Synthesis

02.Models

Intelligent Agent Functionality

From our research, we determined that there are two main areas of opportunity in the kindergarten classroom that can be faciliated/improved upon by our intelligent agent, KinderTab. Although we initially started with twenty scenarios, we finished by capturing a reduced set of needs that were most supported through our research and interview data. These include the functional and social interaction areas that we synthesized from our user research and concept validation. The former includes tasks that the teacher often performs that are tedious and which take away her time from focusing on the more important/valuable aspects of teaching. The latter includes tasks that help foster the social interactions between teachers and students and those between students and other students in order to help them develop cognitive and learning skills.

We found that the functional capabilities that are most desired by teachers and can be facilitated are taking attendance, organizing students to leave the classroom, and tracking student belongings. The areas for social interactions include both the interactions between teachers and students and those between students and other students. This includes the interactive chalkboard. In addition to these separate areas, we also found that there is significant overlap between functional capabilities and social interactions that can be improved upon by the Smart Classroom. These include the reward system, recording circle time conversations, and seating arrangements.

To better represent our findings, we have placed them into a Venn Diagram Model for visual reference: