DALLAS, Feb. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Instruments (TI), the most trusted brand in graphing calculator technology, "took a major step forward in our mission to improve student understanding and achievement in mathematics" with the release today of two new innovative apps:  TI-Nspire™ App for iPad and TI-Nspire™ CAS App for iPad, said Melendy Lovett, president of Texas Instruments Education Technology. 

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"The apps fill a critical need for an all-in-one math teaching and learning tool designed specifically for the iPad," said Lovett.  "TI is extending the proven benefits of TI-Nspire technology to the tablet platform.  TI's goals are to provide educators with the most powerful math apps for the iPad and to engage students while helping them reach a deeper conceptual understanding of math. Beyond the new Apps for iPad, TI continues to support teachers by providing world-class professional development, and access to free classroom-ready activities for use with the TI-Nspire Apps for iPad; activities can be integrated seamlessly into curriculum and are available at TI's Math Nspired website."

The TI-Nspire Apps for iPad were designed and refined in collaboration with researchers and classroom teachers, including Stephanie Ogden, Dean of Research and Development at L&N STEM Academy in Knoxville, TN, who also teaches Pre-Calculus, AP* Calculus, AP* Statistics and STEM.

"The TI-Nspire Apps for iPad are truly transparent technology, allowing students to touch and interact with math with little awareness of the tool in their hands.  Students experience mathematics more directly and they are beyond engaged—they are excited about learning," Ogden said.

Unique features of the apps, which meet critical curriculum needs from 7^th grade through college, include:

• All-in-one functionality for performing calculations in proper math notation; graphing and exploring functions, equations and inequalities; constructing and exploring geometric figures; creating, plotting and analyzing data in lists and spreadsheets.
• Interactive keyboard that toggles between math notation and QWERTY configurations for placing notes and instructions alongside problems.
• Dynamically linked multiple representations of problems that encourage students to make crucial connections by observing how equations change as they touch and interact with shapes, graphs and objects on the screen.
• Familiar operations for creating and saving documents and sharing them using email, iTunes®, and other file sharing options.
• Interaction with the built-in iPad camera interface that enables students to take photos, import them into the app and overlay graphs and equations on them to illustrate abstract math principles in the physical world.

In addition, the TI-Nspire CAS App for iPad has a powerful built-in Computer Algebra System (CAS) which enables students to symbolically solve equations, factor and expand variable expressions, complete the square, find derivatives, compute limits, find exact solutions in irrational form and much more.

TI-Nspire Apps for iPad will be featured in two full days of workshops and break-out sessions at the 2013 T³ International Conference held March 8-10 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

The TI-Nspire App for iPad and TI-Nspire CAS App for iPad are available for $29.99 each from the App Store on iPad or at www.AppStore.com.  Teachers are eligible to receive a free, one-year license of the TI-Nspire and TI-Nspire CAS Teacher Software with purchase of one of the TI-Nspire Apps for iPad.  Detailed information about the TI-Nspire Apps for iPad, including a brief video overview, is available at education.ti.com/ipad.

About Texas Instruments

Education Technology, a business of Texas Instruments, provides a wide range of tools connecting the classroom experience with real-world applications, helping students and teachers to explore mathematics and science interactively. TI's products and services are tested vigorously against recognized third-party research, which shows that the effective use of graphing calculators improves the mathematical skills of students and their attitudes toward mathematics. For more information, visit www.education.ti.com.

Texas Instruments semiconductor innovations help 90,000 customers unlock the possibilities of the world as it could be – smarter, safer, greener, healthier and more fun.  Our commitment to building a better future is ingrained in everything we do – from the responsible manufacturing of our semiconductors, to caring for our employees, to giving back inside our communities.  This is just the beginning of our story.  Learn more at www.ti.com.

Apple, the Apple logo, iPad, iTunes and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.

TI-Nspire™ Technology supports images in .jpg, .jpeg, bmp and .png formats.

*AP is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board which was not involved in the production of and does not endorse this product. Policy subject to change. Visit www.collegeboard.com

SOURCE Texas Instruments Education Technology