“Quality education must not focus just on student achievement but also student success as they get ready to take on employment opportunities. We know that growing the number of educated citizens is the best way to spark not only new businesses but entirely new industries. For that we need to build required competencies that can only be achieved by life-long learning, skilling and re-skilling learning,” says, Brian Gonzalez, Director Global Education Sales Programs, Intel Corporation.
During his recent visit to India, he spoke about various learner centric innovations for purposeful learning. In conversation with Pragya Gupta, ENN
Please share the latest innovations by Intel?
At Intel we continue to innovate and make investment in education. Technology is playing an increasingly important role in education. Today, many consumer devices are available and used in education but do not offer the right educational experience to support purposeful learning. Deploying the right tools and technology for use in school and afterschool is what makes a difference.
Any technology or educational tool is only useful if it supports the goals of the educators to help students succeed. Intel continues to invest in education and offers solutions and expertise in order to support student achievement. Intel classmate PCs and Intel Education tablets are built for education to meet the needsof students, educators, administrators, and school IT. Based on extensive research in classrooms worldwide and in collaboration with educators and local partners, Intelclassmate PCs and education tablets are designed to meet education specific needs from localized content to interoperability with school networks and infrastructures.
Intel Education solutions offer full PC functionality to support students’ needs both inside and outside of classrooms whether they are consuming or creating content. Powered with Intel processors the classmate PC and education tablets come with Intel Education Software Suite that helps students develop the skills they require to succeed in the 21st century skills such as collaboration, communication, problem solving through rich, engaging applications . These solutions are ruggedised, student-friendly, drop resistant and water resistant.
The classmate PC also has ruggedised DC jack, rubber feet, retractable handle, dual audio jacks, and enhanced camera. The camera can be used with Lab Camera application, which is part of the software suite. It turns the device into an exploration tool and can be used as microscope by children. Also, it comes with a thermal probe that can plug into the audio jacks which coupled with the software can enable scientific exploration and nurture students’ curiosity.
“The classmate PC and education tablets come with Intel Education Software Suite that helps students develop the skills they require to succeed in the 21st century skills such as collaboration, communication, problem solving through rich, engaging applications”
How about taking these innovations in the classroom?
It is really important to keep the children engaged in right things. Today, there is a dearth of right tools to engage them in purposeful learning.
To bring in our innovative platform to India we are talking to the OEMs, some of the service providers and state governments, and we are at different stages of discussions at this point of time.
Some of the products are already available in Indian schools. Two Indian states have been using them for the past six months. We are trying ‘Beyond the classroom’ in five schools in a particular state. At one of the places, we have the village Panchayat and a lot of other villages coming there and saying that they want more of this. That is the level of excitement.
What is next at Intel?
We are committed to delivering successful education solutions and providing the critical foundation to help students, educators, governments, and communities benefit from the unprecedented potential of technology. We engage deeply with our ecosystem including software vendors, publishers, service providers and OEMs to bring the right locally relevant solutions.You will continue to see many exciting new solutions and programs from Intel – all focused on improving student outcomes.