Anatomy Learning – 3D Atlas 
Reviewer: Scotti-Lynn Moore
Developer: Rodrigo Blanco Salado
Operating systems: IOS, Android, Google Browser
Cost: Free
Version: 2.1.9
About the App
Anatomy Learning—3D Atlas is an interactive application for your desktop or mobile device, which allows students to study, dissect, and explore human anatomy. The user can manipulate the images: view from every angle, add layers of muscle, blood vessels, nerves, etc., and cut through the model to view different cross sections. This app would be perfect for medical and allied health students who need more immersive study aids to prepare for tests and as a refresher for those students who already took an anatomy course and are in their medical programs. 
Categorization and Learner Needs
According to the article Educational Apps Ontology, mobile apps can be broken down into a few categories and pedagogical design purposes pertaining to their individual purpose. In terms of broad categories, there are 3 main ones explored by the authors: instructive, manipulable, and constructive. Instructive apps focus on “drill-and- practice” where the learners are supposed to complete a standardized task, where there are predetermined “correct” answers. Manipulable apps focus on discovery and experimentation via guided inquiry—but once again, the outcome is predetermined. Constructive apps are “open-ended”, allowing the user to freely creative according to their preferences. Additionally, an app’s purpose can take on a few different forms, and thus be broken into 6 groups: Knowledge and Skill Building, Collaboration, Learning and Teaching Support, Communication, and Other Tools and Reference apps. Knowledge and Skill Building apps are the broadest in terms of uses—these apps consist of simple calculators to complex educational games which uses extrinsic motivators such as leveling up, points, and high scores to increase engagement. “They most likely address the first two levels from the bloom taxonomy: Remember (identify, recall) and Understand (compare, match, classify)” (Notari et al., 2016). Collaborative apps include learners working as a group to create something, such as the Google Doc app. Learning and Teaching Support apps use the learner-provided content to help them learn using a built-in learning strategy, i.e., flashcards, homework scheduling, etc. Communication apps focus exclusively on providing a conduit for ease of communication, i.e., Slack. These apps are extremely useful in learning environments as they help the learner to ask questions and receive feedback in a timely manner. Finally, Other tools and reference apps are just that—tools and references to aid in the learning process, i.e., calculators, maps, etc.
The category this app would fall under is manipulable as it allows the user to explore and test out inquiries by providing a safe medium to do so (no risk to a real cadaver!). The purpose of this app is knowledge and skill building as it helps the learner to gain exposure and comfort exploring the inner workings of the human body—the app supplies the content and the images, the learner just explores and learns. Additionally, in terms of the Learner’s Needs (Notari et al., 2016), I can see where this app satisfies the learner’s need to “process new information” as they are able to make connections between anatomical layers and gain exposure to the anatomically correct landmarks needed to understand articulation points; “think independently” but allowing them the freedom to explore without a teacher directing their focus; and “be in a comfortable environment” where they can play with the 3D images without risking damage to a cadaver.
Other Related Pedagogical Themes
This app is perfect for creating seamless learning as well as integrating two aspects of the authentic settings, collaboration, and personalization framework (Kearney et al. 2012). As outlined in the article Leveraging mobile technology for sustainable seamless learning: A research agenda, the authors discuss the value of creating a learning environment that is so closely representative of the performance environment that the transfer of knowledge (or skills) is seamless (Looi et al., 2010). While this app isn’t taking the student through a predetermined process, it does allow the student to explore a pretty close replica of the human body which aids in the learner actually reinforcing what they learn in class. Additionally, the app uses relatively authentic settings and personalization as outlined in the article Viewing mobile learning from a pedagogical perspective due to the fact that it uses anatomically correct 3D images to allow the student freedom to explore each biological layer as desired, similar to handling a physical model in the classroom. The app allows the user to venture back and forth between the different parts of the body, offering complete user freedom. The only aspect not included from this framework is collaboration since the app doesn’t currently allow for lab partners to study virtually together—maybe in a future release?
Conclusions
This app is truly impressive, and it’s hard to believe its really free (in-app costs). Anatomy can be a hard subject as there are so many elements to memorize (yes, memorize!), and I know I would have loved to have had this app when I was taking anatomy during my time as an undergrad. It is an incredible study aid, especially for learning those subtle landmarks so commonly seen on tests. The usability is perfect for nursing, PA, or medical students.
Resources
Notari, M. P., Hielscher, M., & King, M. (2016). Educational apps ontology. In D. Churchill, J. Lu, T. Chiu, & B. Fox (Eds.), Mobile learning design (pp. 83–96). Singapore: Springer.
Looi, C.-K., Seow, P., Zhang, B., So, H.-J., Chen, W., & Wong, L.-H. (2010). Leveraging mobile technology for sustainable seamless learning: A research agenda. British Journal of Educational Technology, 41(2), 154–169.
Kearney, M., Schuck, S., Burden, K., & Aubusson, P. (2012). Viewing mobile learning from a pedagogical perspective. Research in Learning Technology, 20(1), 1–17.
Image credits: https://anatomylearning.com/
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