Page 10 - THE Journal, March/April 2018

FEATURE | IT TRENDS
Behind the scenes, photos have been taken of every student, teacher and staff member and added to a database used in the vetting process. At first, the school didn’t realize that the system would log a facial record of each individual with date and time as he or she came through. Even- tually, it would run out of room for storage and shut down. Now, every two days the system clears itself.
Also, there’s no way to stop a group of students “tailgating” — coming through the door without it shutting between people. “I don’t think anything is full- proof,” England acknowledged. Yet it serves its purpose for those non-rush moments when foot traffic is more of a trickle, fewer people are paying attention and somebody could slip in unnoticed.
Responding to Questions
One day we’ll all have a JARVIS, like Tony Stark does, to manage almost everything. Until then, we have voice assistants — at least for the little things. When students come into the elementary library at St. Anne’s-Belfield School in Charlottesville, NC, they can ask the trained librarian,
What Is IoT?
The Internet of Things describes the idea of common objects being connected to the internet to generate and exchange
data. For example, a beacon could send out a signal to another system, such as a phone, to log a bit of data and let it know that something — or someone — is there and present.
Sarah FitzHenry, what the title of the latest Diary of a Wimpy Kid book is,
or, better, they can ask Google Home. The $99 voice assistant and speaker combination allows the students to pose questions of fact (“Google, who wrote, ...” “Google, what’s the sum, ...” “Google, when did ...”) or pursue less academic activities (“Google, beatbox, ...” “Google, tell me a joke ...”).
A self-professed “library superhero, part bibliophile, part tech geek, part glitter,” FitzHenry brought Google Home into the library for several reasons. As
she explained in her personal blog, “Fitz Between the Shelves,” she had a lot of rea- sons for for introducing her young patrons to voice-enabled search. A big motiva-
tor was to “provide easy and immediate answers to low-level questions, allowing more time for deep discussion.” During library time students line up to pose their
questions to the wireless device and, in the process, learn how to phrase and rephrase their research questions “to get the best, most effective answers”; help them become more independent in finding books; and learn about this new form of artificial intelligence “and its role in our lives.”
On top of that, it’s a great lesson in internet safety. FitzHenry tightly controls access to the device. It sits on the counter where she oversees her domain, so she’s continually tuning into the questions students are asking. (If she’s not there, it’s turned off.) Because her school educates the kids starting from a very early age on privacy and online safety, they come with
a good grounding in what to say and not say to Google Home, she told THE Journal. They understand, for example, not to share personal information about themselves
or others. “It provides a safe place for
them to experiment and to learn to use it correctly,” she explained. “If they’re using it at home and they’re making mistakes, there might not be an adult around. And here they have an adult to make mistakes safely and learn what to do next.”
Even if IoT hasn’t checkered the world with sensors, it’s still bound to become more prevalent in our lives, “from where we shop to where we dine to where we bank — and eventually where our kids go to school,” observed Clarity’s Burt. It’s going to be there, he said, because there are a lot of benefits: Judicious use of IoT can save us money and time. But, he added, “we have to make sure we’re doing these kinds of things for the right reasons.”
Dian Schaffhauser is a senior contrib- uting editor for 1105 Media’s education publications THE Journal and Campus Technology. She can be reached at dian@dischaffhauser.com or on Twitter @ schaffhauser.
Advice for Dipping into IoT
Involve stakeholders. That’ll prevent adoption of something that tech-savvy people love but users don’t really care about. Bringing everybody else on board “who have a little bit of say in this game” will prevent the purchase
of technology that’s not going to be “used or implemented,” recommended Clarity Innovation’s Steve Burt.
Structure the project as a proof-of-concept. Burt’s advice: Tell stakeholders it’s a test and that the district expects to encounter “some issues.” Also, emphasize that participation is not required and give parents and students the ability to opt out.
Don’t be afraid to fail in front of students. It can be intimidating, said Librarian Sarah FitzHenry. “As teachers we like to know exactly what
we’re doing before we share it with our students. We like to be the ultimate resource. We like to have our lessons perfect before we share them. And I would argue against that. Trying new things together, learning how a new piece of technology or a new piece of software or a new app works alongside your students, making the mistake in front of them and modeling what to do when you make a mistake, can be really powerful. It’s a great opportunity for students to learn skills that they’re going to take with them.”
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| MARCH/APRIL 2018