Mindlab Session 3: Reflection

This week our digital learning session was about Augmented Reality.

Our reflection questions were:
Consider ways that you may be able to use Virtual or Augmented Reality in your classroom or school? What would it add? How would it change the learning?

Last year, we were lucky enough to have the Google Cardboard tour through our school, and I led several classes through tours. I really enjoyed it and the students had fun. However, I haven't included it in my classroom programme for two reasons:

• Devices and viewers - I would need to have at least 15 viewers and the equivalent number of phones. Some students have phones but would have to add the apps at home. Rhen I'd have to run the tour in a couple of sessions to get everyone through.
• We have a seriously busy programme. Some weeks we only have 6 out of 24 blocks in the classroom to run the whole core classroom, so every second counts. I just don't see Google Cardboard tours as giving me enough bang for the buck.

I enjoyed the augmented reality we did in the last session. Several of the options were fun for my students (eg the colouring in Quiver), but the learning level is too low to extend my students (great entertainment on a wet lunchtime though).

The benefits are great for the more advanced apps, though. For example, in science we're going to be dissecting a heart soon, so we'll be able to put the Anatomy 4D augmented heart on our Promethean panels using Airplay.

An idea I will use - Aurasma:

• With Aurasma you can take a photo of something and then when you scan it, it opens up a video you've linked to it. At the start of the year, I'm going to get the students to record an introduction to themselves and then link it to a photo. That means we can all get to know each other in a fun way at the start of the year.
• This could also work in heaps of other areas. For example, in maths they could photograph a triangular prism, then record themselves explaining how to work out the volume of the shape. The pictures could then be up around the romm and the students click on them if they can't remember how to work something out. Very cool :)