Ubiquitous Computing in the Classroom: An Approach through
(Castilla-La Mancha University, Spain
(Castilla-La Mancha University, Spain
(Autonomous University of Tamaulipas, Mexico
Abstract: In recent years, there have been many efforts at research
towards obtaining the simple and natural use of computers, with interfaces
closer to the user. New visions such as that of the Ubiquitous Computing
paradigm emerge. In Ubiquitous Computing the computer is distributed in
a series of devices with reduced functionality, spread over the user's
environment and communicating wirelessly. With these, context-aware applications
are obtained. In this paper we present an approach to the classroom context
by identification process using RFID technology, as an implicit input to
the system. The main goal is to acquire natural interaction, because the
only requirement for the user (teacher or student) is to carry a device
(smart label), identifying and obtaining context services. Some of these
services and the mechanisms that make them available are described here,
together with a scenario of their use in the classroom.
Keywords: ubiquitous computing, RFID, implicit interaction, context
K.3.2, F.1.2, H.5.2, I.2.6
For a large number of people in multiple and diverse environments, computers
are tools which are used more and more frequently. Some factors such as
price and power have been decisive in their present day, massive-scale
use. We are, however, still a long way from making this technology profound
and indistinguishable from the setting in which it is embedded. What is
really sought is for the user to concentrate on the task rather than on
the tool. The Ubiquitous Computing vision [Weiser, 91]
proposes the invisible computer and yet at the same time it also advocates
its omnipresence, as it approaches users with more intuitive and natural
interfaces [Ishii, 97][Harrison,
98]. The main goal is to distribute the computer around the workplace,
creating more versatile devices for solving simple processes, using wireless
communications- all this as an aide to us in our daily activities. Thus
we will transfer computer capabilities to the environment.
Research in this field is looking towards user interface models with
a continuous presence, showing information at different attention levels,
connecting physical and virtual events and seeking the evolution of communication
In this paradigm, new forms of interaction are required. In
traditional explicit interaction, the user asks the system to carry
out the action through sophisticated interfaces. This kind of
interaction contradicts the paradigm base of invisible computing. If
possible, we need to find more natural interactions without an
explicit dialogue of user-computer. Albrecht Schmidt [Schmidt, 00, 05] proposes a
definition of Implicit Human Interaction (iHCI):
"iHCI is the interaction of a human with the environment and with
artefacts which is aimed to accomplish (sic) a goal. Within this process,
the system acquires implicit input from the user and may present implicit
output to the user"
Schmidt defines implicit input as an action recognized and interpreted
by the system, but which is not primarily a user action, also affirming
that Implicit Output is not directly related to an explicit input and is
fully integrated into the context. Finally, Schmidt argues that the system
can anticipate the user's needs and provide support.
Some efforts are contributing to this paradigm research in the context
of education, especially at universities. Weiser proposes the campus as
an environment where the benefits of Ubiquitous Computing can be seen most
clearly, an environment that places hundred of PCs, Handhelds and many
different cards around us, working together with wireless communications
and thus making work easier [Weiser, 98].
In the Classroom 2000 Project at Georgia Tech, this paradigm is included
in universities in order to facilitate the students' task of listening,
synthesizing and understanding what is happening in the classroom, using
different devices such as Tablet-PC and boards (Xerox Liveworks LiveBoard)
In this paper our aim is to contribute to this new paradigm with devices
situated in the classroom which identify students and teachers. This process
allows users to obtain services from the environment with ease. Services
such as visualization of teacher presentations or assignments proposed
and solved can be obtained. In the next section we
present the process of identification by RFID technology. The
section following this concentrates on "context" definition
and on the fundamental aspects used to analyze our classroom model. Lastly
we conclude by focusing on the search for, and adaptation of, new devices
to place in the classroom.
2 The identification process
People identification is an excellent implicit input to the computer.
The simple action of walking near the antenna allows the system to read
and write information such as Id. Number, profile and other details which
can be very useful, depending upon where the users are.
Many authors have researched mechanisms for identifying and locating
users in organizations. Want and Hopper provided this kind of service by
means of active badges, which transmited signals that were picked up by
a net of sensors located around the building [Want, 92].
Beigl & Gellersen, in their experiment MediaCups, propose an identification
and location process by embedding sensors in everyday objects [Beigl,
01]. Other works focus on certain contexts such as academic conferences.
