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A  PLE  for  Improved  Classroom  Performance  
Krishnaraj  
 

A Personalized Learning Environment for Improved

Classroom Performance
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1. Abstract

Students’ attention span has been gradually deteriorating in classrooms across schools.

Further, the inclusion and management of Assistive Technologies (ATs) for students with learning

disabilities is a constant hassle for teachers. A Personalized Learning Environment (PLE) aims to

bridge this gap between student performance and teachers’ effectiveness in a classroom. This

project aims to implement an integrated product that can control novel, and energy-efficient LEDs

and ATs in a real-time manner. This project will establish an environment in schools to improve

the experience of classroom learning for all students by helping them realize their best in-class

performance potentials.
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2. Purpose

The purpose of this project is to identify, strategize, implement and effectively train

teachers on an evidence-based technology tool to improve the classroom experience of students

with learning disabilities. The proposed project will develop and disseminate this product to help

a broad range of schools to constructively implement this tool.

This project, aptly named Personalized Learning Environment (PLE), is significant, as it

will target a high-need and diverse school population in both Miami-Dade County Public Schools

(M-DCPS) and Broward County Public Schools (BCPS). The proposed project aims to address the

current gaps in the new technologies that help alleviate the problems of students with learning

disabilities across elementary, middle and high schools. A preliminary survey revealed that despite

an abundant availability of AT and tools to aid the development of these children, lack of technical

expertise, skill and proper feedback led to a reduced use of these tools by teachers. An

improvement of 13% was observed in nationwide third grade standardized test scores when

compared to the control group from the use of bright cool white lights (Mott, Robinson, Walden,

Brunette & Rutherford, 2012).

By implementing effective adaptive control mechanisms that are integrated into its

technology, PLE becomes the game-changer. PLE is a fusion of evidence based technology tools

that enables and empowers efficient use of ATs by providing adaptive controls on a tablet (Android

based) to the teachers and to the students with learning disabilities from where he/she can

dynamically control the settings of the LEDs to change their intensities and brightness. LEDs are

also known to significantly reduce the overall power consumption in buildings. The product will

be customizable by teachers to suit their specific needs, thereby establishing a fine-tuned

environment that varies from one class to another, thus making it personalized. Moreover, this
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environment is effectively managed by a secured, closed-loop feedback circuit in the form of a

qualitative behavioral analysis, which ensures all students experience the benefits of this

technology. Included in the PLE is an adaptive LED lighting systems which can be adjusted

individually for brightness, allowing wide range of customization for the illumination in the

classroom.

These lights create an ideal lighting environment that enhances productivity, positively

impacts behaviors and provides potential health and cognitive benefits. The proposed approach is

both unique and innovative in that it uses a closed loop feedback circuit wherein the system’s

output behavior is continuously improved based on the inputs received by it. In this case, the PLE

will be made smarter with time based on the active feedback provided by the teachers and students

to make the learning environment more personalized through their behaviors in response to the

lighting levels and personal effects, and hence, effective.

3. Project Details

This section describes the different operational criteria required for the proposed solution,

including the different constraints in which it must be feasible to implement. The various materials

needed to make the hardware and software components of the project are also listed.

3.1 Criteria
1. The controller must be a software program integrated into a microcontroller that can

effectively interact and communicate with any Android-based handheld device with both

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth options enabled

2. The LED bulbs must be able to change their brightness and color via the Android

application (App)
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3. The PLE unit must last an entire school day without needing to recharge

4. The lights must be activated within ½ second from changing the settings on the app

5. The product must be able to be personalized over time, as it learns from the data

accumulated over time from active feedback provided by the teachers and students

6. The product must require minimal inputs from the teacher and no inputs from students to

change settings, but must seek their inputs for the feedback purposes

3.2 Constraints

1. The cost of the project must be less than $1000

2. The cost of installation must be cheap enough for schools (less than $400 for a classroom)

3. The project must fit school regulatory procedures in order to get approved

4. The effects of the project are based on the students’ personal reactions which are subjective

a. Some students may have a much greater learning experience while others will see

a little to no difference

5. The servers and databases must be secure and confidential

a. The schools can set up a masked server to host the PLE’s instead of using the public

wireless network

b. Alternatively, a secure password-managed network where only the school

Administrator has the system password (as is usually the case in most of the

schools) would also suffice

3.3 Materials

1. A Tablet powered by Android OS

2. Arduino Bluetooth Shield

3. Arduino-UNO Microcontroller
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4. Android Studio

5. Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE)

