Augmented Reality (AR) is readily becoming mainstream. It is being used to broadcast 3D emails, create overlays during sports broadcasts, sending out intuitive messages and what not. It is finding its application almost everywhere, so why not classrooms. While primarily focused on the gaming industry, current statistics show that the demands for consumer based AR products are 33 percent higher than non-augmented reality products and that the students are naturally engaged by how AR can change the world around them.
Augmented Reality in Education is receiving a lot of attention, nowadays. Multiple AR systems for learning are being produced and tested from empirical studies, often made possible under lab settings.
With that being said, let’s dig into what's the use of Augmented Reality in the classroom and how it is becoming an integral part of the classroom setting.
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One of the easier implementations of Augmented Reality in classrooms could be premade resources. This kind of content comes as a major help to the educators as it takes away the stress of being involved much in the technological aspect of lesson planning, while still providing students a way to engage with the content. Premade content is a great place to start for educators. For students as well it is a highly intuitive process as they just need a smartphone to bring the pages of the textbook to life. In fact, numerous companies are coming up with textbooks encoded with AR possibilities. For instance, Carlton Books does AR based books that are so intuitive. Just have a look right here.
2. Custom made Markers
Markers images serve the purpose of displaying Augmented Reality content on or over the surface. There are a number of education applications that make extensive use of AR markers and ensure that Augmented Reality is directly linked to the content of the lesson. The students can point their device camera to the AR textbook pages that the AR app locates and send the query back to their servers. The camera remains pointed at the page where the fiducial serves as a registration device for the movement and orientation of the image which in turn allows the object to move or rotate from any angle. This technology is widely being inculcated in a lot of education apps today. Two popular applications that use this are Aurasma and Layar and are quite easy to set up. Using the Aurasma app students or teachers link the AR trigger “Aura” to an online content which may be a static image, video or a website content. When the viewers scan over the auras they are presented with the online content in a floating window which seems highly engaging for the students.
3. AR-Enabled Worksheets
AR-enabled worksheets allow students to engage with Augmented Reality at the comfort of their homes. This can actually make the tedious process of homework pretty easy for students and they can explore AR as well as the content at their home. AR-enabled worksheets come as an important aspect if the students are to build a positive relationship with education and technology.
An innovative way to integrate Augmented Reality in the classroom spaces is creating a faculty photo wall, wherein the pictures of the faculties are placed on the display board. And with the help of Augmented Reality students or the visitors can scan through the images to see the images come to life. This is an out of the box way to know more about the teachers and get nearly all possible information related to them.
Word Walls: Apart from Faculty photo walls, students can view meanings and illustrations of a particular key vocab with the use of AR-based word walls in an interactive environment. And the platform that makes it easy for students is AugThat!. It offers the students the capability to work on their vocabulary. Also, usages of the word and sentence building around it are all given at the power of student’s mobile device.
For the parent’s involvement. Augmented Reality is beneficial in bilateral terms. If it claims to bring tremendous incentives at the student’s end, the parental side is also taken care of. Parents can easily keep a track of regular activities that being held in the school. Also, parents can attach augmented trigger images at their wards desk and boost them with a few words of motivation. As futuristic as it sounds, whats even better is that the parents can have a monthly calendar of events updated by just scanning the school logo of their child’s t-shirt.
5. Rich interaction
If we talk of streamlined education that is communicative in its own way, Augmented Reality finds a different level of reach. One fun Augmented Reality app that is quite popular in schools is Quiver Education App (Formerly known as CoIAR Mix) that uses printed-out colored in pages to present interactive experience to the students through the app. The Quiver education app comprises of colored pages specifically designed for educational purposes.
Another method Augmented Reality can bring changes in the Education sector is by enabling Augmented triggers around the Science Laboratory so when students scan through them, they can learn different safety procedures and protocols of the laboratory equipment.
To sum it up we can say that Augmented Reality has limitless possibilities and can be an extensive part of profound learning. Augmented Reality not only changes the environment around the children, it even allows them to construct their own exciting learning worlds around them. The end goal is certainly to develop an engaging and amazing experience that will expand child’s thought ability as well as create a learning adventure.
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