As part of my activities this week to be…

As part of my activities this week to better understand augmented reality (AR) concepts, I used the Layar platform to create a simple AR tour of one of the audio recording rooms in my classroom.

While Layar is intended as a tool for integrating AR in print magazines, I found the free iOS app to be effective at recognizing the actual room as well. With the Layar website, I created a page which allows a student to enter the audio room, snap a picture of the room using the free Layar app and immediately be presented with audio and video descriptions and tutorials of the various pieces of equipment found in the room. In this way, I am able to combine different resources together in a single, interactive manner.

I could accomplish the task of informing students about the equipment in the room by posting written signs/posters in the room and by providing them with URLs to the different video tutorials, but I think the AR delivery method of this information makes some good sense.

There is no question that the “novelty effect” to this implementation is high and that any real learning will only occur if the students spend the time to interact with the audio and video information presented. However, if the seductive idea of using AR makes students more likely to stop and engage with the information I have prepared for them, then I think it could be consider beneficial.

I’ll report back in a week or so, to let you know what my students think of the whole idea. If you would like to try the tour yourself, download the free Layar app and use it to snap a photo of this scene: https://www.dropbox.com/s/b0gf7sf356ih7fz/AudioRoom.JPG

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