SBIR Phase I: Screencasting as a Means to Enable, Develop, and Document Student Proficiency with Science and Engineering Practices

SBIR第一阶段项目建议设计和开发一个教育的、与课程无关的、以学生为基础的截图软件工具，将其与教师评估相结合，以支持学生更好地掌握复杂的STEM概念。虽然该工具有可能在所有年级使用，但中学(当学生对STEM科目失去兴趣时)对于展示第一阶段的可行性至关重要，要证明教学截屏组件独立发挥作用，可以集成在课堂环境中用作基于学生和探究的教学工具，同时集成教师的学生评估组件。目前的录屏平台仅限于独立的在线教程或屏幕截图，这些教程或屏幕截图是从教师的角度以讲座形式呈现的。这些设备不支持学生创建的截屏视频与形成性教师评估的协同作用。在教育环境中实施这一工具的智力价值是促进以学习者为中心的科学概念的掌握，因为学生积极准备、编辑和提交截屏视频，收集和综合信息，并将知识与批判性思维技能相结合。这一录屏工具有望提高学生对STEM活动的理解、阅读/写作技能和探究行为，同时使教师能够有效地跟踪学生的进度并对学生的录屏提供评估反馈。屏幕录制工具的更广泛/商业影响包括对目前代表性不足和弱势群体的重大好处，因为第一阶段/第二阶段的设计和开发包括文本到语音、隐藏字幕、图像标签、屏幕放大、屏幕帮助、在线文档、语音命令和屏幕阅读器等功能。该工具将为所有学生提供适应性支持，包括那些在阅读、写作或思考复杂科学概念方面存在困难的学生。它的课程设计灵活性(适用于任何纸质或电子课程)增加了它对教育系统的好处，教育系统背负着平衡不断增加的成本和减少预算的负担。目前由45个州采用的共同核心标准的实施将给学区带来更大的负担，以满足在高度互动的学习环境中为学生提供更高水平的批判性思维和推理活动的要求。这款新软件预计将在K-12教育学习/评估市场获得相当大的市场份额，该公司有很强的潜力与三大教育公司之一合作，这三家公司加起来控制着这个市场60%以上的份额。到2010年，8%的强劲市场增长率表明，学区有动力获得有效的技术工具，以帮助他们实现年度绩效目标。

This SBIR Phase I project proposes to design and develop an educational, curriculum-agnostic student-based screencasting software tool integrated with teacher assessment to support improved student mastery of complex STEM concepts. Though the tool has potential for use in all grade levels, but middle school (when students tend to lose interest in STEM subjects) is critical for demonstrating Phase I feasibility, to prove that the instructional screencasting components function independently, can be integrated to be used as a student- and inquiry-based instructional tool in the classroom setting while integrating a teacher's student-assessment component. Current screencast platforms are limited to stand-alone online tutorials or screen captures that are presented in lecture format from a teacher perspective. These devices do not support the synergistic action of student-created screencasts with formative teacher assessment. The Intellectual Merit of this tool implemented in educational settings is to promote learner-centered mastery of science concepts, as students actively prepare, edit and submit screencasts, gather and synthesize information, and integrate knowledge with critical thinking skills. This screencasting tool is expected to enhance comprehension, reading/writing skills, and inquiry behavior for STEM activities, while enabling teachers to effectively track student progress and provide assessment feedback on student screencasts. The broader/commercial impact for the screencasting tool includes significant benefits for currently underrepresented and disadvantaged groups, because the Phase I/II design and development includes features such as text-to-speech, closed captioning, image tags, screen magnification, onscreen help, online documentation, voice commands, and screen reader. The tool will provide adaptive support to all students, including students who are struggling to read, write, or think about complex science concepts. Its curricular design flexibility (adaptable to any paper- or electronic-based curriculum) increases its benefit to an educational system burdened with balancing increasing costs and decreasing budgets. Implementation of the Common Core Standards, currently adopted by 45 states, will place an even greater burden on school districts to meet the requirements for greater levels of critical thinking and reasoning activities for students within highly interactive learning environments. This new software is expected to gain significant market share in the K-12 educational learning/assessment market, with strong potential for the company to partner with one of the large three educational companies that together control over 60% of this market. A strong market growth rate of 8% through 2010 demonstrates that school districts are motivated to acquire effective technology tools to help them meet annual performance targets.