Augmented Reality - For Real !

 What is Augmented Reality?

Augmented Reality creates visuals layering a computer-generated image such as 3D objects, text, animations, video over the real world via a user interface. Today, various segments of the world like gaming, entertainment, and the military are using augmented reality. With such varied uses of AR, another sector which is slowly incorporating AR is the education sector. In augmented reality apps, users can either watch the virtual objects or interact with them by zooming in and out, rotating, and moving it.

AR in Education Sector

Augmented reality in educational institutions is growing at a rate of 17.9% annually. This steady domination will lead to AR becoming a major part of classroom education. One of the best things about AR is that most AR applications run on smartphones or tablets needing no special equipment. This makes augmented reality technology especially adaptable for use in the education industry.
With AR, classroom education can be extraordinary and more interactive. It can enable teachers to show virtual examples of concepts and add gaming elements to provide textbook material support. This will enable students to learn faster and memorize information. 
Using concepts of Augmented Reality, with its fun elements, graphics, infographics, will not only help students focus more, it will also lead to higher participation. AR-enabled learning can be used by providing 3D examples of concepts which will allow students to learn better. 

Advantages of AR in Educational settings

This type of learning has several benefits.

• It will let students learn through rich visuals and immersive details about the topics. Speech technology will also make it more interactive by giving a background narration.
• Such learning can also slowly replace textbook learning which will reduce costs of learning materials. 
• It will make students more interested in learning because of fun elements. In an enhanced environment, the interactive and immersive experiences will capture their attention for longer as compared to regular classroom learning.

Using AR in Education:

There are some existing concepts that are being explained using AR. Dinosaur 4D+ is a set of AR flashcards which give students a better and clearer idea about what dinosaurs looked like and simultaneously provide information about their habitats, biology, and origins. Thus, it provides an overall more engaging and immersive experience to learning.
With augmented reality, teachers can recreate 3D models of almost any object, even that which is impossible to bring to a class. Moreover, in augmented reality, the models can be dynamic and interactive. An AR app can show a beating heart or the planets rotating around the Sun or an erupting volcano.
One of the most common ways to integrate augmented reality in education is through bookmarks in textbooks. QR codes are usually used which, when focused on the mobile phone, offer hyperlinks to other complementary information.
For example, a marker can be created on a world map where, depending on the continent you focus on, extra information will be offered about that part of the planet. 
Other ways AR can be used in education includes AR enabled worksheets. Teachers could start providing their students with AR enabled worksheets to encourage students to explore educational content. 

What lies ahead:

Augmented reality can change and improve traditional learning methods, especially that it can address the issue on human’s falling attention span, which has become an issue over the years. The future of augmented reality in education will help in improving a learner’s participation, intellectual curiosity, content engagement, knowledge base and learning interest. It is an idea that can offer many opportunities, it all depends on the swift development of technology.

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