PROJECT PLAN

Inquiry Module
Arianne Labrecque; September 17th, 2019

DESCRIPTION

My subject area of interest is foreign languages, specifically Spanish and French. They have
always been an interest of mine since I was little, as I had to learn a new language at a young
age. I think it also gives you one of the greatest opportunities in life, to be able to communicate
to people from around the world. The technology I imagine myself using in my own classroom is
one where it forces the students to comprehend instructions or directions to complete the task or
build a piece of technology or finish a game​.

SUBJECT AREA OF INTEREST

My subject area of interest is foreign languages, specifically Spanish and French. It had always
been an interest of mine, as I had to learn a new language at a young age and it gave me the
motivation to learn a new one throughout high school. I think it also gives people one of the
greatest opportunities in life, the ability to communicate to people from all over the world. I want
to be able to give people the opportunity to accomplish this in their future.

IGNITED LABS Technology AREA (AI)

I plan on trying out the Google AIY Voice Kit in the IgnitED Lab. I decided to choose
this piece of technology as it would be the most beneficial for my subject area. It would be the
most beneficial as, based on the introduction video, they get to record their own voice and hear it
back once fully recorded.

For each prompt – provide 1 – 2 paragraphs on your research experience using each
technology.
 1. How do you think this technology will (or will not) change the way people learn within
your subject area?

I think this piece of technology will, slightly, change the way people learn within my
subject area as they will make the students be more creative and make them accountable for their
own learning. This will force them to be more creative as this Google AIY Voice Kit is made as
a DIY, or a do it yourself, so they will be forced to become creative in how they would build the
voice kit and how they would use it to create presentations or assess their own knowledge. This
will also force them to be more accountable for their learning due to the fact that if they cannot
seem to make the technology, or use it successfully, then they won’t be able to accomplish the
task at hand that would enhance their learning. Therefore, this would give them more pressure to
build the technology correctly and efficiently.

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?

I think one of the shortfalls of the technology is that it takes around an hour and a half to
build the voice kit. This is a shortfall as an educator as this would make this lesson or project
take up more time than expected or wanted. I think an advancement for this technology would be
to make a model that is smaller, or is easier to build, or is quicker to assemble. This would be
beneficial for those who would want to build one with small children, who can become impatient
very easily, and for educators in the classroom. This would benefit educators as it wouldn’t take
up as much class time as the current model does, and would make it easier to store or bring home
if students need to do so.

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?

This technology could be used in many different ways, even possibly outside of
recreational use. People have been known to use the Google AIY Voice Kit to create their own
version of the Google Home, without having to buy the original model. But, I had also imagined
other situations where it could be used outside of the home. Cops and detectives could use the
Google AIY Voice Kit to record confessionals during interrogations or discussions with
suspects. Although it is unlikely, it could be a creative and unsuspected way for cops and
detectives to record confessions while undercover or during face to face interrogations.

IGNITED LABS Technology AREA (XR)

I plan on trying out the Oculus Rift in the IgnitED Lab. I chose this piece of technology
as it would be the most beneficial for my subject area. This would be the most beneficial as,
based on the prior knowledge I have on Virtual Reality technology, students would have the
ability to play games or complete tasks by listening to directions in the language I am teaching,
Spanish or French.

For each prompt – provide 1 – 2 paragraphs on your research experience using each
technology.

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

I think this piece of technology will, partially, change the way people will learn within
my subject area as it will force them to interact more during those activities, be accountable for
their learning, and boost their listening skills. It will force them to interact more during those
activities as they will be asked to accomplish tasks using the Oculus Rift to make sure that they
comprehend what they were told to do. This will also make them more accountable for their
learning as they would be responsible for accomplishing the tasks at hand and making sure that
they personally understand what is being told of them to do. Lastly, this will boost their listening
skills as they will be tasked to understand what is being told of them, in the language that they
are studying, and be able to accomplish what they understood.

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?

I think one of the shortfalls of this technology is the fact that it is not very affordable for
teachers. I think it is a pretty big shortfall, as someone who is becoming an educator, as it would
be very difficult for someone earning a teacher’s salary, or less, to purchase the Oculus Rift and,
nonetheless, be able to implement it into the classroom. I think an advancement that could be
made on the technology is a version that could somehow be used online, while still offering the
handheld remotes to physically complete the tasks for muscle memory. This would be beneficial
for lower income schools and even teachers who earn a lower salary and would have to purchase
the technology out of their own pocket.

