Designing Technology to Support Hospital Education
Description
Hospital teachers are specialized educators who provide instruction to children in grades K-12 while they are hospitalized. Before the advent of generative AI, these teachers would spend countless hours developing individualized and accessible lesson plans for the diverse range of students admitted to the hospital. Developing engaging lessons for the diversity of students in the hospital setting can be challenging and overwhelming, adding to the already stressful career of a hospital teacher.
However, with the onset of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, education can be reimagined to support these teachers in creating custom lesson plans using generative AI technology. Our goal is to explore and develop AI tools that can assist hospital teachers in developing K-12 lesson plans that are tailored to the specific needs of their students.
Team Members
Ihudiya Finda Williams (Computer Science) brings her expertise in the areas of human-computer interaction (HCI) and learning sciences. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, where she conducts research using community-engaged principles in computer science.
Sweta Baniya (English) is an assistant professor of rhetoric and professional and technical writing, where she focuses her research and teaching on supporting vulnerable and marginalized communities within Blacksburg and beyond.
Documentation
We have conducted interviews with hospital educators and developed low-fidelity mockups of four potential products designed to support their work. These mockups and scenarios included:
An AI tool for custom curriculum development.
An online application to facilitate communication between hospitals and schools.
An online application aimed at fostering community development among hospital educators worldwide.
An AI tool to assist in assessing students.
We carried out a speed-dating study in which hospital educators provided feedback on the low-fidelity mockups of these potential tools. They also ranked each mockup based on its potential impact on their jobs. From their feedback, we discovered that hospital educators particularly favored tools that can evaluate students' current skills and progress related to their motor skills, as well as those that enhance communication among fellow hospital educators.
During the research process we encountered challenges recruiting participants for this study, primarily due to concerns around HIPAA and FERPA regulations. Despite having a community partner consultant involved in the project, we encountered hesitancy in engagement. Nevertheless, we were able to leverage the data we collected to pursue two publications and now have enough preliminary information to seek larger grants.