Augmented reality (AR) is an innovative technology that overlays digital information like 3D models, videos, and animations onto the user’s real-world environment. AR is beginning to revolutionize education by providing immersive and interactive learning experiences that boost student engagement and comprehension.
Introduction
Unlike virtual reality (VR) which creates a fully simulated world, AR supplements reality rather than replacing it. Students continue to see and interact with their actual surroundings while using AR. when using AR, students require a device like a smartphone, tablet or AR headset. The device camera captures the physical environment, while AR software overlays digital content on top of real-world views on the display.
AR enables novel teaching and learning approaches not previously possible. It allows educators to deliver interactive content that engages multiple senses, not just sight and sound. Students can manipulate 3D models with their hands, watch animations come to life in their classrooms, and interact with digital content embedded within physical learning materials.
Studies show AR boosts motivation, academic performance, and knowledge retention. As the technology improves, AR promises to transform traditional teaching methods and increase accessibility, collaboration and engagement.
Key Benefits
- Increased student engagement and motivation through gamification and tactile learning
- Improved spatial abilities and knowledge retention from 3D visualizations
- Multisensory learning by engaging sight, sound and touch
- Accessibility for different learning styles like visual, auditory and kinesthetic
- Safe simulation of dangerous scenarios like surgery or flying
- Efficient use of physical learning spaces by overlaying digital content
- Remote collaboration between students using virtual workspaces
- Contextual learning by overlaying animations onto the real-world
Increased Engagement and Motivation
One consistent finding from academic studies is that students enjoy using AR and are more engaged with interactive AR content. BYJU’S, an educational technology company, reported 76% of students said AR makes learning more interesting and enjoyable.
AR gamifies education by taking core concepts like math, history and science and transforming them into 3D games and challenges. For example, an AR app called Elements 4D lets students build atomic models by tapping together proton, neutron and electron particles. This makes learning scientific concepts tactile and enjoyable.
AR also tells stories in more relatable contexts. Students reading aboutVariables like mass, velocity and gravity gain better comprehension when they can manipulate 3D visualizations with their hands. Abstract lessons become more grounded in real-world phenomena when overlaid onto actual environments. Moving learning from textbooks and screens into tangible spaces helps boost student attention and drive.
Improved Spatial Abilities and Knowledge Retention
Physical and digital interactions with 3D models and objects in AR improve students’ spatial reasoning abilities. Manipulating virtual objects and visualizing from different angles trains learners’ spatial cognition.
Research shows spatial abilities correlate strongly with success in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. AR spatial learning tools have proven effective at teaching anatomy, engineering design, and geoscience concepts. Enhanced visualization and understanding of 3D spaces and relationships fosters better recall of knowledge over time.
In one study, students who learned using an AR anatomy app performed better on an anatomy test than peers who only used textbooks. The AR group also showed better spatial knowledge of organs and bones. Actively working with 3D visualizations reinforces lessons more deeply than static 2D learning resources.
Interactive and Multisensory Experiences
AR enables interactive simulations not possible with strictly non-digital tools. Virtual objects react realistically when students manipulate them. This experiential style of learning-by-doing has been shown to improve learning outcomes versus more passive approaches.
Augmented Reality also engages multiple senses for more impactful learning. Touching 3D models makes lessons tactile, seeing animations overlaid onto the real-world engages sight, and listening to narrations employs hearing. Multisensory inputs leave a greater impression on memory compared to just reading or listening to a lecture.
Apps are even incorporating AR scent technology. ImaginAR uses scent cartridges to release smells synced with virtual content, like the scent of flowers when viewing an AR garden. Engaging more senses creates multisensory memories that boost recall. AR allows learning through visual, auditory, tactile, and even olfactory channels.
Accessibility for Different Learning Styles
Each student learns differently, which can make effectively teaching a diverse classroom difficult. AR caters to multiple learning styles like visual, auditory, reading/writing and kinesthetic.
Visual learners retain information best from visualizations, diagrams and demonstrations. AR is inherently visual technology, overlaying animations, labels, instructions and more onto real environments. Auditory learners benefit from narrations and sounds incorporated in AR experiences. Reading/writing learners can reference text-based tutorials and instructions rendered in AR. Kinesthetic learners thrive when able to manipulate objects and learn by doing. AR enables this through interactive 3D models and simulations.
AR is a versatile technology capable of assisting visual, auditory, reading/writing and kinesthetic learners. Students with learning disabilities like ADD/ADHD are especially aided by AR due to the dynamic, multisensory environment it creates. AR allows teachers to support students with a variety of learning needs.
Safe Simulation of Dangerous Scenarios
Certain fields like medicine, military, aviation and vocational training require hands-on practice before professionals can perform high-risk tasks. AR provides a safe virtual space to simulate dangerous real-life situations.
Medical students can perform virtual surgeries, allowing them to practice procedures and build skills before operating on actual patients. Flight school students use AR for flight simulation training without leaving the ground. AR headsets overlay flight controls onto an airplane mockup for realistic training at a fraction of the cost and risk of real flying lessons.
For vocational training, companies like BMW and DHL provide technicians with AR-guided instructions for manufacturing and logistics procedures. Step-by-step AR tutorials improve training efficiency and accuracy. AR enables safe yet effective training across sectors where real-world practice carries risks.
Efficient Use of Learning Spaces
Schools often face constraints around physical learning spaces like laboratories, workshops and studios. Specialized learning environments require significant space and resources to construct and maintain. AR minimizes demands on physical infrastructure by overlaying digital content onto existing spaces.
Rather than building physical science labs, schools can equip classrooms with AR headsets and let students conduct virtual chemistry experiments. Workshops can teach welding, woodworking and machining through AR simulations, rather than requiring heavy equipment for every student. Even art classes can provide virtual studio spaces by transforming desks into digital drawing canvases.
AR also enables efficient use of learning spaces by making them multifunctional. One room can transform from a biology lab to automotive garage to art studio and back again, simply by loading different AR experiences. AR unlocks more versatility and utility from existing educational spaces.
Key Hardware
- Smartphones and tablets provide portable and accessible AR
- AR/VR headsets offer fully immersive stereoscopic AR
- AR smart glasses enable hands-free AR ideal for simulations
- Interactive projectors overlay Augmented Reality on to existing surfaces for collaboration
- AR enabled books fuse digital content onto physical pages
Augmented Reality Applications
- Interactive 3D models of anatomy, architecture, artifacts and more
- Digital workspaces transforming classrooms into custom labs or studios
- Immersive virtual field trips to impossible locations like the deep sea
- Contextual lessons visualizing concepts in the real-world
- Spatial data visualizations elucidating invisible processes and trends
- Experiential learning through AR scavenger hunts and games
Conclusion
AR is a versatile technology that makes learning more engaging, interactive, and accessible for students. It caters to diverse learning styles and provides multisensory experiences that drive motivation and performance. As AR hardware and software continue advancing, AR promises to become an integral part of the future of education.