In these the context adapts the information to the user's profile [Cox,
2.1 Radiofrequency Identification (RFID)
This technology allows us to identify people and objects easily without
any user interaction. Three kinds of objects are clearly differentiated:
the reader (reader or transceiver, with an antenna), the label (tag or
transponder) and the computer. In Figure 1 we can see
the structure of a label in the top left-hand corner. This small device
contains a transponder circuit that, in the case of the passive tags, takes
the wave energy that the reader continually emits, so as to read and write
the information that these may include. The passive tags can store over
512 bytes, including an identification number and other kinds of user information.
In this figure, on the right of the label circuit,
we can see a distribution of the information, coupled with the teacher
and student profiles inside the classroom context. Finally, at the bottom
of the figure, the identification devices mentioned previously are shown.
RFID technology offers important advantages over traditional bar codes.
Some of these advantages are that the labels do not have to be visible
to be read, the reader can be located a meter away (with passive tags),
they can be reused and the reading speed is over 30 labels per second.
In RFID, security is guaranteed. The information is transmitted in an encrypted
form and only authorized readers can manipulate the data.
Figure 1: Passive tag, distribution of the information and
This technology is commonly used to identify objects. We consider it
an excellent idea to apply it to identifying people, with the added advantage
of being able to use the small, dynamic information stored in the tags
as a context interaction. Therefore, by identifying people and objects
using the same components, a saving of readers and antennas is achieved.
Services are thereby increased when new needs appear.
Figure 2 shows two types of devices. The one on
the left presents a reader and an antenna with read-and-write capability
reach of over 75 cm. This has been especially designed for its location
on classroom doors or near boards. It can read several labels, simultaneously
identifying people entering the classroom. It can also identify the teacher
or the students approaching the board. The one on the right is a contact
reader including an antenna with a reach of only 10 cm. A model of the
tag is also shown. This identification system is especially appropriate
for individual use.
Figure 2: RFID devices
3 The context
This concept is an important source of information, but at the present
time we have a poor understanding of the wealth that it contains. The power
of language, along with the understanding of how the world works and the
implicit knowledge of everyday situations, all allow humans to express
their ideas well and to communicate with others in an orally-correct manner.
The computer-human dialogue does not happen like this; we have more complicated
mechanisms of interaction.
Many studies and definitions of the term "context" exist.
Brooks considers several aspects that we shall now mention as being important:
- Who (Identity Awareness)
- This aspect manages user profiles and the way that context differentiates
them in order to attain appropriate behavior.
- Where (Location
Awareness) - This is the knowledge of the location of people and the objects
that will carry out the tasks.
- When (Time Awareness) -
This aspect refers to the acquisition and maintenance of information about
time and date, static schedules and the dynamism of the user's calendar.
- What (Task Awareness) -
This is focused on what the user is doing, the task he/she is carrying out and
all that he/she wants to achieve. Therefore, it creates the services that the
system offers him/her.
- Why- To communicate easily with the computer through daily activities
in the world as computer inputs.
This is an appropriate moment to recall the definition given by A. K.
"Context is any information that can be used to characterize
the situation of an entity. An entity is a person, place, or object that
is considered relevant to the interaction between a user and an application,
including the user and application themselves." [Dey,
Schilit defines context-aware computing to be how "software
adapts according to the location of use, the collection of nearby people,
hosts, and accessible devices, as well as to changes to such things over
time". [Schilit, 94]
Dey considers that a system is context-aware if it uses context to provide
relevant information and/or services to the user, where relevancy depends
on the user's tasks.
When thinking about the aspect of the classroom context, the profiles
(students and teachers), are in "who", the schedule in "when",
the classroom in "where", the tasks (visualization services and
homework control) in "what" and, lastly, the natural interaction
We have focused these context aspects on identification [Bravo,
03, 04]. For this reason we are placing the
concepts strategically in order to obtain user services, as Figure
3 and Table 1 show. Other services appear in this
figure. These are embedded in the identification process itself and are
presence, location or access controls. Thus the "what" (services)
can be obtained through the following function, combining "who",
"when" and "where".
||Time for class
||Time for class
||Problem solved visualization
||Time for class
||Time for class
||Homework (written in tag)
||Time between class
||News and Notices
Table 1: Identification-based services
Figure 3: The context concepts in the classroom through identification.
