Results
As stated in our methodology, we planned for and created three different types of final deliverables: the design of the center with a modular budget, an online training handbook to accompany the technological implementations, and promotional videos targeted at different stakeholders. Due to the cancellation of our travel to Romania because of the COVID-19 pandemic, our original plans for our deliverables needed to be altered to fit a fully-remote project. Nevertheless, the deliverables we produced and outlined below can greatly help the center, and form a platform from which future WPI teams and FRMR staff can build upon while in Romania.
Center Design and Modular Budget
To help our collaborators at the FRMR implement our design for the center, we created an itemized list of potential technological hardware and software. This list contains classroom supplies such as whiteboard paint, dry-erase markers, and new tables and chairs. We also organized these products into a modular budget,estimating how much the improvements would cost. Then, we created a 3D walk-through of the center to show a potential layout and visual presentation of the redesigned center. This project focused on helping the collaborators prioritize resources rather than generating one physical design for the center. This way,the center can choose which pieces of technology to implement at a given time. In the future, the FRMR will also be able to use the list to implement pedagogical technology in various other centers.
Our original draft of the list served as a starting point from which we were able to refine our ideas using the data from the surveys. We then created the graphs shown below to even further guide modifications to the first draft of our list of technologies. To ensure that the students’ love for music and arts was taken into account, we incorporated Wacom tablets and projectors into our final design recommendations (Figure 4). Wacom tablets are computer attachments that allow users to create digital drawings more efficiently, and projectors allow students to participate in musical games like karaoke.
With our technology list finalized, we then did further research into each item to pinpoint the exact features that would benefit the center. We included these along with item descriptions in our list. Besides generating a catalogue of potential products, we also needed to determine which of those products the center should prioritize for the best impact on the center. To objectively rate each product, we created a weighted matrix table. The table scores each product on categories ranked from most impactful to least impactful in the following order: Interaction, or educational features; Collaboration; Engagement, or student’s anticipated enjoyment using the product; and Total Price. Each product was given a score of 1 (bad) through 5 (excellent) for each category. For a product, its score in a category is multiplied by the rank of the category; then, its total score for each category is added together for a resulting product score.
Figure 4: The Break-Down of Extra-Curricular Activity Preferences from 9 Respondents
A projector screen, with a score of 41, was ranked as the most important. This was one point higher than the projector itself, as the screen is a cheaper item. Ideally, both the screen and the projector would be purchased at the same time. Tablets also received a high score of 40 due to their high scores in Collaboration, Interaction, and Engagement. Tablet cases and a laptop cart received the lowest scores of 13 and 12, respectively. As these are items geared toward center safety, they had the lowest scores in terms of Collaboration and Interaction.
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From the resulting prioritized list, we grouped items into a tiered ranking system. The tiered ranking system, consisting of three levels of varying importance, gave the center the freedom to choose which items they would like to implement from a group of items yielding similar impacts. The highest tier, named “Priority: 1,” includes tablets, tables and chairs, and a projector and screen. The second tier,“Priority: 2,” includes laptops, whiteboard paint, dry-erase markers, and cork boards. The lowest tier, or “Priority: 3,” should contain the laptop cart and tablet cases according to the weighted matrix table. However, we decided to override this outcome, as the matrix did not take into account the safety factors of these items. Therefore, we moved the laptop cart and tablet cases into the second tier, and the 3D printer and Wacom tablet into the third tier*.
Figure 5: The Finalized List of Recommendations Sorted by Priority
The technology we researched and added to our recommendations was then organized into a modular budget. This way, the FRMR can choose its next steps in developing its centers. Instead of providing a single design for a single center, having a modular budget will allow the FRMR to share the information with all of the existing Generations’ Centres, and to decide how to further advance each center depending on its specific needs.
Figure 6: The Modular Budget
Due to the complications with COVID-19, it became even more essential to provide our collaborators with visuals of our proposed design as we were not able to physically be there to make changes and explain our ideas. Using reference information and images provided by our collaborators, a 3D model of the room was created with Google Sketchup. Google Sketchup is a free online tool as described in Appendix N. An overhead view of the model is in Figure 7.
