Distance Learning, mLearning, Digital Education, Technology

Immersive technology allows students to explore the world firsthand on a molecular level.

Technological advancements, have an instrumental role to play for the future of education. Get into the know of the latest trends.

Augmented reality technologies are transforming the way we live, learn and interact with each other. They are creating limitless learning possibilities and are empowering learners with  the required know-how to get immersed in meaningful learning experiences. We have already reviewed several educational AR tools and apps and have also shared this collection of excellent TED talks on the educational potential of AR technologies. Drawing on these resources together with EdSurge list, we have prepared for you this updated collection of some of the best AR apps to use in your instruction. You may want to go through them and see which ones work  for you.

The next big transformative tech surge may well come in the form of virtual reality. But what exactly is virtual reality? Simply put, it’s immersive first person software that transports the user to a whole other space. They can operate within that space as if in reality, but the difference is that space is actually digital. It is different from Augmented Reality (AR), which layers data over our reality to produce a new experience of our actual world. The popular game Pokemon Go is a great example of AR in action.

Kids today have more resources at their fingertips than ever before. Raised in the digital era, most children have traded outside playtime for iPads and other mobile devices for communication and entertainment. Today’s students are the first to grow up amidst such aggressive advancements in mobile technology, and in order to be smart communicators, educators need to adapt to the latest tech trends. Over the years, tech in the classroom has been met with mixed views. Usually deemed as a distraction, cellphones were banned in a lot of schools, according to an article by The Atlantic. But even back then, eliminating tech wasn’t the solution. Now, it’s safe to say that teachers have learned to embrace educational technology in the name of progress.

A previous post here on Teaching With iPad sheds light on the unique ways you can use iPad devices creatively in the classroom, one of which is via augmented reality (AR). In light of recent advancements, teachers are finding ways use AR in the classroom. Students are already using AR-powered apps like Pokémon Go or Snapchat for entertainment, which means that the challenge, then, is to help them learn using this technology. Here are some notable apps to check out for learning.

Educators are constantly challenged to find ways to keep kids’ attention in class when, outside of school, their world is full of all kinds of highly compelling and visually stimulating media. Many educators find that gamifying learning keeps students engaged. BreakoutEDU, for example, is an educational game platform that includes a curated set of physical materials—think padlocks, boxes and invisible ink—and activities across a wide range of subjects and grade levels. Students might sort images annotated with letters by state of matter (solid, liquid, or gas), for instance, revealing a secret code word that gets them one step closer to the goal. BreakoutEDU is a physical game platform, requiring a significant amount of planning and manual configuration—setting combinations locks, writing clues on hint cards, hiding clues around the classroom—and then supervising the activity as the teams go about their game play. 

Augmented reality tools, however, reduce the time and effort required to set up gaming activities while allowing teachers to break through the noise and engage students with the type of immersive content they find in their daily lives. For example, after watching a 10-minute tutorial, Yvonne Rodriguez was able to create her own AR Experience by arranging components—which she describes as “digital LEGOs”—on her computer screen. “It’s just so easy,” says Rodriguez. “I am not a tech-savvy teacher at all. So if I can do it, anyone can do it.”