Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 1

Qwill Media & Education Inc., a small, Ontario-based enterprise, is partnering with Fanshawe College onprototype for a new product that will support learning and literacy in elementary and high schools fromkindergarten to Grade 12. Working with the owners of Qwill, the Interactive Media Team at Fanshawe willbuild an interactive prototype targeted specifically at teachers in classroom settings. The application will bedesigned to support technologies rapidly making their way into classrooms (e.g. Smart Boards), and, over time,the application framework will adapt to increased integration of personal technology such as phones, tabletsand laptops into the educational environment. A similar product -- in terms of the full-scale version of thisapplication -- does not currently exist. The curriculum content has been developed around a very specificstructure, i.e., Shakespearean plays taught in the Ontario English curriculum. While other interactive, richmedia educational applications exist, none focus on this aspect of Ontario's K-12 curricula, and none currentlyprovide an optimal blending of interactive rich media, Web, personal technology over Wi-Fi and in-classtechnology. The overall goal is to create a set of tools that will enhance, rather than replace, classroomactivities. The UI, user experience (UX) and media presentation will be designed to be approachable andtransparent to educators with differing levels of exposure to technologies such as the Smart Board. The designand interface for the projectable and presentation mode will be designed so that students within the classroomcan use it easily to promote increased participation. The application will not provide digital alternatives toteacher-led activities: the overall application will facilitate access to printable materials and grading materials,and allow teachers to follow a given lesson in a linear or non-linear fashion. As this is the first of Qwill'sefforts to date, having a prototype application that can later be expanded with added media and functionalitywould be invaluable as Qwill establishes itself and markets its products to the Canadian school system andinternational school systems worldwide. The company already employs 11 part-time IT personnel, developers