Supporting Children with Hyperrealistic Oracles for Learning through Augmented Reality
What is Project SCHOLAR?
Project SCHOLAR is an innovative approach to increase the literacy of elementary-aged children, especially students with disabilities, through the use of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AR) based intelligent virtual agent that interacts with students, providing real-time feedback and positive reinforcement.
THE MOTIVATION
Literacy is a skill that drastically affects a child’s ability to succeed in school, and subsequently, the real world. Reading is essential for learning subjects like science, mathematics, and technology; without foundational reading skills, students fall behind.
The distribution of resources in rural areas poses barriers to the development of strong foundational skills, particularly for students with disabilities. SCHOLAR hopes to bridge the gap by providing extra support to the students who need it and enabling teachers to reach more students in the classroom.
THE PROCESS
We’ve divided this project into 5 key steps:
-
The Enhancement phase will have us take our existing model and research to the next level by exploring through co-design the feasibility of independent implementation of SCHOLAR, which means ensuring that training can be provided to teachers, and that there is on-going support and communication.
-
Next, we’ll refine SCHOLAR through iterative development, using co-design activities with both teachers and students. This way we’ll get feedback and data needed to accurately address any flaws in the system.
-
This phase will see the pilot test of SCHOLAR. We’ll conduct a pilot study over a larger group of teachers and students, selected from schools best suited to identify a wide range of needs and identities.
-
Once we’ve incorporated the feedback and improvements, we’ll conduct an evaluation of the system by selecting a small group of teachers and students to use SCHOLAR as it would be disseminated, with researchers no longer playing the role of helping teachers closely, rather, letting the system operate for itself.
-
Once Project SCHOLAR has passed the Evaluation phase, we’ll share our findings through scientific and educational outlets, such as research journals, and more accessible mediums like a project website and social media presence full of project activities, pictures, and milestones.
OUR TARGET AUDIENCE
Project SCHOLAR will engage students struggling with reading in first through third grade, especially those with disabilities. Using proven literacy curriculum, we hope that this system, once designed and tested here in North Carolina, will be able to be used across the country.
THE MANUAL
Are you a teacher or parent implementing SCHOLAR into your students’ practice? Or simply just interested in learning more about the project and technology?
The SCHOLAR Manual includes:
Startup instructions
Help guides for common technical issues
Frequently-asked questions about SCHOLAR
FOLLOW THE PROJECT
SCHOLAR is funded through the Office of Special Education Programs under the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) through the Stepping-Up Technology Implementation grant.
Currently, Katabasis is working to refine the SCHOLAR application, with our partners at WestEd and the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI) providing key insights into the best reading pedagogy practices. We are also partnered with Jones County and Granville County, where we host co-design sessions with teachers to understand the assets and challenges of reading classrooms, gather feedback on the SCHOLAR program, and design improvements to the application.
To follow this project, feel free to visit our social media channels. We hope to see you there!
This project is made possible with support from the Office of Special Education Programs, under the U.S. Department of Education.
Special thank you to our project partners:
WestEd and University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI)
Jones County and Granville County