PROJECT PLAN

INQUIRY MODULE
ASHLEY O’DELL & SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

DESCRIPTION
The subject area of interest that I have is English. Technology is
advancing and new technologies are being created all the time. I
want to explore technologies that will specifically help students that
are taking an English course. I will be focusing on looking for
technology that would benefit 6th through 12th graders. Finding
technologies that would benefit both the teacher and the students
would be a plus.

SUBJECT AREA OF INTEREST

My subject area of interest is English. I choose English because I

have always enjoyed my English classes throughout my years of
education. I have always held a strong passion towards writing and
reading. Becoming a teacher has always been a part of my career
plan and the idea of teaching English became a reality when I
started high school.

IGNITED LABS TECHNOLOGY AREA (AI)

I decided to explore the Artificial Intelligence application called
GradeCam. After I searched other Artificial Intelligence technology
options, I wanted to learn more about GradeCam because it stood
out to me. A camera that could grade tests and quizzes sounded like
the perfect timesaving technology for a teacher.

After I started looking more into the website, I realized that

one of my teachers has used GradeCam in the past. The student is
given a quiz or test that is multiple choice, true or false, or fill in the
blank and then the teacher can take a picture with the camera to see
the correct and incorrect answers on their desired device (mobile
phone, laptop, etc.). Although I have never taken a fill in the blank
quiz with this technology, I read that GradeCam can read students
handwriting. In my experience, this was a very useful tool because
students would know their score right after they took the exam. It
provides valuable feedback to the teacher as well by showing the
questions that the students answered incorrect the most. This
artificial intelligence technology does require the use of a camera
that is compatible with the program as well as a subscription to
GradeCam.

When it comes to learning English, I believe that this

technology could be used with book quizzes or spelling tests. I think
the quicker process of grading would allow students to be able to
focus more on what they need to improve on. Students will be able
to fix their mistakes sooner rather than later. The bad thing about
this technology is that not every teacher/school/district can afford to
subscribe to GradeCam. If it was more affordable, then more
students and teachers could benefit from this technology. As far as
technological issues, GradeCam is only compatible with certain
cameras. The only bad outcomes I can foresee is if a student gets
ahold of the technology while the teacher is helping another student
or not focused on the device with the scanner and the fact that the
technology is not always accurate. Students could receive higher or
lower scores than they should have received.

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IGNITED LABS TECHNOLOGY AREA (XR)

I discovered that Google offers Extended Reality kits for classroom

use. The official title is: Google Expeditions VR Classroom Kit. Virtual
reality has been known for its use for video game and arcades, but
the idea of it being used in the classroom has been more unheard of.
The discovery of virtual reality made for the classroom sparked my
interest.

The first thing that came into mind after more about the use of
virtual reality in the classroom was how much this could increase
creativity in an English classroom. Students can see the different
sites that the characters in their books have experienced. They can
have a better understanding of what the settings of books look like.
It can give a greater appeal to students to read the books they are
assigned to read in their English classes.

The downfall of this technology is the price. The Google

Expeditions VR Classroom Kit for ten students is about $3,000. Class
sizes are becoming larger and larger. With that being said, the
amount of money that would be needed to provide for each student
would increase. A way to get around this would be for students to
take turns with the VR technology. Health risks are another concern
regarding the use of virtual reality. People have experienced anxiety,
eye strain, headaches, and nausea. I have tried using virtual reality
in an arcade and I found that I did feel dizzy afterwards. I would
want to wait until there are less cases of health concerns before
bringing this into a classroom. The bad part of this technology is that
it could be used by students for non-educational purposes.

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IGNITED LABS TECHNOLOGY AREA (IOT)

After doing some research, I decided to look more into the SMART
Board M600 Series. I chose this technology because it looked like it
would benefit both the teacher and students.

There are many kinds of interactive smart boards available, but

this specific one I believe is the best. It is very easy to use for people
of all ages and it even allows two people to interact with it at the
same time. There is a projector component that allows the teacher
to have projections displayed on the board. Images can be moved
via touch interaction on the board. It has a tray that has places to
hold the pens and buttons that allow the user to switch to different
ink colors, erase, use a moose, pull up a keyboard, and more.

I believe that this technology would be very beneficial to use in

an English course. Activities such as brainstorming can be more
engaging and interactive by having students write their ideas on the
SMART board. I think this would change the way people learn
because it would be introducing a new type of technology that would
allow more hands-on learning. A shortfall of this technology is the
price comparison of it to a regular whiteboard. SMART boards, in
general, are typically thousands of dollars while traditional
whiteboards are in the $100 to $300 range. Another con to this
technology would be that technology is not always reliable while a
classic whiteboard is. Perfecting the technology to avoid technical
issues such as sensor issues would be key to making the SMART
board better. This technology could be utilized in a poor way by
having students draw inappropriate things on the board. This could
happen before, during, or after class.

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RESEARCH CONCLUSIONS

After conducting research, I discovered three technologies that

I feel would benefit many classrooms. GradeCam would allow faster
grading for the teacher as well as quicker results for the students.
The Google Expeditions VR Classroom Kit would allow students to
travel outside of their classroom without the actual travel aspect
involved. The SMART Board M600 Series would integrate a more
interactive classroom. Students can become more engaged in their
learning and teachers can provide a more entertaining way to get
the information across.

Concerning the subject of English, these technologies would be

powerful tools in the classrooms. I feel that it would bring more
positive than negative outcomes if these were used in a classroom.
This would increase the use of technology in the classroom and
technology tends to make tasks more efficient. Students are being
offered more ways to replace their usual school supplies with
technology. The use of eBooks instead of paper books to read.
Computers instead of a notebook and pencil to take notes. Whether
these replacements are considered good or not is a matter of
opinion. I believe that if technology is bettering a student and/or a
teacher in the classroom and improving learning, then it is a positive
technology that should continue being used. The only potential I can
see of removing these technologies is if there are extreme health
risks for either the teacher or the students.

PERSONAL LEARNING EXPERIENCE

My experience with GradeCam was very positive. When my

teacher used this technology in one of my high school science
courses, it was very helpful. He used it for our science quizzes, but
not tests. He liked being able to grade tests himself since they were
weighed more in the gradebook and he wanted to make sure there

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were no technical errors occurring in test scores. For me, as a
student, it was a very useful tool because I knew my score right
away and what questions I got wrong. Once everyone finished the
quiz, my teacher would go through the questions that most people in
the class got wrong. It was a quick way for the class to learn from
their mistakes. I feel that I learned better through using this
technology.

Although I have not used virtual reality in a classroom setting,

I can say that the idea of it becoming a learning tool is an intriguing
idea. The Google Expeditions VR Classroom Kit sounds like a great
tool for the age group I want to teach: sixth through twelfth graders.
They would be able to use the technology responsibly and
understand how to use it. The only thing I can see being a bad thing
is the current health issues that come with using virtual reality. I
believe that once these health issues are fixed, even small ones such
as headaches, then this technology would bring better learning
experiences into the classroom.

The idea of using a SMART board in a classroom setting comes

to me as interesting. It would replace the traditional whiteboard and
become a more powerful resource. I have never actually used a
SMART board, but I have seen it being used in one of my classes. A
SMART board was installed in one of my classes at the end of the
year. I never got a chance to use it, but it was greatly appreciated
by my teacher. I feel that I learned better using the SMART board
once my teacher figured out how to use it.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS (OPTIONAL)

After finishing this project, my mind went right to the question: how
many schools in the United States have implemented at least one of
these technologies into their education systems?