Augmented Reality

In this class' TECH assignment we got to experiment with different Augmented Reality (AR) apps, as well as read how we can incorporate them into our lesson planning.

I found the article that we read to be interesting and helpful. it talked about the applications that AR apps can have in the classroom as well as gave us some sample apps that could be used. The article also talked about some tips to use when preparing a lesson with AR. one of the most important in my eyes was testing the app before you use it, having a prior knowledge would allow you to help with questions that came about as the students were using them.

We were able to use two different types of AR apps, targeted and non-targeted. From the non-targeted apps I used two called Virtual Snow and Dinosaurs. they both were very interesting apps, however there was not an exceeding amount of depth to either of the apps. with the Dinosaurs app I was able to see information on the different types of dinosaurs that appeared on the screen, however there only seemed to be about four types of dinosaurs. The Virtual Snow app was far less informative, I was only able to change the type of snow and the amount of it, it did not have any real educational information about snow.

From the Targeted group of apps I chose to look at Anatomy 4D and Quiver. The Anatomy app was particularly interesting because of the depth that it went into, I was able to manipulate the different parts of the body that I was looking at and remove ones that I was not focusing on. I fee like this would be a wonderful app to use in the classroom to show students different aspects of anatomy. The Quiver app however seems more designed towards entertainment than education. it allows users to color in pages and see those pages brought to life with the app. It had several different types of packs that included educational material, however those had to be purchased.

These types of apps could be useful in several different classroom settings. I can see these apps being used during seat work time to allow students to reinforce the concepts from earlier in the lesson by way of exploration. I think that the more these apps develop, the more extensive and informative they would become.