Net Power & Light Debuts a New Generation of Learning Environments, Designed for Mobile, to Expand the Notion of the Classroom and Bring People Together to Experience Learning
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Net Power & Light™ today introduces Spin™ and the pioneering suite of live environments that emphasize learning together, ushering in a new generation of education for a digital world.
Nothing is as powerful as getting inspired together. Whether it’s a sudden ‘Aha!’ or an astonished ‘wow,’ experiencing it with other people amplifies the feeling to the very highest level. To kick things off, the company has worked with the TED Conference and Harvard philosophy professor Michael Sandel to create unique learning experiences available only from Net Power & Light and designed for mobile – currently available on the iPad.
The first three learning spaces debuting today in the Together Learning suite – TogetherTalks, TogetherJustice, and TogetherLearn – usher in a new way to learn in a digital world. Technology in education too often focuses on solo learning. However, the exchange that occurs in groups – sharing, questioning, reacting, emoting – is an invaluable part of our learning experience, and while the Internet provides the perfect opportunity to support this, so far current solutions have not yet realized that potential. Each environment is designed in brilliant color and full touchability so that people can feel, move, touch, and engage just as they would when together.
“The best experiences in life are ones that you have with other people, and learning is no different,” says CEO and Co-founder, Tara Lemmey. “To make this possible, we need to extend the capacity for learning beyond the traditional classroom. At Net Power & Light, we are working to connect people and spaces and expand the notion of the classroom. With our learning environments, people can create Gatherings where they can share their own ideas live and in real-time while absorbing some of the best courses and resources. When people experience the power of learning together, it can ignite the big ‘Aha.’”
A New Generation of Learning Powered by Spin
- TogetherTalks – Longtime TEDsters will tell you that it is not just what happens onstage that makes TED Conferences so special - it is also the awed hush of the audience and the excitement of joining together in a standing ovation. With TogetherTalks, you can get the live TED experience (choosing from over 1,200 sessions available in 48 themes) with the best minds you know, be they friends and family or classmates and colleagues. Imagine a Gathering with your colleagues every Tuesday, viewing your favorite TED Talks together. Each person could choose a different weekly lineup with a new theme — maybe this week is all things technology, next week is all things entertainment, without ever having to actually assemble in one place.
- TogetherJustice – Join a master class in civics or the world’s best book club with Harvard’s renowned philosophy professor, Michael Sandel. The provocative and difficult questions posed in TogetherJustice will spark deep discussion in any group. Picture high school classes from all over the country engaging in discussion and debate for civics lessons, or a conversation around your dinner table that furthers your own understanding of philosophy – and yourself.
- TogetherLearn – Whether it’s teacher-to-teacher, study groups, or whole classes, we learn better when we learn together. With TogetherLearn, you can create your own master class from top universities and resources like Stanford, MIT, Stanford, Khan Academy, C-Span, and Discovery Channel, and learn live with others. Consider study groups developing and delving into whole courses with access to some of the best resources in the world. And with TogetherLearn, each person can be a teacher, so that learning isn’t just effective – it’s empowering.
"For civic education, 'distance learning,' where people watch lectures online, is only the beginning. Ideally, we need to gather people across cultural and geographical distances to grapple with big moral questions together,” said Harvard philosophy professor, Michael Sandel, featured in TogetherJustice. “Net Power & Light has found a way to make this possible. I'm delighted to join them in promoting lively discussion of the civic dilemmas of our time – thinking and learning together about justice, the common good, and what it means to be a citizen."
Breakthrough Technology for Amazing Experiences
Spin-powered experiences are built on a solid technology foundation, re-imagined from the ground up to mark a transition from the Information Age of computing and usher in the Experience Age.
NPL LUX™ Operating Environment, with over three years in development and over 60 pending and issued patents is the base for the Together Learning spaces. With NPL Beam™, integrated network protocols designed for maximum Quality of Experience across networks and low latency, NPL Core™ scalable datacenter system, and high performance device runtimes, NPL LUX powers Spin Experience Services: technology building blocks for experiences.
The Spin Experience Services featured in Together Learning venues available now include:
- Gatherings™ - Designed to support millions of active people, Gatherings let you see live, active events that are open for you to join. Gatherings can also be made private, requiring an invitation to join.
- Pull and Drop In - Remix courses, talks, slides, photos and people by pulling and dropping them on to each other. You won’t want to go back to buttons and menus ever again.
- Video Ensemble™ - See your favorite talks, lectures, classes, or slides live, sharing all the controls for play, pause and fast-forward. Arrange your fellow ensemble participants as you like and switch between the iPad’s front and back cameras to share your Point of View.
- ListenUp™ - ListenUp is an audio mixing and attention management system, connecting you deeply with extremely high quality 44KHz audio. Just like a family dinner, there are some people you want to listen to more than others. We’ve made this easy - just increase the size of the person you want to hear more from and make the others smaller. The bigger they are, the louder they become, and visa versa. If everyone is too chatty, the master control lets you quiet the whole group, so you can watch in peace. You’ll wish this option came at family dinners.
- ChalkTalk™ - ChalkTalk lets you vividly express yourself with drawing and color. Give a shout out, play tic-tac-toe, or point out the obvious.
- Standing O™ - Michael Sandel’s lectures are known to get many Standing Os, as are TED talks and all the great classes featured on TogetherLearn. So when you’re so taken by a talk you need to show your gratitude, delight, or encouragement, we let you get up and cheer. And if one of your friends does something great, you can give them a Standing O as well.
Availability
Now available In Preview exclusively in Apple’s App Store for the iPad 2 and all new iPads. Also connects with Apple TV for big-screen Gatherings. To get the Together Learning suite:
1. Get TogetherTalks, TogetherJustice or TogetherLearn from the App Store on your iPad
2. Sign up for a free Spin ID
3. Invite friends, family or colleagues to start or join live Gatherings, and have fun together!
TogetherLearn is currently featured by Apple in its iTunes Education Spotlight: http://www.apple.com/itunesnews/education/ and was featured as “New and Noteworthy” in App Store’s Education category.
About Net Power & Light
Based in the Presidio of San Francisco, Net Power & Light is an experience company, creating a whole new world of being together. Net Power & Light will be bringing more Together experiences to people in the coming weeks. In the meantime, go to www.getspin.com to learn more.
for Net Power & Light
Ashley Seashore, 415-365-0222
ashley.seashore@bitecommunications.com
Source: Net Power & Light