Using Augmented Reality in Education

In these uncertain times of COVID and Distance Learning, teachers have been working hard to expand their digital repertoire in order to continue providing engaging learning experiences for their students. This has required creative thinking outside of the box. Beyond online activities, assessments, and video calls, what other ways could we provide engagement?

This thought began back in the summer of 2020, and has grown in the following months, as teachers began to develop their skills with iPad, as a prominent tool for teaching and learning. But it did not stop there. Teachers have become increasingly confident to use their iPad knowledge to develop their own resources, videos, and materials to meet the needs of their students, and with one additional key piece: designing immersive experiences with Augmented Reality. This has truly been the “key” to engagement.

 

In the past few months, we have seen our staff push themselves to create deeper and more meaningful experiences for their students with the iPad and Augmented Reality.

This has included interactive AR Scavenger Hunts, where students answer questions and interact with 3D objects that appear “virtually”, and made by the teacher, relating to the content covered. We have seen the Polar Express train arrive and visit our Early Childhood students, sparking delight and imagination with the belief that what they were experiencing was so real you could almost touch it. Our Lower School students embarked upon building AR book museums, and taking video tours highlighting their favourite texts to be shared with others in our community. And finally, a teacher that went above and beyond to design an Augmented Reality Escape Room around the content area of Ancient Mesopotamia, all the while ensuring that her students were learning, growing with their digital skills, and fully engaging with the materials provided.

These approaches are truly innovative and will be developed further within the teaching staff at ACS Cobham. With ongoing professional development from Apple Professional Specialists, we are taking steps to ensure that we invest in growing and developing our knowledge and use of iPad in education, and in particular AR further. We are truly empowering the teaching staff to see the full potential of technology like Augmented Reality as having a permanent place in the classroom going forwards.

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