"Our future New Westminster Secondary School will accommodate 1,900 grade 9 to 12 students in a 21st century learning environment. (The facility) meets today’s standards for modern learning, safety and accessibility, while incorporating the latest sustainable energy management systems. It will be designed to optimize the use of flexible learning spaces to maximize collaboration and active learning; this will include technology that enriches the learning process, multi-purpose spaces and modern shops, as well as contemporary fine and performing arts spaces."

- NWSS Replacement Project Overview

The main uses for indoor positioning analytics in our app are divided into the following categories:

1. Geofencing

2. Proximity Messaging

3. Indoor Navigation

4. Asset Tracking

5. Security Management

1. Geofencing

A Geofence is, “A virtual geographic boundary, defined by GPS or RFID technology, that enables software to trigger a response when a mobile device enters or leaves a particular area.”

A geofence could be put around an area as broad as an entire school site, or as narrow as a particular classroom. A geofence around the school would allow administration to know who has entered, or exited, the building and at what time this occurred. A geofence could also be established around an area where access to the 5G network would be blocked. An example of this would be in our new theatre during presentations, plays, or concerts; as people entered the facility they would trigger the geofence and the app would automatically drop the 5G network. This would make sure that there are fewer distractions for students in the theatre and they could focus on what they are there to see.

Geofenced classrooms would automatically take attendance as students entered the room, or turned on their app; giving teachers back five to ten minutes of instructional time at the beginning of the class. It would keep track of late students as well, and how late they are, leading to a conversation with the teacher or administration in regards to tardiness, what is stopping them from being on time, and if there is anything the school can do to help. The geofence could also log when students leave the room and for how long they are gone. This could lead to a conversation about what is keeping the student from staying in class and if there is anything the school can provide to help.

2. Proximity Messaging

Once a geofence has been triggered by the app, Proximity Messages could be sent to staff and students. Upon entering the school, students would receive messages pushed to their device like announcements, student's updated daily schedule with changes, overdue library book notifications, after school/lunch club meetings for that day, athletics schedule, cafeteria menu, student’s appointments with counsellor/administration/youth care worker, marked assignments from teachers,and future assignments. With respect to announcements, with the pairing of both the 5G network and smart glasses, the announcements could be a virtual broadcast, like a newscast, done every morning and shown in glasses or a mobile device.

When staff cross a geofence they would also have messages pushed to them, such as staff or department head meeting notifications, changes to their daily schedule, earthquake/fire drill notifications, the announcements, lists of students leaving early, and appointments students in their classes may have that day with other people in the school. Teachers could also push out assignments, both past and future, and information for class, like videos or articles that need be reviewed before or during class. This would free up more instructional time in the classroom.

Teachers on call could also have messages pushed to them, once they open the app, about which classrooms they will be in, the day plan of the teacher who is away, evacuation rules and routes, and any other pertinent information that would make their day that much smoother.

3. Indoor Navigation

Indoor Navigation would give every student and staff member access to a virtual map of the school and their position within the building. Individuals would put in the room they are looking for and the app would then give them directions. This could be further enhanced with smart glasses as the app could overlap AR directions to the desired location. This function could also be paired with proximity messaging, so that if there is a sudden classroom change, or a class was meeting in the library, a notification could be pushed to individuals in the class with this information and a navigation route. This would diminish the number of students getting lost; especially as we enter a new facility.

In the case of a fire/evacuation, be it real or a drill, an alarm notification would be pushed through the app, with directions to each classes’ muster point outside the school. This would cut down on confusion of which route classes are supposed to take when leaving the building, especially if a class is not in their usual classroom or there is a teacher on call teaching that day.

The navigation system would also be a great benefit to teachers on call who have been assigned to the school. The app would show them where each classroom is located that they will be in that day plus other locations like main office, staff rooms, staff washrooms, and photocopier rooms.

4. Asset Tracking

With over 1,900 students and 160 staff members, it is extremely hard to keep track of where individuals are within the school. Asset Tracking would allow administration, once an individual is connected to the app, to track their location.

If asset tracking could be linked to our staff absence software, it could notify the office which teachers were scheduled to be away and if that information lined up with our real time data. It would also let the office know if a teacher was not present when classes commenced so that their room could be covered by a staff member until they arrived or their absence was sorted out. It would also advise the office if a staff member leaves the building. This is vital information in case of an unscheduled emergency where the school needs to be evacuated.

Asset tracking would give the location of all students within the school. This is important in emergency situations when a student needs to be found but they, or their entire class, are not in their classroom. This could also be used to monitor more at risk youth to see where they go and for how long. This information could be used as a starting point in a conversation about why they aren’t attending class and is there anything the school can do to help.

