Can Augmented Reality (AR) pave the way for an easier and interactive educational system

Since the beginning of time, humans have been trying to create easier options for learning. We need to engage and tease our minds to generate newer, better ideas. Education is an ongoing process, and learning should never stop because it’s the only way through which we can bring about any change. AR is bringing innovations to our everyday experiences rapidly. To think of not incorporating it into our educational systems is just like having a calculator but not using it, while you fuss over a complex problem.

Augmented Reality can bring about amazing transformation into how we perceive information. Whether it’s the classroom or an office setup, AR has the potential to create engaging environments everywhere. It’s all about thinking outside the box, and educators are now seriously considering AR to accentuate learning through creativity.

• The Ease of Transition

Most young people, in some cases younger kids as well, own some sort of an android device or a smartphone. This means that to initiate them into a program, which depends on Augmented Reality, is an easier task. Most of the teenagers and people in their 20’s use their phones for social media apps and for games but what they do not realize is that they have already been introduced to AR. Though the exact intervention of AR into the smartphone/android device will take some time, students all around the world are turning towards interactive platforms for research.

With the help of AR, anyone can find the digital footprint of any information and then be able to realize the full extent of how things work. It deals with complexities in the most understandable manner; and with creative platforms, nothing remains ambiguous for long. Let’s take some implementations of Augmented Reality in today’s education systems into consideration to realize what it does and can do in future.

1) AR ready classrooms

It’s so easy to get distracted while sitting through a boring lecture on plant life or when math is taught. Even if it is a simple English lesson, our attention can go elsewhere and leave us absent-minded throughout the lecture. AR can play an immense role in retaining the focus of students through any subject lesson. Lessons can become more dynamic while student becomes more aware of the subject matter. It creates extra motivation in students regardless of their age groups.

Many schools across America and Europe are introducing younger students to assignments and projects with 3D model structures. This can help because of the added benefit of actually visualizing the topic. For example, if it’s a history lesson, a picture from a certain era is scanned, and you can receive in-depth information about that era in terms of a relevant audio or a visual essay which can enhance the learning experience. Teachers can form stronger bonds and help realize the potentials of individual students based on their performance.

2) Easier deliverance of concepts

So many concepts of science, arts or crafts carry the trouble of remaining absolutely abstract.  You cannot really work on a concept if are unable to visualize it to some extent. Since every learner has a different approach towards learning, an ideal environment should be the one where most needs are fulfill-able. Visual learning has the ability to make even the stickiest of people respond. So, instead of theorizing and generalizing the ideas, AR lays down a digital print on the physical one, which in turn helps with the easier understanding of concepts.

3) Make learning fun

Once the students are going steady, teachers can now access their requirements and plan lessons accordingly. A boring lesson plan with no activity generally falls flat, which is observable because either there will be yawns or students will have a lost look on their faces. By introducing AR, teachers and educators can ensure a positive feedback. They can achieve this with the help of 3D models and incorporating some fun into an otherwise serious lesson. For example, a school can get better results if they incorporate some physical fun into their subjects. They can equip each room in such a way that one wall is made interactive while focusing on different subjects and their relevant needs. The relationship between speed and mass can become easy to understand by throwing balls of different weights at it, from varying distances.

4) Interactive places

Who doesn’t love a good old field trip? I still remember it to be one of the most awaited events of my school years. Weather stations, planetariums, museums, and other historically relevant buildings can help young and old learners in getting information with visual aids. What you see has the capacity of staying with you for far longer times than what you simply hear. It may cost some good money to bring innovation on such a large scale but what is extremely good about AR is that it is accessible through hand-held devices. Once the technology becomes more available, costs will go down as well.

Creating a formidable AR environment is dependent on an internet connection which supports your cause. Comcast is at the forefront of offering the best of the internet to its clients so be sure to go through your local Xfinity packages. Some of the options available will surely support your cause.

5) AR implementation for medical students

You might have seen the TV series “The Good Doctor”. If you have then you have already understood what the above heading points to. If in case you haven’t been lucky enough, here’s the idea behind it. With 3D modeling and through interactive platforms, medical students can see every organ in microscopic details; with perfect color schemes that even show the blood flow. Learning about what a brain clot is and what it is capable of doing to the human body is suddenly clearer. Soon there will be lighter devices like microscopic holograph lens instead of the hefty headgear and the constant need of smartphones.

Engaged student makes for better learners. With technology working like lightning and with all the new tech advancements, we can imagine a future of education, which is more interactive. Certain applications are already there in the market like Anatomy 4D (Medical), Elements 4D (Chemistry) and AugThat (for students who lack interest or are unable to learn through conventional methods). These are just a few examples of how Augmented Reality is modifying the traditional educational methods, thereby creating opportunities for better learning among even the slowest of learners.