Voices | CASIO Institute for Educational Development | CASIO | CASIO

Developing a Scientific Calculator
That Is Easier for Everyone to Use

We believed that our existing scientific calculator series had already reached its final form, but when we visited schools around the world and asked for fresh feedback, we found that many thought that the unique specifications of the scientific calculator made it difficult to navigate the existing product intuitively.

I then recalled my own experience as a student, when I failed an exam because I did not know how to use the scientific calculator.

It doesn't matter if the calculator is high-performance if it is too difficult to use. We thought it was important to make the new model easier to use and encourage people to want to use it, and decided on a product concept of ”Approachability.“

Furthermore, currently in educational settings across the world, the trend is to promote not just math ability, but also the 4 Cs of learning skills, which include creativity and critical thinking. With this in mind, we added features that get students interested in math, such as features that allow students to perform simulations on the calculator.

We would like to continue developing products that boost people’s curiosity with everyone involved in educational settings.

The requirements of primary and secondary education are changing significantly against a backdrop of globalization and rapid technological development. With only traditional educational methods, which emphasize the transfer of knowledge and technologies, we will not be able to respond to a rapidly changing society. There is now a global demand for education that builds 21st century skills, which include information creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving skills, communication skills, and project-based skills. At the same time, there is also a demand for the active use of ICT.

In this time we find ourselves in, in order to build a world where anyone can find learning fun and to continue to contribute to education, we developed ClassPad.net, a fully cloud-based classroom support tool that we released for Japan. 

It serves as a first-step tool that teachers and students can use without hesitation even with no experience in classes that use ICT. And for those who are already well-versed in the use of ICT, it can act as a tool that enables even deeper learning. We developed the tool in close collaboration with classrooms.

We are in a phase globally where education that makes use of ICT is still being introduced. Teachers in countries all over the world are engaged in trial and error. Looking to the future, we are working on the development of products for overseas markets, and we would like to continue to contribute to education worldwide.