HCI Strategies for Informing the Design of a Teacher Dashboard: How Might Real-Time Situational Data Determine the Potential for Technological Support in the Classroom?

As AI Technologies become more prevalent in the classroom, there has been an increased interest in teacher dashboards in fields such as computer science and the learning sciences. While extensive research has highlighted potential metrics of interest for teacher dashboards, little work has prioritized the interactivity of the teacher and dashboard in conjunction with students and other responsibilities. There is little knowledge of educators’ availability to pay attention to a dashboard when working with students, often under time constraints and various levels of stress. Accordingly, there is a need for stronger HCI research integration during the design and development of teacher dashboards. Specific methods targeted at end-user experiences can inform and validate future iterations by defining what navigation and information teachers consistently utilize based on their priorities in the classroom. To bridge the gap between an ideal dashboard and ideal teacher-dashboard integration, the aim of this research was to design a 1 button, simplified dashboard that seeks the answers to questions best answered in real-time, in-situ contexts, such as when a teacher needs or wants assistance. Dashboard-Zero is a simple and customizable model of a teacher dashboard, inspired by the Staples “easy” big red button, that acts as an input device for gathering situational data to frame the user story during design and development of the teacher dashboard. The goal of Dashboard-Zero is to supplement and validate surveys and interviews at early stages of design.