Bringing Augmented Reality to My Schools

Augmented Reality (AR) is something that I first learned about over a year ago at a Tech Ed conference.  I was intrigued by the capabilities and the engagement level I thought it would bring to my elementary students.  First off, I am sure there are many who are not yet familiar with this terminology.  The easiest way for me to explain it is that it is similar to scanning a QR code with your device and being brought to a webpage, picture, or video.  What is different with this is that instead you use an app to scan a picture (which you have already pre-determined) and it overlays with anything you want like a video, website, or even a 3-D character.  The benefits of this are that the students are associating a picture with part of what they are learning, or even that nothing extra needs to be created.  For example, take a picture of the cover of a story, overlay a video of the story being read, and now when the child puts the cover in their iPad window the story immediately opens and comes to life.

Here's an example of Augmented Reality being used with animal pictures to create the animal nose and a 3-D picture of the animal (almost like it is coming to life):

Slowly I began playing with the app Aurasma that allows me to do Augmented Reality.  I started by using books I had purchased for my 5 year old nephew.  I took snapshots of the covers and created videos of me reading him the story.  This way if he wanted to do his own bedtime stories with me he had that option with his iPad.  By doing these, I began becoming more comfortable with the tool.  I've always been a strong believer in playing with these new tech tools in my personal life first, usually with my nephew as my guinea pig, and then implementing them in my schools.  I had many great ideas for its use, but sadly I got pre-occupied with other things and the ideas never really came to life.

My time in Finland really rejuvenated these ideas and how they could really benefit students when used appropriately.  This is when my big idea hit.  One of my schools has adopted the Wonders reading program and started implementing it this year.  Each section, the students are introduced with a new theme and vocabulary words.  What better way to use Augmented Reality but to tie it to those.  My goal is to begin with Kindergarten and work my way up.  There are vocabulary cards in the supplementary materials that I can use as my pictures and then choose to tie it to a video, website, or 3-D character.  This, I believe, will also benefit are ELL students who may not have background knowledge in these areas.

Another area of focus is the theme of space.  This theme comes up in the 2nd grade Wonders curriculum, as well as the 3rd grade Science curriculum.  I have begun curating pictures of the different objects in our solar system and have started the search for relevant information and multimedia to overlay on these pictures.  When students get the opportunity to interact with what they are learning, the engagement level increases.  Augmented Reality does this. "Though it might be a buzz term in education circles, don't assume that AR is just another fad. After all, profound learning occurs when students create, share, interact and explain. AR not only changes the environment around children, it also allows kids to construct their own exciting learning worlds as small as the atom or as big as the cosmos."

The benefit of all of this is that I can also use the material I create as exploration activities in library (LMC), or soon-to-be Innovation Center.  This will provide the opportunity for students to investigate based upon interest in a topic.  I can continually build upon this as I listen to students' interests or other relevant topics.  I'd love to even tie it to some of our library books that are multicultural and areas of diversity.  What better way to build background knowledge.  The ideas are endless!

So check out this topic and give it a try.  I'll be sure to share some videos as soon as I get my students up and using AR!

Here is some information on Augmented Reality in education from some of my favorite blogs and resources; Edutopia and Two Guys & Some iPads:

Augmented Reality Brings New Dimensions to Learning

Meaningful Integration of Augmented Reality in Education