World 3-2: Augmented Reality
Somewhere along my MET journey, I became enamoured with augmented reality (AR). Upon reflection, I cannot exactly pinpoint the exact moment this happened. As mentioned in World 1-2, I did some work creating a wiki entry on Google Glass. I came across Glass through happenstance when on the Internet. I knew that I had to have one (which will never happen now that it has been discontinued!). At the time, I did not know the term AR, nor did I know that Glass was an example of that type of product. My wiki entry was placed into the “Augmented Reality” section of the MET Wiki page. I think it was then that I actually had to look up the term!
There is something about AR that really engages with me. As an educator, I think that this will be a great resource for engaging our students in the classroom. However, I think that while we are on the cusp of great things with AR, it is not quite ready for mass use in education… but it definitely will be!
I have introduced AR in my classroom in fun ways. I usually start off with the app Quiver and I have my students bring their colourful creations to life. I then show them videos about Microsoft HoloLens (see learning artifacts in World 3-3 to learn more about HoloLens). Then we talk about apps like Aurasma and Augment.
After my AR presentation to my students, I always end with a brainstorming session. I ask them, “How could teachers use AR to help you learn.” Honestly, after every time I have asked this, I get a lot of blank stares. I find this remarkable after seeing how engaged they were when demonstrating how AR works. This is so foreign to them and I cannot wait to make this a reality!
There is something about AR that really engages with me. As an educator, I think that this will be a great resource for engaging our students in the classroom. However, I think that while we are on the cusp of great things with AR, it is not quite ready for mass use in education… but it definitely will be!
I have introduced AR in my classroom in fun ways. I usually start off with the app Quiver and I have my students bring their colourful creations to life. I then show them videos about Microsoft HoloLens (see learning artifacts in World 3-3 to learn more about HoloLens). Then we talk about apps like Aurasma and Augment.
After my AR presentation to my students, I always end with a brainstorming session. I ask them, “How could teachers use AR to help you learn.” Honestly, after every time I have asked this, I get a lot of blank stares. I find this remarkable after seeing how engaged they were when demonstrating how AR works. This is so foreign to them and I cannot wait to make this a reality!
With this in mind, in ETEC 522 (Ventures in Learning Technology), I was part of a group that looked at how feasible it will be to use AR in education. What we discovered, and presented as an OER, was that AR is about to explode into education. Currently, there are products and services that are becoming available for educational needs. For example, I mentioned Quiver before. They are beginning to create AR drawings to help with education (such as parts of a cell, a model of a volcano, etc.). Click on the next learning artifact to learn more about how AR can, and will be, used in education.