5. Security Management

With approximately 2,100 individuals occupying our new facility at any time, and with multiple entrance/exit points, Security Management is a vital factor to maintaining a safe and healthy environment for both students and staff. Once a device triggers a geofence, and is not recognized by the network or app, it can be detected and monitored. The asset tracking information of this device could then be quickly pushed to both administration and the school liaison officer. If a lockdown occurred, the asset tracking information would be pushed through to police, as would student locations so as to narrow down searches and extractions.

All emergencies, from shelter in place to a total lockdown, would be pushed through to staff and students through proximity messaging, as would all emergency procedures, evacuation instructions, and muster points. In the case of a medical emergency, all vital information, and any irregularities, collected from the wearable device of the patient would be pushed to the first aid attendant in the school so that they can be as prepared for the situation as possible. This information, plus anymore the attendant collects, would then be pushed to a paramedic once they have crossed the geofence of the school so that they would have the most up to date information possible.

The main uses of the AI integrated in our smartphone app are divided into the following categories:

1. Smart Assistant

2. Personalized Learning

3. Smart Content

4. Emotional Awareness

5. Local and Global Collaboration

1. Smart Assistant

Instead of replacing teachers’ jobs, or having classrooms led by AI, we envision a classroom that is assisted by AI. The AI Smart Assistant (SA) will take care of the following:

Expedite administrative tasks and record keeping – with the help of IPA, the SA can track attendance and assignment submissions, update grade books and organize email or other correspondence from students and parents. Eventually, with deep learning, the SA can respond to standard emails (teacher controls what is sent).

On test or exam days, the SA could trigger the IPA geofence to limit 5G network access in the specific classroom or exam hall to help regulate students and ensure academic honesty.

Real-time Q&A – SA Chatbot can attend to general queries and answer student questions 24/7. Examples of questions that are repetitive include assignment due dates, instructions, excuse late submissions or extension of deadlines, etc. Analytics and student responses can be used to gauge whether the chatbot response was appropriate. Any questions the SA is unable to answer can be forwarded to the teacher for further clarification.

Instantaneous Feedback – the SA can grade repetitive, simple quizzes, tests and assignments that have a definite response. Examples of such tasks include multiple choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blanks, and even some short answer questions. Students need not wait long to receive feedback on submitted work. Based on the rubric, the SA can recommend further review material. The results are sent to the teacher’s phone app, and grade books can be auto-updated if needed. This frees up teacher time to focus on more important learning and teaching tasks. With machine learning, the SA can eventually reduce bias in assessment.

2. Personalized Learning

Adaptive Learning – Besides the chatbot and instantaneous feedback, the AI SA can detect study and engagement patterns based on the student’s use of their phone, thus is able to adapt to their learning style. The SA can recommend resources that align with student preferences. If the SA detects the student having trouble with a certain concept, it can alert the teacher and bring up further supplemental resources to help overcome the difficulties. The AI can design customized assignments and tasks suited to the students’ pace and style of learning.

Accommodations for learning disabilities will be a thing of the past as each student learns uniquely, and where a sole teacher cannot keep up with the customization, AI can. The teacher can focus individualized attention per student and address their unique learning needs, supported by AI. Uncovering gaps in learning and misconceptions will become much easier. The AI can go so far as predicting varied career paths for each student and preparing them for the world of the future. Since the AI is available on the students' personal mobile device, learning can happen anytime, anywhere.

3. Smart Content

Interactive resources – textbooks will no longer be passive repositories of information. AI supported learning materials will necessitate active learner participation in the form of checkpoint quizzes, embedded problem-solving, audio and video resources, and examples of real-life applications of the content (e.g. for Chemistry this could include demos and experiments, environmental impact, industrial applications, etc.) all in the same resource. Interactive abilities like highlighting, making flashcards, working out problems within the “text”, recording questions to ask the chatbot or the teacher, as well as a discussion forum to collaborate with peers in the classroom will be available on the app. QR codes next to diagrams or specific text or objects can be scanned via the smart glasses or mobile device to trigger videos, demos, or related content to be viewed on their personal screens. Teachers can “push” important material through the app to the students’ notebooks (think OneNote Class Notebooks). Students will also have the ability to project their screens directly from their seats.

“Current” Curriculum – With 5G the syllabus of study need not be outdated or await 5-7 years of review. Teachers can use AI to learn and stay informed of new advances in their field. Current research and studies can be incorporated into lessons to enhance the real-life connection and predict future uses. Students can easily immerse themselves into the field/industry of their choice after they graduate without needing to undergo a steep learning curve.

