PROJECT PLAN

Inquiry Module

Tyler McGuire & September 17th, 2019

Description
I am interested in teaching Secondary Education with either History or Science. I believe that or
my history classes I should look at technologies that are going to give the students a visual aid
in our topic areas. In my science classes, I believe that most new technologies can be
implemented in many ways. For science, students can use these technologies to get a visual
aid, experiment with different topics, or even use it as a project.

SUBJECT AREA OF INTEREST

I am choosing Secondary Education Sciences. I believe that there are many more uses for
technological advancements in the science field rather than history.

IGNITED LABS Technology AREA (AI)

I will be working with Siri for my AI area. Siri is used on every apple product and most
times, students will have this product with them. I believe it will be used in my classroom and on
various of my assignments.

I believe that Siri will work very well for my classroom. I used the application various
times in my classes when I had small questions I could quickly look up and get multiple
resources of information to. I encourage the usage of Siri and will continue on into my
classroom. I believe that students work better when they are in a natural environment, their
phone is a part of their natural environment.

Some shortfalls of this technology include the phone microphone not accurately picking
up the words and messing up the inquiry. As well as the resources given not being sufficient.
Various times I have been using siri and it messes up a single word and the whole sentence
comes out wrong. This usually gives the prompted “I do not understand” phrase.

Another shortfall would be that Siri is not always reliable and gives wikipedia as its main
source. As everyone knows by now, wikipedia is an untrusted source and an application I would
be utilizing in a learning environment should not be giving untrusted answers to the inquiries.
Students should be able to ask the question and receive information that is actually useful.

This technology is mainly used to ask quick questions that Siri can easily access
answers to but, sometimes it used to access and utilize other applications on the cell phone.
Students should be focused on their work and should not be working or playing on other things.
I cannot control their Siri and this is where I see the downsides of it. However, while students
are not in class they should still be encouraged to ask quick questions to Siri because they are
not in the instructional hour.

IGNITED LABS Technology AREA (XR)

I plan to explore Virtual Reality Headset. The XR technology would work in a couple different
ways for my science classroom.

This technology will help high school seniors learn more efficiently in my classroom.
They can use these goggles to look at different topic material such as the human body, cells,
and even natural disaster events. I can use various photos and videos to show course material
through the VR system. Students can also create their own images and videos as study material
that they can then use within the VR system.

However, there is a downside to the VR system in the classroom. Teachers and schools
do not receive an abundance of funding, so the system would either be a handful per class or a
single class set. This could make it harder for all students to utilize the technology. If an entire
class only had about 5-10 VR goggles, I would still have to plan out at least 4 full days where
the students would only be working with the goggles and then rotating. This creates too much
down time for other students and can become a problem for their learning.

Shortfalls for the VR system are very small but, the industry for virtual reality is fizzling
out and could create issues in the classroom. The XR trend started very strong with millions in
funding but the need for them was too low and the satisfactory levels were not high enough. If I
were to purchase 5 VR goggles for my classroom, it would not only cost heavily but I would also
have to budget in when they break. This would be running a huge deficit for funding in my
classroom and would be a problem for me.

Another problem is that the industry is changing its intended audience and becoming
more focused on adjusting their product to them. On average, my classroom will be anywhere
from 25-40 students per hour block. This means I will have to find goggles cheap enough and
easy enough for all 175 students minimum a day. I believe the biggest shortfall of the VR
system is it is not a reliable product for how classrooms are run.

There are very few ways my students would be able to use the VR system in a good
way. These include looking at course materials, creating study images, viewing videos related to
topic, and creating videos related to topic. However, there are many negative ways a group of
high school students would be able to use the system. For a start, they could be looking at any
number of things they are not supposed to be and I would not be able to monitor it well. They
could also be messing around and breaking the system and not reporting it. The students could
also leave images or videos playing for the next group of students that will negatively impact
their learning.

IGNITED LABS Technology AREA (IoT)

I will be looking at 3D printing as an IoT technology. This device could be tremendous in a
scientific experimentation classroom. Students could utilize it in so many different ways!

I believe 3D printing would be amazing in my science lab classes. The student body
could use it to make different models of the materials and get a physical copy of the topic. I think
this would be amazing for the students to get hands on learning rather than just looking at
pictures of the material. In science, there are many things that are taught to students that they
cannot get their hands onto because it is against school policy or is really expensive. During
anatomy labs, I would not be allowed to have a full cadaver in the room. This would also be
hard for some students to look at or smell because it is a real life person.

Some of the shortfalls of this technology include its price and the long wait times. In
schools, funding is a huge problem and will probably always be a huge problem. 3D printers are
no cheap feat and the rate at which the students would be using it would require lots of funding
into just one thing. Also, the printer is not an instantaneous process. It would take long periods
of time to print and receive the material before the students would even get to use them. This
could slow down the track of learning.

This technology seems like a good useful tool but it could be used to print things that are
not allowed or even just the wrong thing. It takes a while to print one object, so if I were to tell a
student to print a small intestine and they print the large intestine, not only does that waste
materials but it also wastes time. We would have to go back and print the small intestine and
then continue on the learning path. There are also too many budget shortcuts for a school to
have a printer that would actually be used for various reasons.

Research conclusions
I found three very strong technologies to help with my teaching experiences. The application
Siri, VR goggles, and the 3D printer are very good for hands on learners. Siri is something I had
previous experience with and I really liked it. I believe that the students will too. VR goggles are
a great way to get students to see something from multiple points of view and get an overall
picture of the material.
Personal LEarning experience
I have a very strong understanding of the materials now. I believe I found a vast amount of ways
I can incorporate this into my teaching. My students should be able to get an abundance of use
out of each product and they should last a while.