6. 12 V 6 LED Bulbs, 4W, 6500 K, 520 lm

4. Background Research

4.1 Kelvin LED Lights

LEDs, or Light Emitting Diodes, are special kinds of diodes that emits light instead of

photons. Kelvin LED lights change color as the temperature changes. The LED light can be

programmed to change its intensity, depending on the mood or current situation which could be

fed as inputs the controller. However, the autonomous change of LED intensities is out of scope

of this project. CCT is a term that is used with Kelvin Bulbs. CCT, or Correlated Color

Temperature, is a graph that correlates the certain color of an LED bulb with a temperature in

Kelvin. Usually, yellow and gold lights are warm, and blue and green lights are cool. Although it

is a cool light, blue light is most similar to sunlight in that it has similar properties. Although violet

light has a shorter wavelength than blue light, blue light has the shortest wavelength among any

other light wave in the visible zone of the electromagnetic spectrum. It also has properties, like

sunlight on a day with no clouds, as the blue light imitates the sun on a clear blue sky. Blue lights

are seen all around us; even computers and phones emit blue lights, leading to their stimulating

feelings (Jones, n.d.).

4.1.1 Structure of an LED Light-Bulb

Light Emitting diodes (LED) are semiconductors that are used in lighting. A major benefit

of these bulbs is that they have potential to save energy. The LED lights used in labs were tested

to be 10 times more effective than incandescent light bulbs used in other labs. The basic structure

of an LED light are the p and n semiconductors. The n-type is negatively charged, while the p type
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is positively charged. When two oppositely charged semiconductors are brought together, it

usually forms a diode. Applying an electric current in the junction between the semiconductors

releases electromagnetic photons that emit light. LED lighting is also known as “Solid State

Lighting” (SSL), as the light is emitted from a block of material, instead of a gas or vacuum tube.

A small electrical current is sent through the conductor, which in return emits light. The LED lights

can be concentrated in a certain direction and therefore be used more efficiently than an

incandescent or fluorescent light (SEESMART, n.d.).

4.1.3 LED Drivers

LEDs require drivers because of two reasons:

1. LEDs are designed to run on a low voltage of DC electricity. Since most sockets supply a

greater voltage, the drivers change the current to reduce the voltage sent to the LEDs

2. The Driver protects the LED from changes in the current or voltage. These changes can

cause a variation in the light output of the LED bulb

LED drivers can either be installed inside of the LED bulb or be externally affecting the bulb. An

LED driver inside of a bulb is an integrated driver, one that is not seen by the user that controls

the bulb. A driver outside of the bulb involves a connection from the driver to the bulb that allows

the driver to control the bulb.

4.2 Properties of Colors

Different colors lead to different perspectives and feelings, “A second study reports the

most common words used to describe these colors (Clarke and Cotsall 406). In this study, 75% of

participants described red with words like “anger,” “energy” and “passion.” Orange and yellow

elicited more cheerful descriptions. Green and blue were described as “peaceful,” “relaxing,”

“clean” and “calming.” 69% of participants associated black with evil or death, while over 88% of

participants used words such as “innocence,” “happy,” and “euphoria” to describe white. 70% of
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participants associated pink with femininity. Brown, grey, and purple had less agreement on their

meaning. The study also reports that the brighter a hue, the more positively it is perceived. This

research shows that some colors have stronger associations than others, which is important to keep

in mind when designing the package for a product.” (Tornetta, Fox, Blackbird, n.d.).

People are seen to react differently to different colors. As stated the color that gives peace,

calm, and a relaxing mood is blue. Blue lights have also been tested to have similar characteristics.

In schools, lighting is extremely important, as per Helbig (n.d.) who conducted a study in Germany,

“cool” light sources greater than 6,500 Kelvin are suitable for classrooms. The biological sensor

used in the study had the best response to blue light at around 460 nanometers. This sensor tests

the excitement of the ganglion cells, receptors, in the retina. These cells are part of the autonomic

nervous system, and leads directly to the attention given by a person. Blue is the best light color

as it simulated the blue sky.

4.3 Wireless Protocols

4.3.1 ZigBee
ZigBee is a low power, low cost, wireless-mesh network. It uses high-level communication

protocol that uses tiny digital radios to standardize personal area networks (Rohitha, P., Kumar, P.

