Nintendo Unveils Nintendo DS Classroom

It was only a matter of time – and I honestly thought it would be Sony who would be first off the mark. According to a recent press release (you will need to run it through a translator!) Nintendo and Sharp System Products have announced the Nintendo DS Classroom, a new educational system targeting elementary, junior high and high school students.

‘Nintendo and Sharp System Products announced today Nintendo DS Classroom, a new educational system targeting elementary, junior high and high school students.

Known as "Nintendo DS Kyoushitsu" in its native Japanese, the new system pairs up the DS with a PC. Teachers make use of software on the PC to interact via Wi-Fi with students through their individual DS, DS Lite or DSi units that have been equipped with a Nintendo DS Classroom cartridge. The system allows a single PC to interact with up to 50 DS units. Everything is handled locally, so no internet connection is required.

Nintendo detailed a few sample uses. The system can be used for interactive tests, where student responses are reflected in real time on the teacher's computer. Teachers can also send students multiple sample problem sets, with the software automatically checking answers. Teachers can conduct surveys of students, with responses tabulated and charted in real time on the teacher's computer.

Outside of multiple choice, the stylus can be put to use for free response questions. Images of student responses are sent back to the teacher's computer.

Nintendo says that it developed the Nintendo DS Classroom program as part of its continued efforts to expand the DS beyond just a game device. The company notes that the pairing of PC and DS differentiates the new system from previous school-oriented educational software.

Sharp System Products is developing educational content using the Nintendo-developed system, and will handle sales, set-up and support. A press release from the two firms noted that Sharp has experience in student educational systems,

Outside of the pre-made content, teachers will be able to create their own educational materials using a simple spreadsheet interface.’

Thanks to Doug Dickinson for flagging this up.

Comments

[John Sutton]

I saw this on Doug's blog and went to the original post. It's a great idea that is bound to find its way over here. I particularly like the fact that us dinosaur teachers can use our trusted pc technology while the kids just get on with their consoles. One thing that disappointed, though, was that many of the examples seemed to be dealing with the automatic collecting of responses to questions and testing things. I think there is a danger of chucking out the baby with the bath water here. Surely the excitement with tools such as the DS is that the children are learning through play. If they start to perceive that the console is no longer a games tool, but rather a means of teacher assessment, won't they get switched off? I'd much rather see development of gaming tech whereby teacher control could be used to set levels within learning games and the teacher's pc collects data passiveley as children progress through the games rather than being teacher led stuff which isn't all that different to what we've got already through instant response systems.