Augmented reality

Augmented reality is the blending of interactive digital elements – visual overlays and other sensory projections – into our real-world environments.

Examples of AR

• Google SkyMap is an app that overlays information about constellations and planets as you point the camera of your smartphone or tablet toward the heavens
• The U.S. Army uses Augmented Reality tools to create digitally enhanced training missions for soldiers.

AR can minimize the misconceptions that arise due to the inability of students to visualize concepts such as chemical bonds, because AR allows detailed visualization and object animation (Cerqueira & Kirner, 2012)

AR also makes students become more active in the learning process due to the interactivity of its applications (Lamounier et al., 2010). Thus, it encourages students to think critically and creatively which, in turn, improves their experiences and understanding.

Opportunities and Considerations

Device availability. You will know if you have devices available at school to use whatever AR app you would like in the class. It’s also worth thinking about whether your students can access these apps at home.

A useful feature of AR is the ability to experience failure without real world consequences. Learning to fail build resilient adults. An augmented reality app that lets students play the popular bridge builder game based on bridges they draw on a whiteboard lets them quickly test designs.

Personally i’m huge fan of ensuring students have many opportunities to “Learn how to fail”

Cerqueira, C. S., & Kirner, C. (2012). Developing Educational Applications with a Non-Programming Augmented Reality Authoring Tool. World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications, pp. 2816-2825. 

Lamounier, E., Cardoso, A., Andrade, A., & Soares, A. (2010). On the use of Augmented Reality techniques in learning and interpretation of caridiologic data. Annual International Conference of the IEEE, 1, pp. 2451-2454.