If you're looking to ease your way into using AR in your class, or you don't have a lot of time to create your own, a ready-made AR tool might suit your needs. These tools have been developed for limited use cases, and tend to have little customization beyond their primary use case. If you're looking for something more customizable, the next page on AR Creation as a Tool is more for you.
We've combed the app stores and internet to gather a list of the best and most user-friendly AR apps that you could start using right away with your students (with limited downtime while you learn how a given app works). While there are many others, we've aimed to adhere to our principle of 'pedagogically purposeful' by choosing apps that have educational value and use AR to enhance traditional teaching and learning methods; in some of these cases, that is simply giving students a different modality through which they learn.
Remember that not every lesson should make use of AR, so it makes sense that you should be selective about which apps best suit your curriculum and your students - choose one or two that will have the biggest impact on your students' learning.
To make it easier to narrow down what's useful to you, we've categorized these tools by subject matter. For each tool, we've provided a brief description and a link to both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store for easy downloading.
Select each subject to explore relevant AR apps.
Several ready made interactive lessons and resources in 3D with additional images, videos, and text. Currently, the app has content for STEM (general science, biology, physics, chemistry, math), history, geography, English, and physical education.
Using the camera, Photomath provides step-by-step explanations to solve math problems. Suitable for elementary, high school and college math.
Google Play Store | Apple App Store
Allows students to visualize geometric shapes in 3D. Suited for K-8 students.
Google Play Store | Apple App Store
Solve math problems, graph functions and surfaces, and create geometric constructions all in 3D.
Explore 3D models of countries to better understand geographical peculiarities, political structures, animals, plants and heritage sites within those countries. Best suited for K-8 students.
Google Play Store | Apple App Store
Learn about physical geography through this 3D quiz based app. It helps students learn countries, flags, capitals, as well as mountains and rivers around the world.
Discover ancient artifacts, like a mummy's tomb, in 3D, with audio and text to provide information about the objects.
Google Play Store | Apple App Store
Bring American history to life. Either overlay events where you are or explore the map and find markers near you to reveal location-based history lessons, right where they actually happened.
Google Play Store (not currently available) | Apple App Store
View, explore, and create 3D animated models of atoms.
Google Play Store | Apple App Store (not currently available)
Explore animals diet, habitat, and life in AR - walk around them to appreciate their size and features, hear the sounds they make, and feed them with their preferred foods.
Google Play Store | Apple App Store
Explore human anatomy and physiology in 3D. This app is great for learning about muscles, bones, organs, blood supply, as well as how the various bodily systems function.
Google Play Store | Apple App Store
Learn about the formation and evolution of the universe from within it. Go back in time 13.8 billion years and discover how space, time and the visible universe came to be.
Google Play Store | Apple App Store
Explore the solar system, rocket building, and space exploration in 3D visualizations. Best suited for K-8 students.
Google Play Store | Apple App Store
Learn about what's in the sky, where you are, including constellations, planets, and the ISS. Users can also learn more the phases of Earth's moon and other objects in our solar system, such as planets and their moons.
Google Play Store (Not currently available on Android - consider SkyView for a similar app) | Apple App Store
Teach the art of storytelling and setting a drama stage wherever you are. Use virtual actors, add props, and special effects to create your own story.
Google Play Store | Apple App Store
Learn the fundamentals of drawing and digital art creation to make your own artwork. It offers drawing tools, lessons, and daily prompts to help students create digital art.
Use the camera to translate foreign languages in real time with a translation overlay in the language of your choice.
Google Translate: Google Play Store | Apple App Store
Microsoft Translator: Google Play Store | Apple App Store
Bring language lessons to you wherever you are. This app provides you with your own virtual learning assistant and teaches you language through augmented exploration.
Have you experimented with any ready-made AR apps in your classes? What subject did you use the app for? Was it successful? Why or why not?
Alternatively, maybe there are apps you've heard about and are excited to try but haven't had the chance yet.
Share your experiences and thoughts in the thread on the ETEC 523 blog thread.