R., Adinarayana, N., & Rao, T. V. N. (2012)). It has a rate of 250 Kbit/s and is best for a single

transmission or for periodic and irregular data. The low power use in ZigBee leads to a longer

lifetime and smaller batteries. ZigBee supports two types of networks, it supports both tree and

star typical networks, these networks are each seen to have one coordinator device that is used for

creation, control of parameters, and basic maintenance. In the star system, the coordinator is the

central node, whereas in the tree system, it is used to extend the communication further on.
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4.3.1 Bluetooth
Due to ZigBee modules not connecting to the LED lights and the application, the wireless

protocol had to be changed to Bluetooth.

A Bluetooth network typically comprises of a Master and one or more Slaves, which

together constitute a Piconet. Usually, a Master device can be configured to connect up to seven

Slave devices at a time. Each Piconet constitutes one Master device. However, a Slave device

connected to one Piconet cannot be connected to another Piconet.

4.4 Hardware
The major hardware components used in the project include the circuitry, the Arduino and

the Bluetooth Shield.

4.4.1 Arduino

Arduino is an open-source electronics platform which enables fast interactive prototyping.

It consists of both hardware and software components and can read inputs and turn it into an output.

Arduino boards are able to read inputs and turn it into an output. Arduino IDE is the software

component that can send set of instructions to the microcontroller on the Arduino board which is

the hardware component.

The Arduino software is easy-to-use for beginners, and flexible for advanced users. It runs

on Mac, Windows, and Linux. Arduino is a key tool to learn new things. Anyone can use the

Arduino to achieve any part of their technology dream. In this research, the Arduino platform is

used to connect the LED lights with Wireless network and the app that controls the lights.

4.4.2 Bluetooth Shield 2.0

The Arduino Bluetooth Shield allows an Arduino board to connect to the wirelessly with

the application over Bluetooth. It uses the frequency band of 2.4GHz in the same unlicensed

Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) radio band where Wi-Fi and ZigBee also operate at.
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The Bluetooth shield incorporates a serial Bluetooth model. It is used with an Arduino for

a transparent wireless serial connection. It can also be configured to three different modes, Master

Mode, Slave Mode or Loopback Mode, and it will connect to or be connected by other devices

that support SPP protocol per configuration.

5. Experimental Setup
5.1 Software Application Setup

This prototype includes an app created for Android devices with OS versions 4.0 and above.

The app was created using Android Studio 2.1.2. This acts as a user interface to control the lights.

The tablet must have both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities to work. It has following major

functionalities:

• Login Credential – Allows user to create their login credentials over the school’s Wi-

Fi network. This includes Name, Class ID, Teacher ID, Email ID and Password. Once

ID is created, user can login with their ID. App throws an error if an invalid user ID or

password is entered. Information is stored in a database that is created through

webhosting services (with round the clock network monitoring, failover protection and

greater bandwidth access features from the hosting personnel)

5.2 Model Design

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Bluetooth  Enabled   LED  
LED  

LED  

LED  
Dimmer  
Circuit   LED  

LED  

LED  

Oppo  Mirror  5s   Arduino  UNO  with  Bluetooth   LED  

powered  by   Shield  ( Revision  3)  
LED  
Android  

Figure 2

At the start of the project, the idea was to build an integrated system that would involve an

Android app controlling a group of lights’ brightness. The wireless protocol planned to be used to

connect the app with the microcontroller was ZigBee. One unique part of this project was the use

of ZigBee, given its network size and effectiveness in automation projects worldwide. Initially,

the network was set up using a hardware router called XBee. XCTU was a software downloaded

to set up the XBee modems and thus the ZigBee network. After days of trying to connect the XBee

modems together, the ZigBee connection was finally established from the coordinator to its nodes.

The Hardware in the Loop system is shown in the figure1 which is connected to single

Light bulb (Note: the circuit of remaining five bulbs are similar). The Components used in the

Circuit is as follows:

1. Arduino UNO

2. Bluetooth Shield
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3. Resistors

4. NPN Transistor

5. Diode

6. Voltage regulator

7. 12V DC Battery

Figure 4

5.3 Implementation and testing

The final part of this project is implementing the circuit in a real time environment and

testing to see if it helps to improve performance. The PLE prototype was installed in a computer

lab at FIU. During the testing period students utilizing the lab were given the Android device to

control the system and customize their lighting. The application was utilized to adjust the lights’

brightness to suit the need depending upon the activity they are engaged in. Typically, the students

in the lab were doing following activities: Reading, writing, surfing web, listening to audio,

watching video, programming and simulation. Based on these activities in the lap, survey was

designed to assess how they used the system, difference they felt using regular lights and LED

Lights and how it affected their performance overall. An online survey which included 20 survey

questions (view appendix) was conducted after the end of each day for the students who used the
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PLE. Data was collected from 11 students who used the PLE in the same lab and results were

analyzed.

