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Debates on AR
There are always debates about what is better for education: Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality. Today, it is already clear that Augmented Reality differs from Virtual by overlaying the created 3D world on the real environment and the user can clearly see and identify the realities around him/ her. Virtual Reality supports fully immersive experience in that sense. For primary education level, the use of Augmented Reality is widely recommended because younger users of immersive technologies need to have differentiation points between the realities before fully “diving in” the created worlds.
VR
To use Virtual Reality it is required to have specific equipment – a headset that will support the experience, where Augmented REality can be likewise used with a glasses but also can be used on a mobile device or as a web-based option. Web-based Augmented Reality can be used on desktops, laptops and Chromebooks. In these regards, Augmented Reality is a bit more flexible and doesn’t require significant equipment to start off. Teaching with Augmented Reality becomes easier year after year.
Lessons with AR
There are plenty of fun augmented reality apps for teachers to use in the classroom and they cover any school subjects starting from literacy to STEM. Although, there are plenty of solutions on the market it is always handy for an educator to have some lesson ideas with augmented reality at his/her hand because it saves time for lessons preparation and benefits creativity boost for integrating new technology in classroom settings.
Reasons to use AR
If you are uncomfortable using Virtual Reality for any reason (not sure kids are ready, don’t have equipment to launch VR), this is the time to get started with Augmented Reality and the reasons are:
- No need for complex equipment
- Available for multiple subjects and grades in K-12
- Collaboration in Augmented Reality became easier
- Augmented Reality Edu resources are now suitable for remote learning
- Augmented Reality solutions for K12 are available in multiple languages
- Educators have a lot of CPD resources
- Augmented Reality lets the user experience the real world, which has been digitally augmented or enhanced in some way
- Augmented Reality is visual and audial – multi modal approach
- Augmented reality has nearly limitless possibilities
At the end of the day, Augmented and Virtual Realities are not in competition! Augmented reality and virtual reality represent an opportunity to create a very different and unique type of customer experience. They are coming together to form mixed reality: the merging of the physical and virtual worlds that create new environments where real and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time.