The Calculator Cuts its Cord

With so many classrooms relying on calculators for everything from solving quadratic equations to examining how fast things fall, isn’t it time for these mini marvels of math to be networked? TI’s Nspire Navigator can bring a classroom of calculators together so that teachers can check on student work, give them quizzes, send out assignments and help figure out why they got the wrong answer. By providing instant feedback, the calculator and network combo can also reduce the time a teacher spends managing a classroom and more on education. The system includes a cradle that works with TI’s Nspire and Nspire CAS calculators, a wireless access point that plugs into a teacher’s computer and all the software to make it work. It’s been trialed at several schools and personally I think this type of technology can transform the classroom and is overdue. There's a nice explanatory video and the equipment is on display at booth 1221.