Questions & Findings

• How many students does a teacher get per teaching period?
  • → In the US, the national average public school student:teacher ratio is approximately 16:1 (2021), with Utah being the highest at 34:1. Assuming a teacher teaches 5 classes in average, that's 80 students.
  • At which size (both min & max) does it make sense to adopt an app like this?
• In which format do they receive the roster information?
  • Physical copy vs. electronically?
    • Do they already use a learning management system or school administration software?
    • Is there a privacy issue that should be taken into consideration (esp. student photos)?
    • → This may vary among schools and districts, but I will assume that educators receive a physical copy of a roster per class, which may or may not have photos. I also assume that not every school has LMS system or can easily provide students' names and photos electronically.
• How would the teachers attain student photos?
  • Do they have an electronic file of the photos?
  • If not, how would they attain them? Ask students to send their photos vs. take photos themselves? (this awkward moment could be a major hurdle..)
  • Is there any privacy issue around this? COPPA?
• Major difference in user behavior between different types of teachers?
  • College vs. high school vs. elementary school
  • For example, taking photo of a 1st grader would be very different from those in high school
  • Would there be a pushback from the parents about this issue?
• Who drives the adoption? School or teachers?
  • → Schools may encourage adoption, but it's up to individual educators, thus making them the main stakeholders.
• What other challenges do educators face in the beginning of a semester?
  • → Some expressed challenges such as getting the correct pronunciation for uncommon names and identifying students that look different from their photos; thus, having an ability to make notes (e.g. phonetic transcription or other forms of mnemonics unique to each user) would make the app significantly more useful and effective.
• The prompt assumes that educators are interested in learning students' faces to match their names. Are there other motives or behaviors that this app can help educators achieve better?
  • → Educators are interested in learning students' names and getting to know them. Unlike cramming bunch of biology terms or historical facts, they have the ability to develop personal relationships with the students. This could open up possibilities for other functions that can be used throughout the semester.

Research

• Students per teaching staff
• Average Public School Student: Teacher Ratio
• Memorizing Names and Faces
• Memorization techniques
• Spaced repetition
• Leitner system

Ideas

• Entering student name data
  • Give an option to enter data on desktop or mobile
  • Option to scan a document
  • Divide up the work flow - enter in multiple names & later add photos/notes
• Entering student photo data
  • Default mode is to take photos with their phones (in person or from a physical copy); should have an option to import files (will not touch this topic in this iteration)
  • Allow multiple photo entry?
• Entering notes to student entry
  • Should be able to add notes only; option - add notes to multiple students at once
  • Voice recording (for pronunciation)
  • One of the notes (if there are multiple) should be used as a hint in the review section
• Student list
  • Sort - A-Z/least reviewed/most reviewed
  • Filter - all students/missing photos/missing notes