How to Use Augmented Reality in Education

#1 Augmented Reality classroom

Augmented reality animated content in classroom lessons could catch students’ attention in our dynamic day and age, as well as motivate them to study. Adding extra data, e.g. a short bio of a person, fun facts, historical data about sites or events, visual 3D models, would give students a wider understanding of topics.

While doing homework, students may scan certain elements of a book and receive text, audio or video tips from teachers. Or they may find useful information about the course, a teacher or other students which could lead to better communication.

#2 Explain abstract and difficult concepts

AR technology has an ability to render objects that are hard to imagine and turn them into 3D models, thus making it easier to grasp the abstract and difficult content. This is especially good for visual learners and practically anyone to translate theoretical material into a real concept. For example, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria in Portugal integrates AR into math lessons and students report it as helpful, easy and interesting.

#3 Engagement and interaction

By incorporating Augmented Reality into lessons teachers are able to involve students into the process with 3-dimensional models. It may be just a part of the lesson, like a teaser, or the support of the main topic with extra info from a different perspective. Like this case, when a Canadian tech company CASE transformed the wall of the school gym into a ball game by adding Augmented Reality layer to it. Kids through balls onto a wall to hit floating shapes and so have fun physical exercises.

#4 Discover and learn

Visitors of museums could access AR via smartphones and discover historical content related to objects. Additional information about what they see, though due to space or budget limitations, not all museums and landmarks can afford this. Once AR becomes more available, there will be new great opportunities for museums. The upside is that Augmented reality is already accessible to visitors through mobile devices.

#5 Objects modeling

Manual training, hand exercises, quiz solving etc. help earn a better knowledge of any lesson. AR apps for medical students may be one of the ways to learn human anatomy, explore more deeply. Augmented Reality basically means interaction with 3D models. And you can set the rotation, transparency, color scheme, styles etc. Finally, there could be more advanced animations via special gadgets like holographic lenses, instead of smartphones.

#6 Training

In many cases, theoretical knowledge is not enough to obtain proper skills in professional areas. Students shouldn’t be mere listeners and passive observers. Students of technical faculties especially need practice and hands-on experience in their areas. Through interaction, unlike VR, AR features could help perform a virtual practice – with augmented tutorials, digital modeling, and simulations, and acquire some experience in the end. It is not a secret that motivated and engaged students will understand a subject better and learn faster.

Augmented reality apps for students

3DBear: Users can build and share scenes using 3D models with this app’s object library or content imported from

Thingiverse. Teachers create and assign lessons through a web-based dashboard, and students use the app to create scenes. Ready-made lesson plans cover a range of topics.

CoSpaces Edu: This design tool allows students with coding experience to create virtual 3D worlds, create infographics and tell stories through virtual exhibits and tours. Teachers create a class and post assignments. Images and 360-degree photos can be uploaded, and a companion app is available.

Froggipedia: Using life-like visuals, this app allows biology students to explore the life cycle and anatomy of a frog through a guided virtual dissection.

JigSpace: This educational app offers a library of knowledge, and each “Jig” is a 3D presentation of how everyday things work, explained in simple steps and viewed visually in augmented or virtual reality. Students can view the human heart, the solar system, inventions and other objects from a variety of angles.

Elements 4D (Android / iOS) by DAQRI studio, an app for studying chemistry. It allows combining different elements as the simulation, to see how they would react in reality. To start it special triggers on printed cards are used. On their website, you can find lessons plans suitable for high school, secondary and elementary school programs.

Anatomy 4D (iOS / Android) is best suitable for medical students. By scanning printed targets the application shows 3D models of a human body and allows to interact with it. Users may change and adjust any part of the human body, learn more about parts, joints, functions etc.

Corinth Micro Anatomy, available for Windows Mobile, is another human anatomy application that may be interesting for medical staff. Or Human Heart 3D app with less content, but more specific – to explore human heart in details. 3D model of a heart completed with various animations and textual tips about it.

AugThat (Android / iOS), designed by a former teacher, is the application that brings AR in a classroom. AugThat mainly targets students who lack motivation with help of 360-degree virtual photos and multiple 3D experiences.

MERGE Cube: MERGE Cube lets students “hold a hologram” in their hands. Available through popular retailers for about $15, the foam cube features unique designs on each side. When held in front of a device’s camera while using one of MERGE’s apps, the cube transforms into a digital 3D object or scene that can be viewed from different angles by rotating the cube. With a MERGE Cube, teachers can create lessons and activities to explore STEAM concepts, illustrate complex systems, and enable students to “experience” history or science. For example, the DinoDigger app has students excavate the earth to uncover dinosaur fossils. The HoloGlobe app lets students “hold” NASA and NOAA visualizations of the earth in the palm of their hands. (Educators may also check out Google SkyMap, a hand-held planetarium that can be used to identify stars, planets, nebulae and more.)

Metaverse: Recommended for ages 13 and older, this free platform (website and app) allows users to create and share interactive content in augmented reality. Educators can use the tool to gamify learning through warm-up exercises, review games or formative assessments. Students can download the free mobile app to participate in teacher- or user-created games, location-based experiences, scavenger hunts, geocaching and more.

Moatboat: Moatboat is creation engine app for augmented reality and virtual reality. The user gives simple commands to add objects and give them behaviors. Users can then “place” their creations on a table to share with others.

Orb: Tech-savvy teens bring imagined spaces to life with this app. Students add 3D shapes that, from the device’s screen, appear to be part of the real world. Users can apply custom colors to the shapes, manipulate them with rotation tools and combine them. The final creation can be downloaded, saved as an image or video, shared or exported to a 3D printer.

World Brush: This AR experience lets people “paint” the world around them. Paintings are created in the app, remain anonymous and are only visible where they were rendered. Art teachers may assign students to create virtual drawings anchored to real objects and locations on their school campus.

Tools/Platforms to create AR content

There is a category of AR apps that isn’t for educational purposes primarily, but they may serve as a tool to create augmented reality content for various subjects. Check out some of the following (the list is not exhaustive).

• Augment (Android and iOS) with packages suitable for educational purposes in schools and universities. The platform provides options to create 3D models, as well as multiple other useful features.

• ZVR, a powerful tool by Zspace that comes with an extensive toolkit to create educational materials. Students equipped with special glasses could interact with AR objects, while there may also be used by engineers and designers.

• Daqri Studio, the application to make AR projects and experiences, with examples of education apps like Anatomy 4D, Elements 4D.

• Blippar (Android / iOS) an AR creation tool already used for many educational projects and partnered with different media outlets. It visualizes topics and objects from print material turning it into 3D interactive models.

• Aurasma and Layar, two powerful and popular tools to create AR content designed by Layar Creator. Both of them have potential in many areas, not just education. Coming with user-friendly constructors, guides and tutorials, YouTube videos, audio tracks, images, https links, 3D models etc.