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Intelligent Home Penny Scaffold, University of Bradford, UK
3 (Hutchison 3G) Motorola Microsoft Ltd Dyson UK Contacts are still being established and developed. Industry contributors have offered the University of Bradford a wide range of assistance, including the donation of images for the database (see STEAD Database Update WP2), the provision of materials, financial support and the presence of a representative during the workshops. Wednesday 19th March — Meeting with Dave Ham, Bradford Girls’ Grammar School Tuesday 20th May — Meeting with Brian Russell, Dixons City Technical College Friday 23rd May — Meeting with Joanne Busfield and 3 teachers, Skipton Girls’ High School May TBC — Meeting with Lisa Sherratt, Feversham College June TBC — Further meetings with schools 28th July - Dr Stuart Nielsen-Marsh (Microsoft), Bradford University 11th July — Finalise workshop and lesson details with members of staff at each school 25th July — Confirmation of date and location for workshop scenarios 8thAugust — Confirmation of contribution from industry contacts 22nd August - Confirmation of representatives for workshop scenarios Early September — Initial meetings with pupils September (provisional dates: The one day workshops taking place from between the 15th and 26th September) — Workshops with schools, location to be confirmed. October — Classroom lessons begin: number, dates and times to be negotiated with each individual school. October — Proposed Inter-classroom Forum via webcam with other European schools partnered to the project, to take place alongside the classroom lessons. 3rd to 9thNovember — European Science Week. The University of Bradford’s role as a partner within the STEAD project is two fold:
Running parallel with the workshops will be the University of Bradford’s work on developing research and educational material on the specific theme of ‘hybrid intelligent devices’, focusing primarily on the mobile phone as a ubiquitous device, both within and outside of the household environment. An aspect to be investigated will be the possible merits of ‘mobile learning’, the accessing of information via a mobile appliance, in comparison to ‘e-learning’. This research will evaluate usage patterns of the mobile phone in visual modes (e.g. WAP and MMS) and consider its possible future role as a learning device, with views to apply the same principle to other mobile appliances such as PDAs. Whilst this research will run alongside the workshop and classroom sessions, it will be conducted in an unobtrusive manner and will not affect learning potential.
The University of Bradford intends to develop themes for the workshops. Each individual school will be able to specialise in a theme (or themes) for their workshop as this will allow their studies to fit in with their curriculum according to the subject of the teachers involved with the project, as well as focus the pupils’ learning. Possible themes at this stage include: Design Studies (DT): Examining the aesthetics/ergonomics/futurology of domestic electrical and electronic appliances; exploring the design of small-screen information for mobile devices. Science: ‘How it works’ explanations of household appliances (mainly graphical); dissection of objects, examining their construction and physics. Social Studies: Looking at the roles of devices and their evolution in past/present/future societies with emphasis on the affect on women’s roles and status. Languages: Talking to foreign class groups; translating specialist terms; exploring cultural differences and their influence on devices. Economics: Discussing falling prices, mass availability and commoditisation; looking at structures of industries; examining the issues of balance of trade (imports). Safety: Mobile phone issue vs. clear and present dangers (hot equipment in kitchens) The outcome of this workshop will initially be the promotion of scientific and related studies through household electronic appliance design. The means will include technical drawings and design briefs, two dimensional and three-dimensional models of innovative prototypes, written documentary studies and photography and video documentation of the design and development process which will be produced by the pupils within these allotted sessions. This will not only help to educate and inspire pupils directly but will also provide a diverse array of materials and information, produced by the pupils, for the general public to access, via a virtual gallery situated within the STEAD website and through exhibitions during European Science Week in Paris (3rd to 9th November). The outcome and success of the workshop and ensuing lessons will provide educational material which can be utilised as a model in the future for the continuation of similar educational experiments and exploration. The University of Bradford has decided to focus on working with pupils between the ages of 11 and 14 as we believe that the areas which we wish to explore will be more beneficial to this age group due to the methods of exploration of technological appliances that we wish to undertake. The pupils will be chosen by each individual school, according to the schools’ own criteria. We have adopted the approach of combining research (through video, photography, literature, the Internet as well as extensive use of the database hosted on the STEAD website and available on CD-ROM) with a ‘hands-on’ approach to exploring household electrical appliances to inspire and educate the pupils participating in the STEAD project. The outline for the ‘Intelligent Home’ workshop will be developed with input from the members of staff from the respective schools involved with the STEAD project in the months leading up to the workshops in the latter part of September. In the weeks leading up to the workshop, it is proposed that the University of Bradford will arrange two meetings with the staff and pupils at each school to be involved with the workshops, the details of which will be decided by each school respectively. The first meeting will introduce the STEAD project to the pupils. A member from the University of Bradford will provide an outline for the workshop and subsequent lessons and the aims and objectives of the project for the pupils. It is proposed that the pupils will then be given a camera (possibly a camera-phone) to take photographs of electronic appliances within their homes. A possible second meeting will then take place to discuss the photographs. It is proposed that the pupils will then research two of the electronic appliances by visiting the STEAD database, either during a second session or as homework in preparation for the workshop. The objectives will be for the children to interpret, in their own way, how it works, how it developed, its good and bad features, and its probable future. The research for one appliance will be conducted by accessing the online database using a personal computer (also available as a CD-Rom); the database information for the second appliance will be accessed via a mobile telephone, distributed to the pupils by the University of Bradford. This exercise has two main aims:
