Students and COVID-19

[CurtN]

My name is George Null and I teach at Somerset Community College in Somerset, KY. I use an older version of MultiSim (2001). I use this program almost daily in my Digital I & II and Devices I classes. I college has been 100% closed down to students and faculty. My question is, is there anything free that my students can use other than the 30 day free trial?

I can not require my students to purchase the student version, particularly at this time when everything is closed by the COVID-19 virus.

Does NI have a plan in place to help thousands of students during this crisis? Textbook publishers have offered free service for x amount of time for normally charged services,

Thank you for any support you can give my students. Not trying to draw sympathy but we just had I first confirmed case of COVID-19 in my county today and that is God's honest truth.

Curt Null

[AristosQueue (NI)]

National Instruments is working on a solution to this. We are aware of many folks caught in problems like this. I will pass along your specific message and try to get you a more official reply in the coming days, maybe even a timetable. Thank you for reaching out to us.

-- Stephen Loftus-Mercer

    LabVIEW R&D Principal Architect

    National Instruments

[altenbach]

Similar issue here.

[elbidweihy]

Stephen,

Any update on this? 

[AristosQueue (NI)]

Not yet. Trust me -- it's on my front burner. I was pushing on co-workers about it earlier this morning to get a status update. We were wanting to do something like this later in the year, and we are trying to reduce months worth of activities into weeks or days, all while working remotely without our full tools. It is... fun? 🙂 I cannot make any promises about timelines, but I can say that a whole lot of NI is trying to make this work as soon as possible.

[CurtN]

I just had a student try to download the Student Version and it kept asking him for a activation code. I even sent him a link to the place to download it and he told me yes, that is what he did. Now I have had about 7 other students that download the Student Version with no problems and are using it right now. Any ideas?

[EricR]

George,

NI has already made all of its online training free through April.  We are working on a message for how to use our software during this time, including the student editions you are currently asking about.  I'm working with the team putting this plan together but they need time to make sure all of the systems to support this are in place.  I am trying to get you a timeline and the plan as I realize you already have students trying to make this work. For now, if you need someone to talk to, please contact me. Here is my contact information.  I am not the right contact for this, but I'll make sure you get this information as soon as we can give it to you.

Eric Reffett | Chief Product Planner | National Instruments |  eric.reffett@ni.com | 512.683.5858

[EricR]

Here is the posting in the academic space at NI that lists the Multisim and LabVIEW Student editions and how to activate them:  https://forums.ni.com/t5/General-Academic-Projects/Free-6-Month-Evaluation-of-LabVIEW-and-Multisim-S...

[EPTodd]

I am a high school teacher and am looking for a way that my students could continue work in an on-line environment. I saw the link in this thread and requested the 6-month trial for the student version. After I clicked on the link, I was accepted for a download of the software.  I have two questions.... My district has provided the students with chrome books, will this software work on a chromebook? Also, the agreement to download requires that I attest that I am a student and will not use the software for "instructional" development.  Does that preclude me from downloading the software?

Thanks!

[rlibros]

Thanks for your efforts in this area.  My students are not experienced with Multisim (we only just recently got our site license).  I have encouraged them to download the student version, but some have informed me they are using a Mac, and so that isn't an option.  

I've been looking at Multisim Live.  Is there some way I can share circuits with the students?  

Thanks,

Randy Libros