Figure 7: Overhead View of 3D Design Model
Using references helped make the model recognizable and ensure our sponsors could accurately visualize new technologies in the space. The list of technology recommendations was used as a guide to select one potential layout; our collaborators are encouraged to adjust this plan to best meet their needs. Some of the featured technologies in the 3D model include the projector and screen, whiteboard paint, and tables. The recommendations were added to the model from the free Google Sketchup library of pre-modeled objects.
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The projector and screen are ranked as Priority 1 items and therefore require a prominent location in the center where they can be easily accessible. With the help of references from the actual center, we determined that the wall shown in Figure 8 could be the area for the projector screen, as in Figure 9.
Figure 8: Image of a Generations' Centre's Main Wall, February 2020
Figure 9: Potential Projector Area of 3D Design Model
Another major aspect of the 3D design has to do with the locker area of the center shown in Figure 10. Adding cork board and whiteboard paint to the fronts of the locker doors can transform them into engaging workspaces, while still being a functional storage space. An example of this space being used can be seen in Figure 11.
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In the case that the collaborators need more tables, but don’t have the floor space always available, the 3D model features folding picture frame tables, shown in Figure 12. Tables like this are usually built instead of purchased, so the modular budget reflects the cost of the materials needed to make them as opposed to purchasing the tables in a store. Building these tables can be a hands on, engaging activity for the students and volunteers.
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With the Google Sketchup Walk Tool and a simple screen capture program we were able to create an in-person walk-through experience. This walk-through is later used in our promotional videos. It can be found in the Final Deliverables tab on the Design of Center page. With this model, video walk-through, and modular budget, our collaborators should be able to visualize the potential for the center and begin making changes.
Volunteer Resources
Our next goal was to create resources that will be useful for the volunteers, who will eventually have to learn how to use the technology we recommend. Thus, we started working on transcribing step-by-step guides on how to use specific software that was included in our final design. Along with these, we embedded links to different videos on YouTube that physically show these steps and more in-depth tutorials throughout the videos. By including both written steps and videos, we are hoping that this full, comprehensive guide will be enough to encompass everything they need to learn how to use these software efficiently. After completing all of the guides, we developed a website to house this online, interactive handbook, as it allows the information to be easily adapted when different types of technology are introduced to the center. Additionally, to introduce a more social and interactive experience to the website, we also included a forum-like page where volunteers, upon making an account in the website, are able to post and share ideas and experiences. While the entirety of the website is accessible to the public, the ability to make posts on this portion of the website requires an account to be made and approved by our collaborators, to ensure that everyone using this feature is an active volunteer with the foundation.
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One of our objectives while producing this deliverable was to make it easy for the FRMR staff to keep it up-to-date, while also being easy for the volunteers to access and use. By using Wix, we could pass the ability to edit the website on to someone at the FRMR. Our materials are easy to maintain and update by the staff at the FRMR, and thus in the future can ensure that the volunteers are receiving relevant and valuable information.
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In order to ensure that the volunteer resources website was easy to use for the elderly volunteers, we kept the design and layout fairly simple. The header for the website, which is visible from any page, contains simply the title of the website, “Centrele Comunitare GeneraÈ›ii Portalul Voluntarilor,” a button in the top right corner which allows you to either log in to your account or, if you have already logged in, takes you to your profile, and the navigational menu. The navigational menu has four tabs: “Pagina Principala,” the homepage (Figure 10); “Pagina Comunitară,” the community page; “Resurse,” the resource page; and “InformaÅ£ii de Contact,” which has the contact information for the center. The footer of the website, which is located at the bottom of every page, contains links to some of the FRMR’s social media, including their Facebook and YouTube pages as well as their LinkedIn profile.
Figure 10: Volunteer Resources Website Homepage
On the homepage, or “Pagina Principala” in Romanian, there is a video player containing the Romanian version of the volunteer promotional video. While the primary users of this website will be the existing volunteers in the program, we decided to include this promotional video on the homepage in case any potential volunteers found the website while looking for information about the program. Below the promotional video is a small photo gallery with three images, each of which are linked to separate pages of the website.
The next page of the website is the “Pagina Comunitară” page. This is the area of the website which contains the forum that the volunteers can use to make posts and share ideas with other volunteers. While this portion of the website can be viewed by anyone, only people with accounts that have been approved by the owner of the website can actually interact with the forum. Also accessible through the “Pagina Comunitară” page is the “Membri” page, which is where anyone with an account can view the profiles of other account holders. This page is only accessible to people with approved accounts, so that nobody who is not a volunteer or staff member of the Generations’ Centres program can see the profiles.
