This week, I came across a term I really didn’t know much about – AUGMENTED REALITY. In addition to the assigned readings I had to do a little bit of research on my own to educate myself on what this concept encapsulated. Just another example of these learning theories in action right?
My search led me to The Franklin Institute’s page where I found the following definition of AR.
Augmented reality (AR) is one of the biggest technology trends right now, and it’s only going to get bigger as AR ready smartphones and other devices become more accessible around the world. AR let us see the real-life environment right in front of us—trees swaying in the park, dogs chasing balls, kids playing soccer—with a digital augmentation overlaid on it. For example, a pterodactyl might be seen landing in the trees, the dogs could be mingling with their cartoon counterparts, and the kids could be seen kicking past an alien spacecraft on their way to score a goal.
This helped to put things in a better perspective for me. I’ll admit it, I’ve never played Pokemon Go, and truthfully, I never had any interest to. I still don’t. However, after reading this week and looking at some of the theories presented, I can see the benefits that augmented reality can bring to learning.
Web 2.0, Hold the Web
Vivan Vasquez’s writing “What Pokemon Can Teach Us About Learning and Literacy” doesn’t necessarily discuss the idea of augmented reality from a digital standpoint, but it does give insight as to how the game draws its players toward learning. Vasquez states “Pokemon gaming does not involve actual physical battling over cards, but systematic analysis of which cards to trade with whom in order to add to the value of one’s collection.” It was interesting to read through and learn about all the different types of learning that took place in Curtis’ experiences playing Pokemon.
In my notes for this reading I wrote down “Web 2.0 without the web.” When talking about Curtis’ learning to understand the Pokemon game she wrote, “The primary way for children to develop this understanding is through jumping in, playing, talking, and discussing as well as designing and redesigning their own versions of the cards.” She continues by saying, “It was when he began to play with the cards in the company of his friends that he developed an new identity in the Pokemon gaming world.” While informal, this experience gave Curtis the opportunity to learn at his own pace. It gave him the opportunity to experiment and learn from different modalities, and ultimately, it gave him the opportunity to produce and contribute in a setting with others. All this was happening in real time with no electronic resources. This ties to conversations we have had earlier in the class as Curtis was able to learn and then take his knowledge to the communities he had become a part of with other Pokemon players.
The other thing I really took from Vasquez’s article was the amount of informal learning that took place in the life of such a young learner. I was taken back by the amount of drive a young Curtis had to better himself at something. It seems that we have lost that drive in most of our children today. It would be nice to find something like this to bring it back to the classroom.
Enter Augmented Reality
In Miguel Sicarts article he mentions that reality has always been augmented. By definition this means that reality has always been growing. It’s hard to argue that point. Sicart tells us that interface should no longer be something that we see before us, but rather as a gateway that opens up and allows passage to some place beyond. Augmented reality now allows us to do this. Sicart says that augmented reality is a way for us to engage and play with the world. Augmented reality allows the user to take the knowledge that is in front of them and immediately learn more on that knowledge. Examine the following list of augmented reality examples that I found on the Franklin Institute website. While some of these are super simple and already embedded in our culture (think football telestrator), many of these ideas can revolutionize our experiences in day to day life.
Subtracting the shopping ideas, this list provides brilliant ways to educate. Allowing students to augment their daily lessons with incorporating the knowledge of others though use of technology can advance the learning process. As a teacher, if this is facilitated correctly it will match with what Williamson talks about in his “Five Things Education Can Learn from Pokemon Go” article. Through AR students can connect the knowledge of others to the real world and explore new place. It can also be used a great tool for differentiation where students can learn at their own pace or have more or less presented to them. In the end, the possibilities are endless.
As with anything though, there are challenges. How does one go about incorporating this into daily classes? As with anything in education, it needs to be meaningful. We’ve discussed numerous times that too much of something becomes ineffective. However, my thoughts with AR are this… If it becomes something that works well, if one can’t incorporate all the time, does that make other traditional means of teaching ineffective? I think that augmented reality can be a great tool, but as it seems like a new technology, I feel another challenge is not jumping in too fast. In the classroom working out all the kinks and making it tight before setting it loose should happen. That being said, I’ve already thinking of how to incorporate it into my classes next year…