The Concept of Augmented Reality

The term Augmented Reality was given by Tom Caudell, former Boeing researcher in 1990, the concept of augmenting the real world by virtual data was initially used by a number of applications in 1970s. From 1990, AR was used by some large companies in purpose of visualization and training. In recent times, the rising power of personal computers and mobile devices enables the concept of AR to be applied in traditional educational environments such as schools and universities.

Benefits of Augmented Reality in Educational Environments:

(This sub-topic is prepared from the research papers and data of universities around the globe.)

Increased Motivation:

Students are more eager, motivated, interested and engaged to deal with new technology as well as teaching and learning content compared to traditional method. Game styled AR books has reached the students very well and it motivates them to learn by themselves. Learning and understanding the lessons are made very simple with the AR technology.

Increased Attention:

With smartphone and tablet available to everyone and students are very much relaying on it for all the activities, it is been noted that AR based learning has increased more attention. Students are being more proactive and eager to learn from AR book compared to conventional lectures.

Increased Satisfaction:

Increased Satisfaction means that users experience higher satisfaction regarding the learning process or their educational progress, that is, regarding the learning process, students have more fun running through a library and solving tasks directed by an AR application than by a librarian.

Increased Student-centered Learning:

Student-centered Learning is a teaching concept in which conventional lectures are replaced by new active and self-paced learning programs. In Student-centered Learning approaches, students are more self-responsible for their own progress in education, and educators act as facilitators who enable the students to learn independently and individually. This learning approach has increased and improved the ability of the student to explore and learn new knowledge and solve problems.

Improved Collaborative Learning:

AR applications improved collaborative learning by providing new ways of communication and co-operation. Virtual class room and interactive chat has made the communication and learning interesting. Forming online group and learning together in the AR model has made students to focus more on others opinion and learn new knowledge.

Augmented reality applications used in education:

Augmented reality, a concept that has been frequently encountered recently, promises a future where we can get away from the world we live in, create a new worlds and enter ‘inside’ our imagination. By adding this technology with which we can ‘beautify’ the world we live in, make brand new additions to our world and bring our imagination to the place we live in, we started to manipulate our real world at the same time, while constructing mixed reality virtual worlds that we use together. It has become compulsory to benefit from these privileges and advantages that augmented reality offers to our lives, especially in terms of education, on behalf of the Z generation youth.

It is now possible to use these technologies in learning and teaching environments by making use of the ready-made programs of augmented reality, like google translate, Sketch AR, Wikitude, Spyglass.

Challenges in AR learning:

Technology in education has evolved over the decades and has provided more opportunities for technologies such as Augmented Reality to find its way into the teachers. AR is a tool that enhances visualization of concepts through elements of virtual and real images, allows students to map physical characteristics easily and aids them in developing mental images for further discourse. Results also show that AR does not only improve motivation but triggers more student-student interaction and teacher-student interaction as well. Students learning attitudes improved in terms of their appreciation of the subject, their perception of its relation to real life and of their meaning-making processes. The teacher indicated that AR apps can innovate the classroom and can provide opportunities for implementation as they are easy to use. However, findings also show that teachers may have a hard time looking for free resources of apps that will meet their needs, and that there is challenge in ensuring that misconceptions are avoided from AR apps’ oversimplification of visualization. The main obstacles involving AR implementation into university education: the lack of teacher training and improvement, the few educational experiences found, lack of conceptual foundation, limited educational research and lack of institutional support.

Conclusion:

Augmented Reality has a bright future as it promises better interaction with real and virtual world in ways which has previously been unimaginable. It is a new way of interaction with User Interface. Augmented Reality is yet to mature and has endless possibilities to explore. This technology will benefit the children with learning disabilities as visualizations are very helpful for them. With Augmented Reality in Education, “LEARNING WILL NEVER BE A BARRIER FOR ANYONE”.