SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. - Teachers at Georgetown Middle School have a new teaching assistant: augmented reality glasses.
Georgetown Middle School has been using Carnegie Learning, an online learning program created by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, for years. One feature of that program is Mathia, an online math practice tool. At the end of last school year, the researchers from Carnegie Mellon brought Augmented Reality glasses to Georgetown Middle School to help the math teachers better help the students while they're working on Mathia.
"I think it's always exciting to be on the front edge of this technology, because that is the way of the future. If the teachers don't get in front of it, the students are. So I think it's nice to have this learning platform," said Assistant Principal Katelyn Fanaris.
The glasses are programed in the classroom to recognize where each student is sitting and working on Mathia. When the teachers put on the glasses and look through the lenses, symbols pop up by the students with their name and a symbol. The symbols include a smiley face for students doing well, question marks for students who need help, and 3 Z's for students who are idle. The teachers can also use the device connected to the glasses to click on the symbols and see exactly what problem the student is working on at the time.
"I've been at this school my entire career, so I really love when my kids get this opportunity to do something cool and neat, because a lot of them probably won't get that opportunity outside of some of these classrooms. So it's it's fun and exciting to be on the brink of new technology," said 7th grade math teacher, Brittany Rummel.
Some students tell WBOC that while they thought the glasses looked silly in the beginning, they love getting help without feeling like they are put on the spot.
"That feels much better than like raising your hand in front of everybody and everybody just staring at you," said 7th grader, Melanie Ramirez.
And while technology in the classroom is often a topic of debate, the teachers say this tool is a big help among shy students.
"These glasses gave us an opportunity to see, okay, which kids need help without them having to actually raise their hand or speak up. And a lot of people might think like, 'oh, you need glasses to know when your kids need help?' That is not necessarily true. This is just a faster and more real time way to see who needs help, so we can access as many kids as possible during a math session," said Rummel.
Data and feedback is set to be collected from the glasses and the classroom until the Carnegie Mellon Researchers return to the school in the spring.