What’s the role of Augmented Reality (AR) in today’s classroom?
AR will play a vital role in overhauling the education system’s outdated and ineffective approach to instruction and learning. This rapidly developing technology will assist students of ALL ages and abilities to easily acquire, process, and remember the information. And not to be overlooked, the fun factor is a built-in motivator!
Although AR and similar technologies such as VR are becoming more popular in education, less than 10% of schools currently utilize them in the classroom, according to Project Tomorrow, a national education, nonprofit organization.
The Pew Research Center reports mobile technology use has more than doubled in the past decade. About 96% of young people ages 18 to 29 own a smartphone. This means AR doesn’t require expensive hardware and its technologies are immediately available for target audience use. Accessibility points to AR’s potential to replace traditional textbooks, physical models, posters and printed manuals.
Subject matter is often complex and abstract, a challenge AR can alleviate. For example, it can help students struggling with geometry to see and manipulate 3D geometric forms and teach global perspectives through virtual field trips, enabling students to interactively engage with other cultures. Through AR’s visualization capability, students can “see” a theory with their own eyes as opposed to read about it. By using the interaction and experimentation AR technologies offer, teachers can elevate classroom experiences, teach new skills, and get students excited about exploring new academic interests.
AR can have a significant impact on learning environments as relates to: 1) skyrocketing student engagement and interest resulting from creating educational content, virtual worlds and developing new interests 2) transforming a classroom into an interactive working environment that implements hands-on learning approaches to increase engagement, enhance the learning experience and encourage students to learn and practice new skills 3) instructor creation of immersive educational experiences to ensure students understand curriculum content 4) collaboration through shareable digital content students can continually refine and increased motivation to learn due to active engagement in the educational content creation process 5) enhanced memorization resulting from highly interactive stories 6) lesson plans that offer multisensory experiences and an opportunity to engage in physical activities as opposed to passive observation.
Tomestic will impact the traditional classroom model in a significant way, employing patented technology to foster sensory stimulation and engagement of long-term memory. Our ultimate plan is to Tomesticate the education system, worldwide! Peruse our systems and methods for making this happen at tomestic.com. #augmentedreality#educationtechnology#forwardthinking#thefutureisbright#whatsnext