AR/VR/MR – Based on student learning patterns and needs, the app’s AI and IPA combination can find and recommend alternate/mixed reality resources to enhance the learning experience. This is especially useful for concepts that are too abstract to visualize, like DNA replication or quantum models of the atom. They are also essential for technical skills for shop and lab courses. VR labs are said to be almost as successful in developing skills as traditional labs.

Universal Access – this may seem impossible at this time, however, with 5G and open learning, the future of education can become more accessible to all. The AI SA can search the world wide web for open access resources and can also help students and teachers create such resources to fill the gaps where they cannot be found. As a sole teacher cannot comb through all available resources to determine suitability, the app can use analytics, learning patterns, local curricular and core competency standards, previously used resources like notes, textbooks, worksheets, projects and labs, to find the ideal resources accessible to each student based on their needs.

4. Emotional Awareness

Identifying Emotions – an embedded app feature can read facial expressions using the smartphone’s front-facing camera and classify them into emotions. By thus “reading” students’ emotions, the AI SA can determine the level of engagement, interest and/or frustration a student experiences during the lesson. The app is able to make suggestions accordingly – give a bored student a game to play or video to watch, ask an antsy student to go for a walk, provide an excited student with further resources to explore the topic, encourage a disheartened student with positive reinforcement, group students with similar interests together, etc. If a student is distracted, it can make the device buzz or suggest alternate tasks.

Monitor Mental Health – By reading emotions, tracking keyboard strokes, and determining level of engagement, the app can monitor students’ (and adults’) mental health. With concerns, an alert can be sent to the student’s counsellor to schedule a follow-up meeting to check-in. Any long-term and/or detrimental affective responses can trigger the AI to check-in with the student and chat about how the student is feeling. Whether or not the student responds, the teacher, parents/guardians, counsellors and administrators can be alerted (depending on the settings and severity of the problem).

**Although the app does not replace a counsellor or trained professional, it can help collect enough information and alert people in time to help with mental health issues and suicide prevention.

5. Collaboration

Local Collaboration – Based on the learning styles and preferences, as well as pace of learning, the app can group students with similar interests to work together on collaborative projects. These groups need not be limited to the block of study as per a traditional school schedule (which could soon become obsolete anyway), but can have cross-curricular, cross-grade, mixed ability groups. The IPA can be used to match peers with each other and also find a location to collaborate in.

Global Collaboration – Same as above, but now the walls are eliminated completely. Projects can be stretched over different schools and countries. Data collection and project design can be a global endeavour, and the AI can manage communication across different time zones, language barriers and cultural differences. Schooling will be truly reinvented.

Further Potential

Wearables – As a further extension to the app, if a user chooses to connect a wearable to the app, the physiological and neurological data monitored (need not be stored) via the wearable can help with issues such as detecting epileptic seizures before they happen. This data can supplement the facial expressions being read by the app and further help with suicide prevention and deal with mental health issues in time. If alerts are set-up, the nurse, counsellor, teacher, parent and/or administrator can be notified immediately via the app. With IPA, the location of the student can be easily determined. The possibilities are endless.

• The Future of Education According to 17 Tech Experts
• According to Forbes, the e-learning market will be worth $325 billion by 2025.
• Researchers at Dalhousie University, Canada, have created an app “PROSIT” that monitors the user’s mental health based on how they use their phone.
• Technology that knows how we feel, the end of the poker face.

Concluding Thoughts

Though there are many potential benefits in implementing this educational coordination between AI and IPA, there are definitely drawbacks that need to be considered. IPA, used without storing any personal information or data, can still be seen as an invasion into an individual’s privacy. Multiple information sessions with all stakeholders outlining the benefits of the technology and concise consent forms would be paramount in the use of this in a school setting. With AI, AR, and VR technology use, the cost of the hardware is a limiting factor in its roll out for the entire school. NWSS is a culturally and socio-economically diverse school and we would want to minimize the digital divide in our community as much as possible. That would entail working closely with our technology providers to acquire quality equipment at reasonable lease prices. Again, consent forms would have to be put in place as some members of our community may have underlying health problems that could be exacerbated by immersive technology.

Schools are moving away from the “warehouse” model of stand and deliver teaching to a new 21st Century learning model of facilitation and collaboration. With the implementation of our app highlighting both AI and IPA technology, both the teaching, in the form of virtual classrooms, immersive personal learning, and collaboration on both a local and global stage, as well as the administrative functions including bells, announcements, attendance, and communication within our school community would be dramatically transformed and aligned with the direction that education is moving towards.