Figure 1. (a)(b): ClassBeacons system (c): each lamp depicts how long the teacher has been around it by changing from yellow (no time spent) to green (440 seconds spent) (d): the system supports teachers' reflection-in-action on how they have divided time and attention over students in the classroom (e): the display is based on teachers' real-time positioning data.

No abstract

In the past two years, an emerging body of HCI work has been focused on classroom proxemics-how teachers divide time and attention over students in the different regions of the classroom. Tracking and visualizing this implicit yet relevant dimension of teaching can benefit both research and teacher professionalization. Prior work has proved the value of depicting teachers' whereabouts. Yet a major opportunity remains in the design of new, synthesized visualizations that help researchers and practitioners to gain more insights in the vast tracking data. We present Dandelion Diagram, a synthesized heatmap technique that combines both teachers' positioning and orientation (heading) data, and affords richer representations in addition to whereabouts-For example, teachers' attention pattern (which directions they were attending to), and their mobility pattern (i.e., trajectories in the classroom). Utilizing various classroom data from a field study, this paper illustrates the design and utility of Dandelion Diagram.

Reflection-in-action (RiA) refers to teachers' reflections on their teaching performance during busy classroom routines. RiA is a demanding competence for teachers, but little has been known about how HCI systems could support teachers' RiA during their busy and intensive teaching. To bridge this gap, we design and evaluate an ambient information system named ClassBeacons.