6. Results
6.1 The graph below shows the hours that the surveyed people spend under fluorescent lights

Time  spent  under  Fluorescent  

light<  2  Hours
2-­‐4  Hours
9%
9%

6+  Hours
55% 4-­‐6  Hours
27%

6.2 The graph below shows the hours that the people spent under the PLE LED lights

Time  spent  under  PLE  LEDs

6+  Hours
4-­‐6  Hours9% <  2  Hours
9% 27%

2-­‐4  Hours
55%

6.3 The graph below shows responses for improved concentration with PLE LEDs

Improvement  in  Concentration

73%

9% 18%

May  Be No Yes

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6.4 The graph below shows responses for reduced sleepiness with PLE LEDs

Reduction  in  Sleepiness

55%

27%
18%

May  Be No Yes

6.5 The graph below shows responses for improvement in ability to achieve goals using PLE
LEDs

Improvement  in  Ability  to  

Acheive  Goals

73%

9% 18%

May  Be No Yes

6.6 The graph below shows the preferred light setting for reading and writing

Reading  and  Writing

Low 9%

Medium 82%

High 9%
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6.7 The graph below shows the preferred light setting for web surfing

Web  Surfing

Low 0%

Medium 91%

High 9%

6.8 The graph below shows the preferred light setting for listening to audio

Listening  to  Audio

Low 73%

Medium 18%

High 9%

6.9 The graph below shows the preferred light setting for watching videos.

Watching  Video

LOW 27%

MEDIUM 64%

HIGH 9%
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6.10 The graph below shows the preferred light setting for programming and simulations

Programming  and  Simulation

LOW 0%

MEDIUM 82%

HIGH 18%

6.11 The graph below shows the preference on the light setting which helped to perform better

Overall  Preference   based  on  

Performance

18% Flourescent  
Lights
82% PLE  LEDs

7. Data Analysis
There were 11 participants (23% female and 73% male) surveyed and they were tested

under varying conditions. More than 80% of people felt that setup was comfortable. The results

show that 55% of people spent 6+ hours in fluorescent lights and 55% of people spent 2-4 hours

under PLE LEDs in a day. 73% of people believed that PLE LED lights helped to improve their

concentration and 18% believed it didn’t help with their concentration. This clearly shows that

PLE LEDs helped in improving the concentration. 18% of people thought it helped in reducing

sleepiness and 27% thought it may have helped in reducing sleepiness but 55% indicated that it
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did not help in reducing their sleepiness. 73% of users felt that PLE LEDs helped to improve in

their ability to achieve daily goals.

Survey indicates that Medium light settings was preferred by most people (more than

80%) for reading, writing, surfing the web, programming and simulation. For watching video,

64% preferred medium settings, 9% preferred high settings while 27% preferred low settings.

For listening to audio, most people (73%) preferred low light settings while the rest preferred

high or medium settings. In general, medium brightness of light was the optimum value for each

activity with the exception that low brightness was preferred for listening to audio.

People suggested to add additional features like, test setting and night light setting. They

also suggested that number of lights in the setup should be increased and tested with more

number of subjects at the same time.

Overall, based on the survey question #20 (Which setting did you better perform in

today?), 82% of people believed that the PLE LED lights helped in improving performance.

Results also show that PLE setup helped with improving concentration and ability to achieve

daily goals but didn’t significantly help in reducing sleepiness.

8. Discussion

8.1 Conclusion

The purpose of this engineering project was to develop a prototype of a Personalized

Learning Environment. The PLE was implemented and tested successfully in a computer lab. The

results showed that 73% of students working in the lab believed that the PLE improved their

concentration and their ability to achieve their goals. Overall 82% of people believed that the PLE

LED lights helped improve their performance. The developed application was able to wirelessly
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control the lights’ brightness and was able to activate the lights within ½ a second of changing the

settings. The PLE units was also able to last the entire school day as the application does not take

too much power from the tablet/ phone. The entire project cost $100, which is well below the target

maximum of $400.

8.2 Limitations

A major limitation to the project is that the mobile app only works on Android. Given that

many schools have Apple products, the code for the app should be transferred from Java into Swift.

The current prototype also connects directly into the wall. That limits where the prototype can be

placed. For that we can implement a 12 V battery instead of a direct connection.

8.3 Applications

This project has many applications: for children in schools, students with disabilities, and patients

in hospitals.

