Augmented reality in education has been one of those fascinating subjects that have been in the conversation for decades. To be able to replace chalk and board with visual representations of abstract ideas would be intriguing to both educators and students. Luckily, with technological advancements, it is now possible to easily implement augmented reality in your day to day teaching.
But first,
Why Augmented Reality is Important?
Gone are the days where mugging up facts and figures was the most common way of learning. The rapid technological advancements are changing the way we consume and retain knowledge. With the heavy flow of content that students consume each day on social media, their attention span is gradually decreasing. Therefore, implementing interactive teaching in their daily lessons is the need of the hour.
Fortunately, augmented reality is the perfect fit to cater to these changes and making learning more interactive and fun. Here are 5 ways through which AR helps students-
1. Increases student engagement
AR apps can make the most complex subjects look easy with the power of visualisation.
Imagine this, instead of teaching the alignment of planets in the solar system, teachers can easily create a visual showing the alignment, size and interaction between these planets.
Hence, students have a better understanding and grasp of these topics. Naturally, when students understand better, they respond better, making a highly interactive classroom.
2. Creates enhanced physical environment
Whether students are in a classroom or out on the playground, they can view and explore life-size and lifelike objects with augmented reality. As students move their devices, the iPad camera can track the device’s position relative to its surroundings and create virtual objects in 2D and 3D.
This way, students get to see and experience objects from different perspectives, increasing their engagement and boosting their creativity.
3. Encourages Physical Exploration
The amazing virtual experience encourages students to move around and explore their surroundings. AR can portray the interaction between different phenomenon and help students understand their surroundings.
Let’s take pollination between the plants as an example. Instead of merely observing the plant interaction, AR makes students a part of the learning process, boosting their attention and creating truly experiential learning.
4. Improves knowledge retention and memory
Studies have shown that visual knowledge is easier to remember and retain as compared to text-based information. With augmented reality, students can access various AR models and concepts. Over time, these activities tap into the innate curiosity in students and encourage them to learn more, improving their knowledge retention.
5. Promotes Contextual Learning
Contextualised learning focuses on teaching theoretical and abstract concepts while linking them with real-world experiences. Augmented reality apps are the perfect aid in context-based learning as students can visualise an abstract concept and hence, can understand and relate to it better.
For example- Students can construct their own 3D geometric models to solve math and science problems.
Unlike virtual reality, AR doesn’t completely eliminate reality. Rather, it combines virtual elements with reality making students explore their creativity and see things from different perspectives.
One of the reasons AR is growing exponentially in the education sector is because it supports the learning process, while also giving teachers complete control over their classroom.
5 Augmented Reality Apps in Education
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AR Measures
AR Measures uses augmented reality to turn the device into a tape measure. Students can measure real-life objects and get their dimensions with ease. With an inbuilt iPad app like notes, students can easily copy the measurements and use them for further calculations.
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AR GeoGebra 3D Calculator
GeoGebra is a saviour to all the students who struggle with conceptualising geometric and 3D objects. With the GeoGebra 3D calculator, you can see & solve math problems and create geometric constructions in 3D.
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AR Night Sky
You no longer need to be an astrophysicist to have a planetarium. With AR Night Sky, you can create your personal planetarium. Students can identify stars, planets, constellations, and satellites all perfectly synced with the Night Sky on iPad.
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Plantale
Plantale is an engaging learning app that shows the complete anatomy of plants and takes students through the journey of plant life. With Plantale, students can discover various functions of plants and observe the different cycle of plant growth.
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AR Statue of Liberty
Wish to hop on a detailed tour of the Statue of Liberty?
AR Statue of Liberty app let students discover the phenomenal monument like never before. The outstanding AR offers a rare view from the statue of liberty torch. One can experience the breathtaking views of Liberty Island and watch the New York City Skyline from anywhere in the world. In addition, augmented reality allows students to interact with the exact 3D model of the monument.