3rd OverallPROJECT TITLE
Text2Vision: A Chrome extension to visualize any text you encounter with an AI image generator
PROJECT GOAL: The U.N. Sustainable Development Goal that spoke to us was goal 4, Quality Education, specifically, 4.1. which states “By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable, and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.” During our interviews with a special education teacher and students, we noticed inequities within education for neurodivergent students. Both stated that many people struggle with visualization during reading, reducing reading comprehension and thus equitable access to education. We targeted this inequity to help students with literacy issues by generating images for confusing topics or words.
Our solution works to address our users’ needs through the following: 1) Literacy: The AI image-generating function of the extension allows students to seamlessly visualize text by simply highlighting the text and clicking our Text2Vision button to generate an image. Visualization has proven effective for boosting literacy by creating word-to-image connections and developing overall fluency. Those connections are needed to learn to establish a long-term memory that will then be converted to knowledge. 2) Autonomy: Our simple design allows users to independently use the extension without guidance from a teacher, allowing students to have autonomy over their learning. 3) Tool for Multiple Media & Differentiation: The extension enables teachers and students to illustrate concepts through multiple media like visuals. Our tool allows students to turn any word into an image, without accessing external resources, which is useful because students have individual learning levels, styles, and needs. Accessibility: Any student needing help with reading can access our extension on the Google Web Store for free. With this easy-to-use tool, any student in grades K-12 can improve their reading comprehension through visual means, helping to ensure they have access to equitable and quality education, in addition to other lifelong learning opportunities.
