Week 5: Augmented Reality fosters creativity
In contrast to Virtual Reality, which provides a fully immersive experience by simulating a synthetic environment, Augmented Reality enhances the user's perception of the real world by overlaying virtual objects. These virtual objects can take various forms, such as text, still images, video clips, sounds, 3D models, and animations. The goal of Augmented Reality is to create the illusion that these virtual objects coexist within the user's real-world environment.
AR technical used for educational purposes. It shows that the majority population is students who are in K-12, shown in below pie chart. (Akcayir, & Akcayir, 2017). Additionally, according to some research (Henrysson et al., 2005), mobile devices offer an ideal platform for AR applications. They are very cost-effective and easy to use, especially for younger students.
From Akcayir, & Akcayir 2017
Augmented Reality is finding its way into education with the emergence of educational applications. For instance, the Learn AR resource centre provides different subjects like biology, physics, languages, English, and Mathematics (http://learnar.org). Additionally, Fetch Lunch Rush (http://pbskids.org/mobile/fetchlunch-rush.html)is a mobile app designed to enhance students' elementary mathematics skills by presenting them with questions and requiring them to locate an Augmented Reality marker that corresponds to the correct answer.
Here is my work by “Zapworks”.
Original work by the author, Check by scanning the QR code.
Reflection
A case study of “learning by design” using Augmented Reality in a high school Visual Art indicated that the approach resulted in high levels of independent thinking, creativity and critical analysis. (Bower et al., 2013).
When using Augmented Reality technology, educators have the ability to create scenarios that stimulate students' sense of challenge and enable them to learn from activities. However, the teacher's role as designer and facilitator is critical. For example, when using Augmented Reality to track objects and graph velocity and displacement, the teacher's use of thought-provoking questions and facilitation skills were essential for student engagement. It is important to note that there are some disadvantages to using Augmented Reality. For instance, it may be more complex than traditional technologies, which could lead to technical problems for students during use.
Reference
Akçayır, & Akçayır, G. (2017). Advantages and challenges associated with augmented reality for education: A systematic review of the literature. Educational Research Review, 20, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2016.11.002
Bower, Howe, C., McCredie, N., Robinson, A., & Grover, D. (2014). Augmented Reality in education - cases, places and potentials. Educational Media International, 51(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/09523987.2014.889400
Henrysson, A., Billinghurst, M., & Ollila, M. (2005). Face to face collaborative AR on mobile phones. Paper presented at the Mixed and Augmented Reality,2005. In Proceedings. 4th IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Augmented and Mixed Reality.
Very insightful post Xin!
The depth of explanation on what augmented reality is very thorough which was very helpful and informative. I liked how you embedded specific research into your blog post for relevance of how AR has been used in an educational context. Furthermore, I would have loved to see you elaborate more on specific technologies that use AR and how these could foster creativity in the classroom.
You have effectively given the advantages and disadvantages of AR throughout your post. However, elaborating on the pedagogical implications of using AR in a classroom would have further helped future educators, like myself.
Well done!
Zoe Lennon (46615687)
Hi Xin,
Your post is a really good read and does really well to explain augmented reality clearly. I also really liked that you further demonstrated that AR is being used more in education and you have done well to note both benefits and limitations for teachers to consider.
I would have loved to see an specific example of AR that teachers can use in a classroom to use in a lesson plan.
Emma W
Hi Xin!
I really enjoyed reading about your research on Augmented Reality. I found it very interesting reading through the statistics about AR being used throughout the education systems and that from year K-12 was the most popular. I agree that we are fortunate that mobile devices offer more of an opportunity for students to have access to augmented reality.
I believe an example from our class using augmented reality technology would have been a great asset to this blog post, but I found the research very in-depth and easy to read.
Great work overall!
Madeline Hulme
21/03/23