INTERFACE FOR LEARNING

– Bachelor Thesis: A concept for digital school education

The concept includes a scaleable system on school subjects, years and educational systems. In one consistent environment the editing of the content of all subjects takes place. The result is a collection of principles which offers discipline-specific accesses and overall standards at the same time. This builds a frame for digital learning.

Institutional education exists to prepare its learners for their future in an increasingly technologized and globalized world. Therefore it lacks in an integral and digital system with a student-centered orientation. To that, teaching and learning materials often are dated.
A digital solution allows a more selective, easier and faster implementing of content in comparison to analogue formats. Cross-curricular links, a simplified management of the everyday school life, automated feedback or personalized learning processes which fit the students individual needs are also possible with the usage of modern technology.

2017 – final semester, in collaboration with Lena Sommnitz and under the lead of Prof. Jens Döring & Prof. Michael Götte.

Workspace

The digital device works as a tool in the center of the workplace but is not the universal tool – still, there are other utensils like pen and paper or laboratory equipment in chemistry which should not be displayed or replaced digitally. An external keyboard offers the biggest working surface on the screen as possible. In this example, the concept is shown on the iPad Pro. Laptops and other tablet PCs are thinkable as long as a comfortable screen size and compatibility are given.

Use Case 1 – Geography: Knowledge transfer and exercises

The school day starts with geography and a new chapter. Every chapter has an introduction and in this example, it faces the topic of man-made places. After finishing it, the curricular contents show up.

Each topic is a One-Pager. There are multimedia possibilities to show content and to support deeper learning.

By swiping down, an index can be displayed. Every subject treats between 3 and 8 chapters every year which are represented by the cards. Beneath, there are some widgets on the management which the student can choose.

Tasks are shown as buttons and work as anchors to link the layers of content and editing. By choosing one task the editing opens side by side in a split screen to the contents. This mode shows the maximal complexity of the system. The active layer is framed in turquoise.

If content and editing do not have to happen simultaneously, they can always be shown in full screen by swiping one out to the left or right.

Use Case 2 – Maths: Personalized feedback

Especially in Maths the possibilities of making the invisible things visible are huge. This sequence shows how the unit circle works.

At the end of every topic, there are training tasks which have different formats indicated by icons. One format is feedback. In this training, the student can check its results and gets rewarding compliments from the system.

Use Case 3 – Politics: Extras and Collaboration

For content across topics, there is a layer to swipe up from the bottom of the screen. Every subject has three to six extras like a periodic system, a calculator, stopwatch or a news feed.

The ability to work in a team is an essential aspect to teach the students. The interface provides a group mode which can be started by the teacher. A waiting-screen introduces the team members and as soon as the team comes together, the group work starts.

Icons & Illustrations

The icons represent some of the interface’s functions and tools. In greyish colors, they are inactive and get violet with a blue filling when activated.
The illustrations are for example used for gamification aspects after completing an exercise. They come in a minimal animated way.

︎ Download our thesis documentation (language: german)

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