Delivering Complete Teaching Solutions
A complete education solution from NI comprises hardware, software, and courseware, and is supplemented by NI technical support and online communities. In 2011, NI released products, portals, courseware, and resources to empower educators and engage students.
LabVIEW for LEGO MINDSTORMS
NI LabVIEW for LEGO® MINDSTORMS® software is a new education-focused version of LabVIEW. NI developed it specifically for secondary school students to use with the LEGO Education robotics platform in classrooms and competitions. This software turns the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT hardware already in use in many classrooms into a full-featured science and engineering learning station.
K12Lab
To help primary and secondary school educators offer engaging learning experiences, NI launched K12Lab, a website where teachers can browse and share lesson plans, find inspiration from what others are accomplishing with technology, and get tools and support to help their students connect theory to reality faster. K12Lab users gained access to and contributed to a growing library of 86 lesson plans for subject areas such as physics, robotics, and computer science.
NI Courseware Portal
Recognizing that engaging curriculum is a need that spans all levels of the education system, NI also introduced the NI Courseware Portal to deliver teaching and learning materials for universities. Initially populated with 368 resources for homework problems, lab exercises, example programs, and tutorials, the portal continues to grow as educators submit their own content to share with others. Educators can quickly search for content based on a specific concept, product, or format, such as lab exercises or homework problems, so they spend less time writing lesson plans and more time helping students.
Software Defined Radio Platform for Education
NI offers complete education solutions for a range of application areas, from controls and mechatronics to circuits and electronics. In 2011, the company introduced the first complete education solution for RF and communications. Courses focused on signal processing as well as RF and communications often do not offer a hands-on component in the lab due to expensive equipment, steep learning curves for software programs, and the time demands required to develop the curriculum and lab exercises. To address the challenge of dwindling budgets combined with overpopulated classrooms and the pressure for educators to do more with less, National Instruments introduced NI USRP™ (Universal Software Radio Peripheral ) hardware and paired it with LabVIEW to give educators an affordable way to deliver a true hands-on learning experience to their students through experimentation with real-world signals and systems.
The Infinity Project
The Infinity Project includes the NI engineering and science teaching platform as part of its award-winning engineering education program.
Together, NI myDAQ hardware and LabVIEW for Education software create a platform that shows students real-world lab experiences. The Infinity Project has wholly embraced this unique and authentic approach to teaching.
Started in 1999, The Infinity Project provides a complete solution for teaching engineering with curriculum that reinforces the math and science concepts behind engineering practices. Students apply these concepts through hands-on design projects such as building speakers, robots, rockets, and prosthetic legs.
More than 450 middle schools, high schools, and colleges across the United States use The Infinity Project.
LEGO, the LEGO logo, and MINDSTORMS are trademarks of the LEGO Group. ©2012 the LEGO Group.
Designing Hands-On Wireless Communications Labs
Professor Sachin Katti, head of the Stanford Networked Systems Group (SNSG), implemented the LabVIEW and NI USRP hardware RF/communications educational solution to help students apply theory by using live, real-time communications signals and software defined radio.