EduGate
An SEN based educational system.
The Problem
Studies have shown that lack of government funding for EHCPs (Education, Health and Care Plan), combined with inconsistent standards has resulted in widespread frustrations regarding current mainstream high school SEN (Special Educational Needs) education. With no EHCP in place, SEN students are left to rely on the school's mandatory practices. However, studies show that a lack of consistency in how the SEN code of practice is upheld, along with teacher's stretched schedules has resulted in many SEN students falling behind in their education, a notion that this project aimed to address.
The Solution
EduGate- an educational website which addresses the current downfalls in mainstream SEN education. Creating a holistic SEN-based educational system which connects primary users, provides accessible resources, aids teacher planning and manages student emotional wellbeing all in one place.
Research
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Primary Research
Two forms of primary research were conducted in this project, a survey and semi-structured interviews.
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The survey used snowball sampling to gather responses from teachers of SEN students (acting as proxies) across two mainstream high schools, gaining insights about the current issues and user wants and needs.
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The semi-structured interviews were conducted with a high school teacher with SEN students, allowing for further insights to be gained following the survey, and the system to be evaluated during prototyping.
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Secondary Research
Three previous government studies were used to add to primary research findings, these were chosen as they contain reliable data from a much larger sample size which included insights from teachers, SEN students and parents themselves.
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2022 SEN Interviews, which explored experiences in SEN education.
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2023 SEN Report, which collated the school census and an SEN survey aiming to guide future legislation.
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Government Accessibility Research, used to guide the UI.
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Competitor Research
Three competitors were analysed to determine what existed in the space already, noting the pros and cons of each. A Heuristic analysis was also performed to determine the accessibility downfalls of each competitor. The competitors chosen were:
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Class Dojo - A primary school-level learning platform which connects teachers, students and parents.
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Additio - A platform which organises assessments and tracks progress.
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Kahoot - A popular gamified learning platform which provides quizzes for teachers and students.
Research Findings
Averages of quantitative data were calculated and all qualitative data was analysed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis to find common themes in the data. These themes seemed to be cohesive across all research, the most common being the following;
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Lack of accessible resources.
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Trouble managing SEN student's emotional well-being.
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Busy teaching schedules cause issues.
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There's a lack of clear and cohesive information.
The issues found were then able to be translated into potential features during ideation, creating a foundation for prototyping to make an artefact which addresses user needs successfully.
User Centred Design Approaches
Primary and secondary users and their wants/needs were identified through prior research. These wants/needs were personified through multiple user-centred design approaches, to ensure the user is kept at the forefront of the design process. The methods used in this project were Personas, Storyboards and User stories.
Ideation
Mind Mapping was used early on to ideate initial features which would solve the issues previously uncovered in the problem domain. This ideation method was chosen as it allows ideas to be visually noted, linked and developed quickly.
Paper Prototyping
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Features prioritised using MoSCoW were visualised through the creation of crazy8s and rough paper prototypes. This established a foundation for wireframing and helped with the creation of a Site Map and User Flow Diagrams and functional and non-functional requirements.
Drag or double click on the papers to view
Low Fidelity Wireframes
Evaluation
Heuristic Evaluation
In the competitor research phase of the project Heuristic Evaluations were performed on each competitor. This was done using heuristics which discovered accessibility downfalls that could be addressed in this project's prototype - avoiding lack of accessibility and ensuring the prototype stood out amongst competitors.
Semi-Structured Interview
The medium-fidelity wireframes went through two iterations. Between iterations, a semi-structured interview was conducted with a mainstream high school teacher after allowing them to interact with the prototype. This was done to evaluate the prototype and identify if any assumptions had arisen during the ideation and development stages of the project. This resulted in minimal changes, mainly regarding layouts and adding additional information which is considered standard in schools. For example, adding information about the student's first language or siblings in school.
Cognitive Walkthroughs
To evaluate the high fidelity prototype cognitive walkthroughs were performed to measure the usability and learnability of the system for users. These walkthroughs did deem the usability and learnability to of the prototype to be mainly successful. However, the next step of the project would be to evaluate the prototype with SEN students to validate or challenge these findings.
Addressing Problem Areas
Lack Of Accessible Resources
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Curated SEN-accessible resources which can be customised by teachers.
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SEN-friendly educational games for those who struggle to concentrate with traditional resources.
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Extensive accessibility settings to make the system work for them.
Struggle To Manage Student's Emotional Well-being
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A student mood tracker which can be tracked by teachers and parents.
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Links to services such as Cahms for students
Communication/Consistency Issues
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A messaging systems for teachers, students and parents.
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Shared boards for teachers, students and parents.
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Ability to share student profiles, resources and lessons amongst staff.
Lack Of Teacher Time/Organisation
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Teacher lesson planner.
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Recommended resources per class.
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Linked to existing LMS (learning management system).
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SEN student profiles and class overview provide all wanted information in one place, minimising time spent searching for crucial information.