After the “Pagina Comunitară” page is the “Resurse” page, pictured in Figure 11 below, which serves as the navigational page for all of the guides that were written for the volunteers. The original guides were written in English on Google Documents, and were sent to the collaborators with the rest of the deliverables. Using online translation programs, such as Google Translate, the guides were translated to Romanian and copied over to Wix. They were then reformatted to match the rest of the website.
Figure 11: Volunteer Resources Website Resource Page
The last page of the Generations’ Centres’ volunteer resources website is the “InformaÅ£ii de Contact” page. This portion of the website was left without custom formatting so that our collaborators at the FRMR can fill in the contact information with the correct information. The FRMR will be able to add information such as phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and social media pages so that anyone visiting the website will be able to contact the FRMR, whether it is a program volunteer or a member of the community seeking information on how to become involved.
Along with the website itself, our team created an additional Google Document titled “Guide to Wix,” which contains information that will assist the FRMR with maintaining and updating the website in the future. This guide was not included on the website itself, as it was not intended to be a resource for the Generations’ Centres’ volunteers but rather as a tool for the FRMR to continue using the “Centrele Comunitare GeneraÈ›ii Portalul Voluntarilor” website.
Promotional Videos
As a result of collecting data through talking to our collaborators and our volunteer survey, we found that the most prominent source from which volunteers heard about the Generations’ Centre was through spoken communication, either by volunteers currently working at the center, their friends, or even through the FRMR’s phone service, Elderly Line. This tendency is shown in Figure 12 below. From this, we determined that the FRMR could gain more volunteers by utilizing different forms of communication to reach wider audiences. In order to reach these wider audiences, we created two promotional videos, one in English and one in Romanian, to specifically target new volunteers more effectively by illustrating their role in the center. We hope that the new videos will attract retirees to volunteer at the centers by incorporating visual and promotional content.
Figure 12: The Break-Down of How Volunteers Hear About the Center from 9 Respondents
We also created a sponsorship video, with English and Romanian translations, so that the FRMR could reach more sponsors through different media avenues. The sponsorship videos can be submitted with funding grant applications as well as shown to prospective sponsors during pitch meetings. The videos show what the centers could become with the help of sponsor contributions in a creative way. While a paper report containing numbers and figures certainly outlines the program effectively, the visuals presented in the video will make the same data more memorable and eye-catching.
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Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to bring our original idea of using first hand accounts by conducting interviews with various students and volunteers from the center to fruition. Because of this limitation, we decided to use animation software instead, basing the concept drawings off photos taken at the center. We felt it was especially important to use free online tools so that future IQP teams and even our collaborators would be able to create similar videos. Adobe Illustrator was used to create the digital illustrations seen throughout the promotional videos. While this program is free to download for WPI students and faculty, outside collaborators will need to purchase it.
When creating the promotional videos, we felt that the best way to communicate the purpose was to start them with a description of the FRMR and its overall goals. It then goes on to introduce our team and why we are involved. We went on to show the technology changes we proposed and how they can transform the center into a better learning environment. To visually represent this, we created a 3D digital mock-up of the new designs for the Generations’ Centre. The 3D walkthrough illustrates what it would be like to experience the space first hand, and it shows how someone would interact with some of the technology in our list of recommendations. The sponsorship video then describes how becoming a sponsor will aid the center in meeting their objective of implementing new technologies. Similarly, the volunteer video describes the role of the volunteers and what background experience is recommended. Given the limited access to stable WiFi in the homes of the Romanian volunteers and students, we were only able to conduct one formal interview with a volunteer to receive a first hand account of the effect the center has on those who participate in it. From this interview, we were able to construct what a typical day at a Generations’ Centre would look like. Additional context, as well as feedback on our ideas, was provided to us through weekly meetings with said volunteer and the center psychologist. With this information, we were able to expand upon what volunteers would be experiencing if they were to join the FRMR community and what kind of impact sponsors could have. Both videos end with a Thank You slide and link to one of the FRMR’s web pages. The sponsorship video links to the FRMR’s donation page and the volunteer video links to their information and sign-up page.
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*Upon the completion of this project, we were informed that the program already has a 3D printer. With this knowledge, we recommend purchasing additional 3D printers and expanding our volunteer resources website to include information and guides for these specific products.