Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)...I was not even sure if these concepts were synonymous before creating this blog!
Last week I read Rob Power’s blog post on online tools and it listed “Virtual Learning Environments” as a Type of Online Digital Tools and Systems for Education. It was then that I realized I was clearly missing out on this tech advancement and how it could be applied to education.
I began my investigation on the matter through Twitter. Twitter’s use is also relatively new to me and so I thought using this platform may be a good place to start. I wanted to see what trends were circulating in the virtual world of education. I found some interesting tweets (Follow me @racheljimkats) and learned about Google Cardboard, Google Expeditions and how some universities are using Augmented Reality to run some of their courses/labs.
I was completely awestruck to say the least. An article by Wu, Lee et. al. (2013) introduced me to some of the ways virtual reality can be implemented in the classroom such as:
- enabling learners to visualize spatial relationships and abstract concepts
- enabling learners to interact with 2 and 3 dimensional objects
- enabling learners to experience phenomena that may not be possible in the real world
- enabling learners to engage in authentic explorations of the real word
I thought about what this might look like in my own classroom. I envisioned immersing my students in viewing the solar system, cells or even the process of photosynthesis right on the classroom table! I also envisioned helping many of my students with geometrical concepts many have a problem visualizing in their minds (rotational symmetry, reflections etc). Virtual field trips are other ways that Augmented Reality could play a role in my classroom.
My examples all apply to the K-12 education world, but then I thought about what this may look like for college and university students too. The possibilities are endless! Meaningful learning opportunities are literally in the palms of our hands!
As I kept learning about AR, I discovered its ease of portability and accessibility that is now possible through mobile technologies. While I understand that these are still not omnipresent for all students, I do understand that it becoming more and more common for learners to have access to these types of technologies. It makes me super excited to think about what education can look like and how we can take advantage of this emerging technological feat. I am also very curious to find out just how soon it will be more common to find in our classrooms.
References
Wu, H. K., Lee, S. W. Y., Chang, H. Y., & Liang, J. C. (2013). Current status, opportunities and challenges of augmented reality in education. Computers & Education, 62, 41-49.
We had Google Expedition come to our school last month for a trial and it was incredible! Personally I was motion sick from it ha! But the students had a blast. As it was a trial we got to pick 5 different expeditions to try. The students started looking at coral reef and then to a volcano, the world cup soccer stadium and ended in space. I really liked that I had the teacher function to direct their attention to certain spots within the frame for them to look at. Our school is purchasing one set for next year, I just need to do a bit more research on how to use them to their full potential in the classroom. I really liked your idea of 2D and 3D shapes and spatial relationships. Even using it as a prompt for writing would work too!
ReplyDeleteHi Rachel, I totally agree, the new technology we already have available is really exciting. I'm not sure if I can even visualize what education might look like in 20 or even 30 years!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to check out Google Cardboard and Google Expeditions, thanks for the tips.
I'm also interested in how you use Twitter - it sounds like you use it as a research tool. I've started doing that as well. To build up content in my courses I follow people/accounts that are "in the know" - experts in the fields. Their tweets are so valuable - since their tweet content is already "vetted" it's an easy way to narrow my internet research into useful items...they've already found items that are good. I'm really interested about how people use the internet to research, what tools they are using, and how. Thanks for your post, I really enjoyed it.
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ReplyDeleteHi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI found your post and the Google Expedition video you included fascinating! I teach at the kindergarten level .We teach the FDK curriculum through play and inquiry based units that are guided by our students’ interests. We recently explored the prehistoric world of dinosaurs and tried to recreate a Dig site. We also co-created realistic fossils and assembled dinosaur skeletons to put in our museum. The main goal is to make these experiences as real as possible. AR would enhance their learning and make some of these abstract ideas more concrete.
I agree that it very exciting to imagine the level of enrichment that AR can add to inquiry based learning! You’re inspired me to do more research into this area of digital learning/tools. I would like to see what opportunities there are for our students to use AR at this current time. Thank you for sharing your inspiring and insightful findings.