It is important to highlight these questions and establish this understanding at this preliminary stage to encourage thoughts and ideas for the stages of the workshop. This presentation will conclude by posing several questions on the future of technology within the domestic environment for the pupils to consider. The one day workshop will take place in the last two weeks of September, which will be negotiated with each school individually. It is proposed that a member of the electronic appliance design industry will be present to provide real life case studies and scenarios of the process of appliance design and development. Pupils will be able to utilise the knowledge they have gained in the weeks prior to the workshop within the session. This knowledge will act as a stimulus to informed discussion and brainstorming sessions about the evolution of appliance design. They will be able to use their first hand experience to develop an understanding of what makes a well designed object by discussing the pros and cons of each appliance from their personal usage. From this experience, the pupils will learn how they can incorporate the positive factors into their own designs within the forthcoming classroom lessons. The University of Bradford proposes that the workshop session will also include the dissection of discarded appliances to investigate and develop an understanding of the components and their construction and function within the object. This will be undertaken within small groups, of 6 to 8 pupils, with a teacher and the member of the electronic appliance design industry present at the workshop to provide advice and information. This physical dissection of electronic appliances and initial background information obtained from the brainstorming sessions, regarding both the history and the future of technology within the domestic environment, will provide a basic platform for pupils to be able to proceed to develop their own ideas for designs for future electronic household appliances within the subsequent classroom lessons. This may involve pupils researching further into the cultural, economic and technological aspects of electronic household appliances (through literature, video, photography, the Internet and through the STEAD database) which will allow them to produce informed designs for their own proposed appliances. Following the workshop, each individual group will be able to expand on their learning in the classroom by developing their own designs for their prototype of a proposed electrical household appliance. By the end of this project, the pupils will be able to contribute to informed discussion, from the research they have undertaken and the progress they have made, on the decisions they made in order to create this appliance with other pupils, who will be able to challenge their conclusions. The pupils will also be able to discuss with an informed opinion what they believe the ‘intelligent home’ of the future will be and what social, environmental, technological and economical implications and developments that will arise from this evolution. It is important to emphasise that even adult ‘experts’ are, to a large extent, speculating blindly about such issues and the views of the pupils are of a similar validity, giving the opportunity to boost self-confidence in the discussions. Ideally, it is hoped that some of the ideas could be presented in wider international professional forums. The object of the database within the STEAD project is to provide a concise synoptic view of the evolution and use of electronic domestic goods, derived from a comprehensive Internet and literature survey. The purpose of the database will be as a reference tool both during the workshops and in the subsequent classroom sessions. This will aid the school children to explore the evolution, development and future of domestic electrical and electronic appliances. The database will help children to investigate the related structures between social and gender studies, industrial design and science and technology, through exploration of the information on the items and the relationships with other items and with people. This will allow the children to draw their own interpretations from these areas as well as to create their own informed opinions on the future of the evolution of these objects and their impact on society. Pupils will be able to research a category or specific appliance and the database will then supply them with information covering the following areas: History/timeline: illustrating the evolution of the domestic electrical appliance. Functionality: how the item works. Technological influences: effect of availability of electric power, of electric motors, of electronic components, of microprocessors (m P). Sociological influences: how the invention and development of the appliance has affected the home environment and how changes in the home have influenced the development of new appliances. Future of evolution — if and how the item will change, its integration with other household appliances. Convergences:
possibilities and problems in convergence of functions of two or
more devices. Peter Excell / University of Bradford STEAD Partner / p.s.excell@bradford.ac.uk Penny Scaffold / University of Bradford STEAD Research Assistant / p.r.scaffold@bradford.ac.uk
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