7 Benefits of AR in Education

Traditional classroom learning and methods are being overridden by the new upcoming technology everyday. It will also not be wrong to say that as smart education is being introduced and digital tools like smartphones and tablets and computers are being used in the classrooms for the students of almost all age groups will not be wrong. 

 

Students are benefiting from various technologies and digital tools, one of which is augmented reality which enhances the real life description of the topic in no time, making the content even more engaging and comprehensible for the student, also making them remember and learn it for the long time. 

 

What is Augmented Reality (AR)? 

Augmented reality or AR is an interactive experience or enhanced version of the real world to be presented in a more understandable way with the help of computerised tools. This is done with the use of digital tools like - animations, graphics, sounds etc. to be able to create an amalgamation of the real and the virtual worlds to be able to get a broad understanding of what is being explained.

 

This is a growing trend nowadays for the computer and mobile application based companies.
 

Augmented Reality and Education

AR in education can provide multiple benefits not just in terms of a shift from traditional to digital but it is also said to have enhanced and effectively impacted understanding and interaction among the students and also have resulted in good results and in depth understanding of the concept. 

Therefore it can be said that the combination of interactive education and engaging content can cause the students to remember what they have learned and gain fast skills and information in no time and without much chaos. 

AR can be applied in almost all the subjects that are taught to the students of all age groups be it in schools or in colleges. They can range from reading to maths to languages to sciences to machines etc. 

Not to mention this can also be combined with several tasks and worksheets and projects afterwards to not just evaluate the learning of the students as a part of the curriculum and education but to make them more collaborative and interactive to be able to identify what they themselves need more understanding of. 

Requirements for an AR Education Setup

As most of the students and teachers have access to smartphones and internet connection nowadays, implementation of augmented reality in between of lessons will not even come to be a task, let’s talk about the minimal AR Classroom setup requirements: 

An internet connection

A smartphone or a tablet 

AR Apps (for education specially)

Some Augmented Reality based learning platforms are Experience Real History, World Brush, Curiscope and 3DBear.

 

AR Benefits in Education
 

There are multiple roles and significance of augmented reality that can be seen widely in the field of education. This is not just being set as a trend of new learning methods and modern era education but also this is playing a crucial role in revolutionizing the traditional educational approach which has been used.

Apart from education AR is being used in several other ways, read our blog on Augmented Reality Trends.

Here are some ways in which AR is playing a role in the field of education as well: 

 

1. Combined learning 

 

Augmented reality based teaching has the potential to replace the old and obsolete techniques and textbook based reading. But as everything cannot be switched to technacilty immediately initially one should start with using a combined approach for both the AR based learning and textbook based learning. 

 

For example the AR based classes can be combined with worksheets and assessment to be able to get a clear comprehension of what the student learned. 

Also, the current textbooks and lesson plans can be enriched with the AR based applications and animations which may work if a code gets scanned on a particular app for studying. This can be started with some topics and hence can lead to the digitalization of the entire course content from the end of both the student and the teacher. 

 

2. Making Learning Interesting 

 

This is a well known fact that kids are able to grasp things more by listening to them or seeing their visual representation more than by reading them . Also they are able to memorize more and learn more in such cases. 

 

Augmented reality based learning which is now being used in most of the educational learning apps and platforms are helping the students with their current learning and advertising themselves as how they are helping them upgrade their marks by understanding the concept more. 

Via this learning, the students are able to make the most of their understanding skills and imagination skills make them be interested in the subject where they get inclined towards the concept’s deep learning instead of rote learning.

 

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 Implementation of AR in Education

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3. Interactive Sessions 

 

AR-based classroom lessons (Smart Class) or even smartphone-based virtual application-based classes make the students more interactive. When they are able to understand more and clearly as mentioned above they are also able to think beyond the horizons of the classrooms.

 

Recommended blog - Extended Reality

 

They are able to let their imagination and creative skills take a fly and they can raise questions based on the topic, they can be wishful of connecting one related topic to the other so as to be able to get a comprehensive and concrete understanding of the topics taught. This not just helps them reinforce the concepts that they have learned in the classrooms but also helps them in engaging with the teachers and other students.
 

 

4. Grasping Complex Concepts 

 

Interactive classes can turn student engagement high in terms of models and illustrated images and contents. Those content and images can help the students to understand and have an in-depth knowledge about the concepts which are generally hard and unclear to all the unexplained ways if explained by reading. 
 

But on the contrary if the same concept happens to be explained by the methods of illustrations, graphics and animations the overall 3 Dimensional depiction of the same can help the student understand the topic and clear the minutest of doubts. 

For example: The anatomy of the human eye. Imagine if the topic is being explained in textbooks they will be explaining the concepts one by one but even then one would not be able to grasp what we are reading even though we may cram all the technical terms like pupil and retina. 

 

If the same happens to be described by an AR based application which virtually zooms in the human eye and then the description boxes appear upon the sides, the student will be able to get a complete understanding of the concept with the clarity that can be enough imagination inducing. Also the pictures of the concept will stay in the mind long after the topic finishes.

 

5. Learning From Everywhere 

 

There are education apps which are using this vast technique to teach on their platform but the most fascinating part about them is that one does not need to be physically present in a set location so as be able to get the topics we need not be in contact or need not be in any educational or a school setup to be able to learn.

AR Serves as a vast means of understanding and a procedure of education which is proving to be more fruitful than ever for most students. These smart education ventures no matter where are being taught to which category of students, if they are on public accessible portals and if they are on an application which functions like that can be accessed from literally anywhere. 
 

This removes the barrier of location and physical presence to be able to be educated. This removes the time barrier as well if there are pre recorded ventures the person wishing to learn ths can use the application anytime to be able to educate himself. 

BBC has launched an application “Human Body: Secrets of Your Life Revealed”. 
 

This application displays 3D models of the internal organs on the human body with the information available on a tap, so no matter from where and at what time the learner opens the application to learn about the same. They can be able to learn about it almost from anywhere. 

You can check the application information here.
 

 

6. Reduced Costs 
    

As the tools of the AR Classroom setup were mentioned. This makes it clear that it does not require any specific complex tools and devices to operate . All it takes is an application and a smartphone with an internet connection. This reduces the cost that’s otherwise counted. 

 

Be it in terms of school fees, travel expenditure, textbooks and time. Not to mention most people in the current scenario own a smartphone and this particular group consists of the students aged 13+.  

 

Recommended blog - Virtual Reality

 

The cost of education material is also not considered in a virtual classroom setup as all the needed textbooks and material including assessment and workbooks can be compiled in an application which uses this technology. Also there prevails this security that the application stored material cannot get damaged stolen or lost just like that. 

 

7. Diversity of Content
    

There can be made various applications for various educational programs, not just for the school students there are AR for architectural programs , scientific fiends and this is also included in practical training of several subjects like museums, healthcare education, space industry and military training. 

 

This makes it very clear that the understanding of the concept in a lucid way almost can help the learners of all the fields and in all the subjects. All of the material and schedules can be compiled in a single application not to mention considering the strength and build of the same. 

 

Conclusion

To conclude, it will not be wrong to mention that AR is playing a crucial role as we focus on the broad concepts like digitalization of education and almost every other thing that concerns education, eradicating the time distance gap and the fact that one does not need to be physically present to be able to learn anything is being reinforced by the simpler means of extended understanding and favorable approach from the students’ end as well.