How the use of augmented reality tools and “play” can positively influence engagement and learning
Augmented reality has only recently been incorporated in education though its been around since the early 1990s. This is because educators have found that AR tools help to improve student engagement and learning outcomes (Scarlett, 2019). AR tools provide students with the opportunity to experience “Real-life” environments. Here they are encouraged to play leading to greater student interaction and engagement (Scarlett, 2019). The increased engagement has been found to positively influence students skills regarding numeracy, reading and content creation (Scarlett, 2019).
A great example of an AR tool that vastly improved engagement by promoting “play” was the introduction of Pokémon Go back in 2016. Pokémon Go unintentionally became the one of the largest tools for increasing physical activity in the world and has reached tens of millions of people worldwide ignoring the barriers of gender, age or weight that many of the other physical activity tools struggled with (Althoff, White, Horvitz, 2016.). It was found that Pokémon Go was able to inadvertently influence physical activity in a way that other health promotion tools couldn’t because it incorporated “play” to be part of its main functionality (Althoff, White, Horvitz, 2016.). This involved requiring users to move around in order to achieve goals and replenish their items which would help to advance them in game. Looking at Pokémon Go as an example, “play” should be incorporated into any AR education tool to help increase engagement and interaction with students’ overall learning.
References:
Scarlett. (2019, December 18). 6 Benefits and 5 Examples of Augmented Reality in Education. ViewSonic Library. https://www.viewsonic.com/library/education/6-benefits-and-5-examples-of-augmented-reality-in-education/.
Althoff, T., White, R. W., & Horvitz, E. (2016). Influence of Pokémon Go on Physical Activity: Study and Implications. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 18(12). https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.6759
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I love how you were able to embed a reading directly into your post and the overall flow of your blog was fantastic by introducing the theory first and then delving into the Pokemon Go example it was able to set the stage for the reader and then break down the concepts better. In the future it would be great to see more images from the game to help illustrate this just a bit more and have a tangible visual of the game.