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?

This technology could be used in many different ways, even possibly outside of
recreational use. Of course, products like Oculus Rift have been used to play video games or
mini games online. But, I can also imagine it being used in far more productive ways in society. I
can see products like Oculus Rift being used as a form of training for certain jobs like police
officers, surgeons, firemen, military, and others. Although it is not as beneficial as being thrown
into real-life situations for them to train, it could be a good way to test them with products like
Oculus Rift before they are thrown into those situations.

IGNITED LABS Technology AREA (IoT)

I plan on trying out the Dell Interactive Monitor in the IgnitED Lab. I chose this piece of
technology because I think it would be the most useful in my classroom, based on the content I
want to teach. I believe using the Dell Interactive Monitor in the classroom would enhance
interaction from students in the classroom and with the content.

For each prompt – provide 1 – 2 paragraphs on your research experience using each
technology.

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

I think this technology will improve the way people learn within my content area as it
will force students to interact more with other students and would make them more accountable
for their learning. Using this technology would force them to interact more with other students as
they would have to collaborate to accomplish activities on the Dell Interactive Monitor, or rely
on their peers for them to succeed in confidence. Using this technology would also make
students more accountable for their learning as they would have to decide how much effort they
will put into using the Dell Interactive Monitor when in class, and if they don’t want to put the
effort then that will affect their own learning.

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?

I believe that the biggest shortfall of the Dell Interactive Monitor is that it is very
expensive, and may be difficult for an educator to purchase. This is a big shortfall as it makes it
hard to be accessible for a single educator, and may be difficult to convince a whole school or
district to pay for such a purchase for every classroom. I think the advancements they should
make would be to make it easier to update and give the ability to change the display. Making it
easier to update would benefit educators who need to prepare for class quickly, and if it is
difficult to update it then it could make the lesson difficult to execute. Also, giving the ability to
change the display on the monitor could enhance creative thinking in the classroom and create
new activities during the lesson involving designing displays.

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?

I believe that the uses of the Dell Interactive Monitor are very limited as it needs to
involve the internet or applications that can be downloaded on the monitor. But, those
applications can be used in good and bad ways. The good intentions could revolve around
creating content that could benefit non-profit organizations or bring attention to issues around the
world like climate change. The bad intentions could revolve around hacking people’s
applications or accounts on applications like Instagram and Snapchat. Other bad intentions could
be using content in aggressive manors that would hurt others like using anonymous calling
services like Omegle or even downloading illegal content. The only thing I think people should
be wary of is how students decide to use the Dell Interactive Monitor, making sure it is good
intentions and not bad ones.

Research conclusions
 Doing this project plan gave me the opportunity to discover new things about technology,
especially things that could be used in my future classroom. First, I discovered that I can easily
use AI products, like the Google AIY Voice Kit in the classroom to teach my content. I also
learned that I can use gaming consoles, like the Nintendo Switch or the Oculus Rift, to
demonstrate lessons or interact with the content. To add on, I discovered that the Dell Interactive
Monitor is a piece of technology that will make executing lessons easier. Each of the
technologies were never things I had ever thought of incorporating into my classroom, but now I
hope that I will be able to.

I think these pieces of technology have a lot of potential in improving the way we interact
with technology in general in the education field. They will be able to increase the interaction
from the student to the content, which will most likely increase their success in the course. It will
also give students fun alternatives to complete in class activities and possible assessments. For
example, instead of using Quizlet or Kahoot, they can complete missions on the Oculus Rift.
But, it could also take away from the learning as students would be more focused on using the
technology or wanting to use the technology over receiving knowledge from their educator.

Personal LEarning experience

Having the opportunity to research and try out these pieces of technology was rewarding
and educational, for me at least, as it gave me ideas for technology I would want to include in my
own classroom. I have definitely learned that pieces of technology that were designed for
entertainment can still be used for educational purposes. I feel like I would, personally, learn
better through these technologies as it would give me practice in how I can include the content in
some parts of my daily life. For example, using the Dell Interactive Monitor to create a movie or
design a website can show me how I can apply my skills in future assignments I will have to
accomplish.