students. There is an excitement when the students and teachers are networked. We have the back-and-forth document transfers during lessons, that provides a two way communication to connect to the class. Do you think India is ready for a product like this? I believe that the timing is very good for a product like Nspired Learning to
be implemented and that is because of the reforms that are being promoted by CBSE and policy leaders. The educational reforms aim at promoting higher order thinking and Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) of the learning process. Education already has a well respected foundation in India. With the reforms that are underway, Nspired Learning can help teachers take the theoretical knowledge of a policy change and use technology to carry forward the concept of CCE. It gives teachers a mechanism to implement CCE in classrooms and create a digital portfolio for every student in the class. What is the USP of the product? One of the foundation elements of Nspired Learning is the concept of multiple representations. For instance, if a mathematical problem cannot be understood in one go, the technology has the ability to link together multiple representations of a problem. Students are then able to explore and use reasoning and sense making to better learn concepts and remember them. With the Nspired technology, students can achieve the analysis and synthesis skills necessary to help them succeed in advanced Math. How is the academic content generated for this technology? The smart learning platform offers lesson content as an integral part of it. Our preferred approach is to work with local content developers like Learning Links
Foundation and also with major publishers. One of the features that attract a lot of teachers is that they can take the content provided by Learning Links Foundation and customise or tailor and upgrade it according to requirements. What is the roll out strategy of the programme? Initially, we are focusing on CBSE and ICSE schools, with pilot projects that will be implemented in Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Mussourie. There will be ten schools where this pilot project will be implemented, lasting for a duration of one year. Part of the pilot will be a third party evaluation of how the project is meeting its goals. After the one year period, we will evaluate the results and, based on this learning, chalk out a plan for further expansion. The reason for starting this with CBSE and ICSE schools is that there are several reforms that are underway that fits with the Nspired Learning offering. Their policy are very well aligned with our objectives. Our long term interest is in having a broader base in India. What is the importance being given to teacher training? We are focused on creating professional development opportunities that will leave the teachers prepared, confident and eager to get back to class with the Nspired learning technology.Learning Links Foundation is our partner in providing this professional development. \\
digital LEARNING
OCTOBER 2010
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