Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
which they lead in the week before the interview
and in which they would have wanted the absent
child to participate, if an ICT-tool was already
at their disposal at that moment. Most of them
chose a project-based activity. One teacher said
for example:
(i) A need for qualitative video and audio
streams allowing the sick children to see
and hear what is going on in the classroom;
(ii) A need for active participation through the
use of remote control functions such as mov-
ing the webcam at the class-end, zoom in on
the blackboard, request the teacher's atten-
tion by pushing a button, etc. Furthermore,
an easy way to pass on notes, worksheets,
etc. is needed to keep the remote children
involved. For the transmission of documents,
a printer and scanner are necessary because
a lot of participating teachers indicated that
the use of digital documents is still scarce in
education. Paper-based text materials should
be easily and quickly transferable to the sick
child.
(iii) A need for asynchronous functionalities such
as a storage place to post all kinds of mes-
sages and content, an online lesson schedule
and an online school diary.
“We are going on sea classes next month. The
next lessons of geography and biology will aim at
giving the pupils background information about
the sea. Normally X misses all geography and
biology lessons, but if she wants to join us on
this trip, I think it is important she has had the
preparation. Moreover, I think it is important to
give her the feeling of 'knowing what's going on'
or the feeling of being prepared. It is a kind of
creating an atmosphere.”
Within these projects, they would use ICT-tools
for practical, hands-on activities, such as creating
an exhibition and performing energy experiments
because this kind of activities are actually missed
by the remote children.
Because all the formulated requirements seem
related to the instructional process, children and
teachers were explicitly asked what requirements
they have with regard to their needs concerning
social interaction with peers. Both, teachers and
children claimed that the requirements formulated
with regard to instruction are sufficient to meet
social needs as well.
“Within the 'energy-project' they are going to
create and test things. For example, they fill two
boxes of which one is painted black. Both boxes
are placed in the sunshine and they calculate the
differences in temperature.”
“During the music project, I supervised a 'voice
chorus'. We were sitting around a table with six
children and we only used our vocal cords as
instruments.”
DeSIgN PHASe III: TeCHNICAL
DeVeLOPmeNT
Furthermore, a general characteristic of these
practical project activities is the use of group-based
didactical strategies. This finding confirms the
importance of a variety of didactical strategies,
which was already found in design phase I.
The functional analysis permitted us to formu-
late technical requirements for activities for which
teachers would like to use an ICT-tool. The most
important findings and related requirements were:
In this section we elaborate on the development
and implementation of the prototype.
Development of the Prototype
Based on the findings of the first two design phases
a non-working Flash-based mock-up version of the
prototype was developed, divided into a student-
module and a teacher-module.
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