In the following sections we detail those services that the identification
process provides in our classroom context.
3.1 Identity awareness
This is the basic process that is carried out by readers placed strategically
in the school center. In our case there are readers located on every classroom
door. These will capture the information necessary to know who is inside
(or there may even be two readers to avoid in/out ambiguities). Through
each reading, the system obtains users' data from a database, determining
each profile and deciding the system's behavior. In addition, the database
contains data about teachers' and students' needs, offering adapted information.
Other services such as control of class attendance are important at
secondary education level. Here, the teachers are concerned about non-attendance
Figure 4: Identification process architecture.
3.2 Location awareness
The system knows about the people in the room and the proximity of everyone
to the board (projection screen) (Fig. 4). To do this,
only an additional antenna near the board is necessary. If the teacher
approaches the board, the information will be shown automatically for each
subject (presentations, examples, url's, etc.). If it is the student who
approaches the board, the information concerning him/her will be shown,
for example the solution to their homework. In both cases the system responds
without the users' explicit interaction. Lastly, annotations and the teacher's
corrections are stored in the database -they will be placed in the student's
label when this individual leaves the classroom. Later, at home, the student
accesses homework via a personal reader.
3.3 Time awareness
The system knows about the tasks that will be developed in the classroom
at all times. It knows if it is time for class, rest or any other type
of activity. In addition, it has stored the school calendar, so it is able
to differentiate between the time for regular classes, examination periods
or holidays. This time aspect is important, but it is also complemented
with the other aspects mentioned above; profile and location. By knowing
each user's timetable (class schedule, meetings, etc.) the contextual information
becomes remarkably rich.
3.4 Task awareness
The task knowledge desired can be acquired through the users' explicit
interaction extracted from the concepts mentioned previously (time, location
and identification). We believe that identification is, in fact, the action
which is the most significant in anticipating the users and in offering
them all the implicitly required services.
It is obvious that one of the fundamental tasks in the classroom is
the presentation of information (Visualization). In our ubiquitous classroom
approach, this presentation is spontaneously shown through user identification.
Figure 5: Teacher's Profile board.
Figure 5 shows the information and services available
in a typical scenario in the classroom. It includes the teacher's profile
information. The presentation, attendance, school calendar (schedule),
teacher's plan, classroom location, documentation and exercises can be
observed (what, who, when & where). In the visualization service the
context aspects are represented. The corresponding scenario is the following
When the teacher arrives at the classroom, the reader and the antenna
placed near the door read his/her tag. The computer immediately changes
the schedule on the top of the board, showing that the class is about to
begin. In the top left-hand corner, there is also a list of the learners
who are present in the classroom. Below that, the teacher's plan is activated.
This plan indicates the different tasks the teacher aims to carry out in
the lesson. Finally, the system shows the presentation of the unit being
explained (the largest part of the board)- this is the first task of the
aforementioned plan. Below that, all the information relative to this unit-
url's, proposed problems, activities, etc. is shown.
In Figure 6, the student's profile is displayed
in the time between classes. In this, general and individual information
is presented, with news and notices adapted to everyone. The first type
depends on a general profile- for instance, students at the same level.
The second deals with individual information and is shown when each student
approaches the board (proximity).
Figure 6: Student Profile board.
3.5 The "way" aspect: Implicit Interaction
This concept is perfectly justified in our identification process. Through
RFID technology and situations of the type in/out of the classroom or proximity
to the board we achieve the principle of iHCI. In this, the input to the
computer are the daily activities in the real world.
This has been a first approach to the ubiquitous classroom through the
identification process with RFID technology, attempting to follow the principles
that the interaction paradigm proposes. We consider it important to establish
mechanisms to facilitate services to the user in a natural way. In this
sense, the labels fulfill this objective perfectly, since the only necessary
requirement is for the users to be wearing them at the time of identification.
We believe that the adaptation of new devices is necessary for the further
enriching of the classroom.
This will imply the automation of daily activities, resulting in benefits
for both teachers and students. In this direction, we are trying to improve
our system towards the control of actions such as displaying slides, changing
activities in the plan, or ending the class. To do this, we are working
on a prototype sensor subsystem which allows us to detect the movement
of a hand near the board at different distances from the bottom edge of
This work has been financed by a 2005-2006 SERVIDOR project from Junta
de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha.
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