PROJECT PLAN

Inquiry Module

Gina Primerano Due: Sept 24

DESCRIPTION

I am majoring in Elementary Education. During elementary school, I found it really

effective to be introduced to technology in the classroom because it created a more
engaging environment with the students and teachers and what we were learning.
Technology is becoming very common in the classroom and I really want to familiarize
myself with it as much as possible in order to introduce my students to more fun and
engaging ways of learning.

SUBJECT AREA OF INTEREST

I was most interested in 3D printing technology, the specdrums, and virtual reality
goggles. These three products seemed to be the most hands-on activities that my future
students could really enjoy using as a learning tool. I really like how engaged I felt
learning about the different uses of these tools in the classroom and in the general
everyday world.

IGNITED LABS Technology AREA (AI)

3D printing was definitely something that caught my attention. Although I am familiar
with the idea of this sort of printing, it was cool to see it upfront and to see how many
different shapes and sized objects that could be produced. It is important to provide
your students with resources in the classroom and attainable tools. I think having a 3d
printer could be beneficial to maybe spark personal creativity and could print what
students draw.

How do you think this technology will (or will not) change the way people
learn within your subject area?

3D printing is already something that people of all careers use. It is already being used
in the medical field and the scientific field so why not in the education field. I think it
will change the way people think because it will create more visions into reality. You
could put your thoughts and your design into the computer and have it printed within
that day which is really cool. I think people could easily warm up to the idea of 3D
printing because it is harmless, and simple but effective.

What are some of the shortfalls of this technology currently? What

advancements (technological or otherwise) are needed for this technology
to reach its potential to transform the way we learn?

Some of the shortfalls of this technology are that since everything is technical and on a
computer or program, you don't really have any physical components of what you are
working on. People are also frightened by the idea that so many jobs can easily be done
by a machine or computer. I found myself always going to the computer lab as a young
student to familiarize myself with technology so I am used to having it in my educational
setting. Unfortunately, 3D printing is one part of AI that takes away from human
manufacturing jobs and that could really affect labor-based countries. It is also
something that requires a lot of energy and power and is very costly.

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?

Artificial intelligence scares some people because of how much it could take over a
human's job. Everything that we do is done on the computer in school. Without it, we
wouldn't have access to our assignments, syllabus, or even some tests. It is important to
appreciate artificial intelligence when it is really benefiting you in the long run. 3D
printing is not really harmful in my opinion. It is a very practical way of getting ideas
from paper into a physically attainable object. The only way it could be used poorly is if
objects are created that are not appropriate to the assignment you are doing or the
objects could be potentially dangerous to others. I just know that later down the line of
technological advances, so many more jobs are going to be stripped away because of AI
which is a scary thought.

IGNITED LABS Technology AREA (XR)

The virtual reality goggles grabbed my attention because I just think it is so cool how
you could escape the world and enter into this alternate universe within seconds. This
could be a cool way to teach students who have a hard time adjusting to certain
environments how to learn certain skills that they need. It is also cool how the student
can control what they are doing at any time they are using the goggles.
How do you think this technology will (or will not) change the way people
learn within your subject area?

In an educational setting, virtual reality could really help students explore things
without physically being there. You could travel the world through virtual reality and
you can put yourself into a new environment and experience things hands on. This could
help students get a feel for the real world and understand what's going on outside of
their own bubble. Having this in the classroom can be good for both the student and
teacher because it would be good as a teacher to put yourself in the same shoes as your
students and newly experience things together. This type of technology is one that
everyone could use in all different kinds of working environments

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?

Since virtual reality is so accessible once you have the tools, it could create laziness or
give the impression that you do not have to go far to experience new things. This takes
away from human connection and contact because you could just live inside this little
world and forget about everything else going on around you. In my classroom, I would
make sure that my students are participating in this activity surrounded by others and
as a group activity rather than a solo one. Just like any other type of technology, these
virtual reality goggles are very expensive and not all that easy to attain for one
classroom. I could imagine a school having maybe 2 or 3 sets that every teacher is given
access to. This type of technological advancement could only be available to schools who
could afford them so I don't know if it's all that necessary to have them in the classroom
if everyone cannot have them.

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?

Virtual reality is something that is used for many positive activities such as exploring
new environments, and experiencing catastrophic events and learning how to deal with
them. But with every good thing, there comes bad. Virtual reality could be used for
many malicious acts such as plotting attacks and spying on people. It could damage the
relationship between a person and a human connection and create an addiction to the
virtual world.

IGNITED LABS Technology AREA (IoT)

I really liked the specdrums a lot. I enjoyed how you were able to associate a color with
sound because when you have a classroom of students, each kid is going to be different.
I think this type of technology is important because if you have a student who is blind
and you want to teach them their colors, obviously that is not going to be that easy of an
achievable goal. It's beneficial to them because they could associate a certain color with
the certain sound that the specdrums make when they touch the color.

How do you think this technology will (or will not) change the way people
learn within your subject area?

Physical and visual learning is a very common way students thrive in the classroom.
This is literally a hands on product that is used for entertainment and teaching
purposes. I really like the idea of it being an interactive activity that allows students to
share the type of music they have created. Designing your own kind of sounds can really
make a student feel special and important when they get positive feedback from their
peers. Specdrums are also not that expensive of a product. For one ring it costs 64.99
and for two of them, it costs 99.99. This is not too costly of an expense.

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?

The Internet of Things is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and

digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers
and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or
human-to-computer interaction. In order to use this technology, you do need an
external device such as a tablet or a smartphone to access the app that controls the
rings. Not everyone has access to a tablet or smartphone so that kind of eliminates their
use of the product. The rings are also very small so they may not fit on everyone's finger
size which could be an annoying factor. Editing music also requires an outside program
from the app so you would have to learn which type of app to get aside from the one
connected to the rings.
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?

I cannot really think of anything bad that this device could be used for. There are many
positive uses of the products such as connecting with others, creating your own
individualized sounds, and being able to share what you have created. I also want to
stress the idea that blind people can really utilize this tool as a way of learning through
touch and sound. It could really be an important necessity for them when associating
certain colors with the sounds just like they learn to associate colors with different
feelings and emotions. But this type of technology emphasizes the loss of human contact
which is not something I would want to stress in my classroom.

Research conclusions
I think that we wrap ourselves up in the world of technology too much and should steer
clear from it at times. Getting in tune with nature and the physical world is really
important. But, on the other hand, having resources like the ones I explored really
opened up my eyes to how much technology can improve our world rather than hurt it.
A classroom is a place where it is important to learn something new every day and I
think this technology makes it a lot easier to do so.

Technology is only going to keep improving and it is crucial for us to familiarize

ourselves as educators with it. We are going to have so many different types of students
that are going to need so many different types of resources. We may have blind students
who could find it so useful to be able to feel things out from the 3D printer or to use the
specdrums to associate the color with sound.

Personal Learning experience

After learning about these different pieces of technology, I realized how much more fun
and engaging class would be for me if these resources were available to me. I am a very
visual learner and I really appreciated how hands-on everything in this lab was. I think
it is really important and necessary to familiarize ourselves with upcoming technology
because that is basically the future of our world. The students that we are going to have
in our classroom are going to be even more equipped with technology than we are as the
generations progress. I am really happy that I know about these tools and can possibly
incorporate them into my ways of teaching.
Additional Comments (optional)
It was really cool to explore this lab and to familiarize myself with things I didn't even
know existed.