• Children in schools have been losing their concentration and the implementation of Kelvin

LED lights will let them focus on what the teacher is talking about in class

• For student with disabilities, teacher usually have to explain concepts to students one by

one, the lights will improve their concentration allowing the teacher to be able to talk to all

of the students at once.

• In hospitals, patients are usually in a room with white fluorescent lights. This makes them

feel enclosed and can lengthen their recovery time. The Kelvin LED lights that simulate

daylight can improve their environment

8.4 Future Research

The current prototype provides the baseline for a customizable PLE environment. There

are many additional features that can be added in both hardware and software. PLE can be
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enhanced with color changing LED lights that will allow changing of the color along with the

brightness. Closed-captioning, speech synthesizers, and text to speech converters in real-time can

also be integrated into this product. In the software controller additional modes like test mode and

sleep mode can be added.

Further research can be done by implementing this in a teacher led classroom and get

feedback from teachers on the usability of the application and ease of the set-up. Additionally, the

setup can be customized in different part of the classroom depending upon need of a group students

to see how it impacts the focus and achievements for a given activity. Establish a control group

and a group that can use the PLE and study the performance improvement over time. Expand this

into other tools that teachers can use and let the PLE get some type of automation based on the

students being taught and also material being covered.

References

"Arduino - Introduction." Arduino - Introduction. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.

<https://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/Introduction>.
Jones, G. (n.d.). Correlated Color Temperature, CCT. Retrieved from
http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/education/learning/terminology/cct.asp
Used to identify what CCT is and its use.
Gereffi, G., & Lowe, M. (n.d.). LED lighting. Retrieved May 26, 2016, from
http://www.cggc.duke.edu/ website:
http://www.cggc.duke.edu/environment/climatesolutions/greeneconomy_Ch1_LEDLighting.pdf
Used for information about LED lights.
Helbig, H. (n.d.). Study: The effect of light on the performance capability of pupils. Retrieved
May 26, 2016, from OSRAM website: http://www.osram.com/osram_com/news-and-
knowledge/the-biological-effects-of-light---light-means-quality-of-life/scientific-studies-on-the-
biological-effects-of-light/study-on-the-effect-of-light-on-the-performance-of-students/index.jsp

This website was used to find the effect of blue light on students.
How to choose the right led lighting product color temperature. (n.d.). Retrieved from
SEESMART website: http://www.seesmartled.com/kb/choosing_color_temperature/
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Used to find the Kelvin temperature of blue light.
Hoffman, J. (n.d.). Learn about led bulbs. Retrieved from ENERGY STAR website:
https://www.energystar.gov/products/lighting_fans/light_bulbs/learn_about_led_bulbs
Used for learning about LED bulbs.
Lin, J. (n.d.). Research finds hospital lighting can affect patients’ mood, pain. Retrieved May 27,
2016, from LEDinside website:
http://www.ledinside.com/news/2013/11/research_finds_hospital_lighting_can_affect_patients_
mood_pain
Used to find the effect of LEDs on humans in hospitals.
Tornetta, S., Fox, T., & Blackbird, J. (n.d.). Color sells: How the psychology of color influences
consumers. Unpublished manuscript, University of Delaware, Newark, DE.
Used for the general influences of colors on humans.
Wheelan, M. (n.d.). LEDs and OLEDs. Retrieved May 27, 2016, from Edison Tech Center
website: http://www.edisontechcenter.org/LED.html
Used to identify the how an LED light bulb is made.
Appendix
Survey Questions
1. What is your gender?
2. How often do you visit the lab in a week?
3. How many hours did you continuously spend under fluorescent lighting today?
4. How many hours did you continuously spend under PLE LEDs?
5. Do you personally believe you work better under daylight conditions?
6. Did you notice increase in your concentration with PLE LEDs?
7. Did you notice reduction in sleepiness while using PLE LEDs?
8. Did you notice improvement in achieving your everyday goals?
9. How would you describe the test setup?
10. Do you think the test setup was unbiased for you personally?
11. Do you think any external environment variables could have affected your performance
today?
12. Suggest how we can make the setup less biased.
13. What kind of tasks did you perform today under LED lights?
14. What light settings did you use for Document reading/writing?
15. What light settings did you use for web surfing?
16. What light settings did you use while listening audio?
17. What light settings did you use while watching video?
18. What light settings did you use while programming/simulation?
19. What is your personal feedback from conducting these tasks in LEDs and fluorescent
lights?
20. Which setting did you better perform in today?