Inquiry Unit Project  

Taylor Carstens & OCT 16, 2020

SUBJECT AREA OF INTEREST

My subject area of interest is the ways that technology can be used to work with
educators and teachers rather than against them (think push of people to replace
teachers with computer learning). I think that with the help of artificial intelligence,
extended reality, and internet of things the technologies can be used as learning tools
for young teachers seeing as the current mode of earning student teaching looks
extremely different in the time of COVID-19. I think it can also give a personalized map
for students and teachers.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

You will need to research and cite 2-3 sources using APA Format for your response in
this area.

For each prompt - replace the text with 3-5 sentences summarizing your research and
discusses the Artificial Intelligence (AI) application/technology you explored.

1. How do you think this technology will (or will not) change the way people
learn within your subject area?​ ​I think that the technology of artificial
intelligence will change the way that teachers and administrators understand the
needs of the students and their learning (Plitnichenko, 2020). By using artificial
intelligence, the students can take an online test of sorts that will help the teacher
to figure out the area of academic focus that the student needs support in. This
type of technology in education already exists in a form of standardized testing
on computers, but I think that the change that this technology had on education
fell short in ways. The current AI that is used in these tests are not examined by
educators after, so the AI does not do much to the cause.
2. What are some of the shortfalls of this technology currently? What
advancements (technologic or otherwise) are needed for this technology to
reach its potential to transform the way we learn?​ T ​ he current short falls of
this technology is that artificial intelligence can get out of control and create
 confusion among itself and the users of the technology (Barmby, 2018). In order
to best understand the learning of the students and where they might need help,
the AI would need to have input from any different styles of pedagogy. This
would be difficult for the engineer and the teachers to collaborate because they
both have different outlooks on life. AI would need to become easily accessible
for creation by those outside of engineering.
3. Describe how this technology might be utilized (for good or bad) outside of
its original intended purpose? Do you foresee anything we should be wary
of?​ ​The technology of AI can be utilized for more than just getting us what we
want quickly. I watched (as I am sure many others have) the Social Dilemma
which gave an insight into how artificial intelligence can get out of control and
away from the intended consequences. I think that in the context of education,
the intention with the AI for the computer testing probably was to help understand
where a student is lacking in support, but because there wasn’t an easy way to
understand it for teachers, the information stays out of reach. Where does this
data from the students now go? I think that we need to be weary of the lack of
transparency of AI.

Extended Reality (XR)

You will need to research and cite 2-3 sources using APA Format for your response in
this area.

For each prompt - replace the text with 3-5 sentences summarizing your research and
discusses the Extended Reality (XR) application/technology you explored.

1. How do you think this technology will (or will not) change the way people
learn within your subject area?​ ​Extended Reality is already changing the way
that students are able to interact with lessons that have been planned for them.
For example, if a student were to be assigned a lesson on the anatomy of a
human, rather than dissecting something, the student would put on XR goggles
that would show them an interactive body to understand (​Extended Reality in
Education: Benefits and Examples​ 2019). This would change the ways that
hands-on learners are able to understand the knowledge.
2. What are some of the shortfalls of this technology currently? What
advancements (technologic or otherwise) are needed for this technology to
reach its potential to transform the way we learn?​ C ​ urrently some of the
shortfalls of this technology are that it would be extremely expensive to have
enough XR goggles for the number of students that might want/benefit from it.
With XR goggles currently ranging from 249 to 999 dollars per goggle set
 (Tankovska & 1, 2020), there must be a change in the pricing for the technology
to reach its full potential in schools.
3. Describe how this technology might be utilized (for good or bad) outside of
its original intended purpose? Do you foresee anything we should be wary
of? E​ xtended Reality and the ways that it has expanded the understanding of
what we know as our current reality can both push us to be creative and
innovative. To solve the worlds problems, but it can also act as something that
makes us escape the problems that are hard to face in our personal lives. I think
that we should be wary of the ways that XR would act as escapism. I guess that
means that the it could be important to keep the prices of XR and VR goggles as
high as they are so that it is not easily accessible, but in the lens of education, it
could still serve as a powerful tool.

