N-trig announced today that its DuoSense active pen technology has been chosen for use in a pilot education project within the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin. The college’s Learning Technology Center (LTC) is distributing a fleet of pen-enabled Android tablets to a cohort of preservice teachers and their instructors, who will explore new ways to use active pen-enabled devices to enrich the teaching, learning and assessment of young children’s literacy. The project is a result of N-trig’s ongoing initiative focused on the education ecosystem.

The tablet and pen combination creates a very natural way for teachers to teach and students to learn. N-trig’s active pen mimics the natural writing process while minimizing physical barriers between child and teacher.

The project is expected to result in a rich set of data that can be used to supplement standardized assessments and more closely monitor the learning process, allowing teachers to more effectively respond to the individual needs of students. Leveraging N-trig active pen technology and handwriting recognition software, the system will allow educators to digitally record their handwritten notes during writing conferences with students. This ability to document comprehensive, detailed information on each student’s progress will allow educators to develop curricula that are more specifically optimized for each individual.

Dr. Karen French, IDEA Studio Coordinator, explains the impact of this innovation. “In the past, if teachers wanted to maintain digital records about a child’s literacy learning, they had to either type handwritten notes after a writing conference, or use a tablet application that only allowed them to checkbox a few progress categories. With the N-trig active pen, they can detail the student’s progress with specific individualized comments and add recommendations for future lessons. An active pen that allows handwriting in this manner is a game changer.”

LTC Director Dr. Paul E. Resta added, “The tablet’s touch and pen combination, powered by N-trig, creates a very natural way to comment, like a pen on paper. I believe this is an important effort that will not only help university faculty enhance existing methods for promoting children’s literacy, but could also lead to the development of tools that will help all teachers. The project, and our partnership with N-trig that helps make it possible, is another great example of how the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin is a leader in exploring cutting-edge technologies to benefit education.”

About Idea Studio
The IDEA Studio, coordinated by Dr. Karen French, provides technology integration support to faculty in the College of Education at The University of Texas at Austin. Members of our expert staff, most of whom are currently pursuing advanced degrees in curriculum and instruction, provide services ranging from drop-in help, to consulting on curriculum planning that integrates technology, to spearheading College instructional technology initiatives and collaborating with faculty on research projects. We are also the unit in the Learning Technology Center in charge of delivering curriculum-related technology training to classes in the College of Education.

About N-trig
N-trig DuoSense^® offers a complete solution to the ever-increasing demand for productivity on the move, utilizing pen capabilities for greater levels of interactive creativity, and advancing basic touch consumption to a much greater potential for simultaneous input, for a true Hands-on computing experience. Supporting various Windows, Linux and Android distributions, DuoSense can be implemented across a wide variety of form factors, including slates, netbooks, tablets and desktop replacements, supports all LCDs and a wide variety of industrial design options for mobile products, and keeps devices slim and light. N-trig has offices in Israel, the US, Taiwan, China and Japan. For more information, please visit www.N-trig.com.

© N-trig Ltd. 2013. All rights reserved

N-trig, N-trig Ltd., Hands-on, Hands-on computing and DuoSense are the exclusive properties of N-trig, Ltd., and are registered or pending registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and may be registered or pending registration in other countries. All other N-trig trademarks, including N-act™ and Digital Pencil service marks, and logos may be registered or pending registration in the U.S. or in other countries. All further trademarks mentioned herein are believed to be trademarks of their respective owners.