Internet of Things (IoT)

You will need to research and cite 2-3 sources using APA Format for your response in
this area.

For each prompt - replace the text with 3-5 sentences summarizing your research and
discusses the Internet of Things (IoT) application/technology you explored.

1. How do you think this technology will (or will not) change the way people
learn within your subject area?​ ​I think that IoT is going to do good and bad in
the realm of education. It will be good because it allows for students that have
things like Google Home and Alexa to receive answers to quick facts, but it may
also increase the reliance on technology. I think that there should always be
room for students to not have to memorize everything, but there are standards
put forth by education departments that students have to meet and reliance on
IoT won’t help students to meet those goals.
2. What are some of the shortfalls of this technology currently? What
advancements (technologic or otherwise) are needed for this technology to
reach its potential to transform the way we learn?​ ​Some of the current
shortfalls of IoT is that it asks a lot of the user to give data and privacy
information, which allows for possible hacking. This comes as a concern when
children are using the IoT to do homework or to interact with lessons and peers
because children can be taken advantage of by people on the internet (Burgess,
2018). For IoT to reach its potential and transform the ways that we learn, there
needs to be better conversations around how the technology is connecting to
other areas in our lives and our other devices (Burgess, 2018).
 3. Describe how this technology might be utilized (for good or bad) outside of
its original intended purpose? Do you foresee anything we should be wary
of?​ A
​ s addressed in the previous question, IoT might be utilized for bad from its
original purpose through hackers. I would love to be able to say that an Alexa of
Google Home in the classroom would be a great example to teach children about
the balance between technology and in-class learning standards, but the
technology is too complicated for an outright statement like that. There have
been too many instances of hacking on these devices and tech people have
proven the ways that these devices are being hacked (​Security Research Labs
GmbH)​ , and therefore, the privacy of my students would be a huge concern to
me.

Research Conclusions

I think that the future of these technologies are going to be overall good, if we can make
sure that privacy is at the forefront of engineering. We also need to make sure that the
people who are engineering the technologies have taken ethics classes to ensure that
they want the best for humanity in their creation and advancement of these
technologies.

Overall, I think that those changes need to be made before there can be confidence that
the technologies of AI, XR, and IoT can be used as education tools. I can guess that
there will be other technologies that will come about as stepping stones from the current
way that classrooms operate to the ways that they could operate with more AI, XR, and
IoT.

Personal Learning experience

I think that before doing this assignment, I had my reserves about technology in
education because of how much fear I see in the older generation of educators that I
know regarding job security. I think that the movie The Social Dilemma also shaped my
understanding and fear about AI. After this project, I am still weary of the technology. I
think that these technologies are gatekept too much, making them difficult for others to
understand. Although the technology may be fun to use, I think that the public is not
aware of the downfalls that come with these still young technologies (I say this as an
“innovator”). I learn better when not using these types of technology except I guess as I
type this right now, the predictive AI to finish my words in Google Docs are pretty
helpful.
References

Barmby, J. (2018, September 11). Why AI continues to fall short... for now.
Retrieved October 19, 2020, from
https://www.mycustomer.com/community/blogs/jack-barmby/why-ai-continues-to-fa
ll-short-for-now

Burgess, M. (2018, February 16). What is the Internet of Things? WIRED explains.
Retrieved October 19, 2020, from
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/internet-of-things-what-is-explained-iot

Extended Reality in Education: Benefits and Examples. (2019, December 26).

Retrieved October 19, 2020, from
https://www.nextgyn.com/extended-reality-in-education-xr/

Plitnichenko, L. (2020, May 29). 5 Main Roles Of Artificial Intelligence In

Education. Retrieved October 19, 2020, from
https://elearningindustry.com/5-main-roles-artificial-intelligence-in-education

Security Research Labs GmbH. (n.d.). Retrieved October 19, 2020, from
https://srlabs.de/bites/smart-spies/

Tankovska, P., & 1, S. (2020, September 01). Reported price of leading consumer
VR headsets 2019. Retrieved October 19, 2020, from
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1096886/reported-price-of-leading-consumer-vr-
headsets-by-device/