AR in the education system

Augmented Reality is being used in more and more sectors and for more and more purposes. We're going to focus on the field of learning in schools, an area that is constantly evolving to guarantee the best possible training for learners. In education, technology is making its mark in a big way, with tablets being used in many schools. Now it's AR's turn to become one of the educational tools.

The positive points of AR

Augmented Reality is an interesting and innovative educational tool. AR allows virtual elements to be integrated into the real environment, so teachers can present more concrete, more intuitive lessons thanks to this tool, which will arouse pupils' curiosity and increase their understanding. This is particularly beneficial for the most difficult pupils, those who do not understand as quickly or as well as others. AR will make it easier for students to memorise because they will be learning from a real demonstration, which will be more effective for them. They will therefore find it easier to remember thanks to AR. Augmented Reality will also reduce the cognitive resources required to understand a concept. This will enable learners to concentrate more on real learning. AR is very different from Virtual Reality in terms of learning, thanks to the insertion of virtual elements into the real environment. Also, learners will see the same thing at the same time, unlike VR, which requires the use of headsets or glasses, which will take the user to a virtual place, without their fellow learners being able to take part at the same time. Augmented Reality will bring students closer together during learning and offer them a new immersive and interactive experience using a tablet, for example.

Students share their AR experience using tablets.

What's more, AR will enable students to carry out all kinds of experiments in complete safety, such as science lessons, which require specific tools. Augmented Reality learning can be done through a headset or glasses, but also with smartphones and tablets. Learning through Augmented Reality is therefore applicable to all ages. Augmented Reality is used in schools at all levels, from primary and secondary education to higher education and even distance learning. Indeed, for several years now, and particularly since the Covid-19 crisis, distance learning has become popular. AR will enable better interaction between students and teachers, even at a distance. Teaching materials will become more accessible. Distance is no longer seen as an obstacle to education, and AR will bring teaching staff and students closer together as if they were in the classroom. In fact, many schools have opened their doors offering 100% distance learning courses, no longer seeing home schooling as a break from interaction.

AR use cases

Augmented Reality can therefore be used in most areas of education. It can be used to innovate learning for both teachers and students. Let's take the example of a subject that can often seem boring to many students. The integration of AR into history lessons is therefore relevant. Students will be able to follow these courses in a different, more captivating and less monotonous way. Researchers at the FEU Institute of Technology in the Philippines have designed an Augmented Reality application called HARA. It will show students historical events through a living representation. This application requires a smartphone to point the camera at a map in order to see these representations appear. This is not an obstacle for primary and secondary schools, since teachers can point their own smartphones at the map and present it to their pupils. Otherwise, more and more schools now have tablets in their classrooms. AR is also interesting for geography. Pupils will be able to visualise the architecture of the period using a tablet, and interact with a Romanesque church, for example, by zooming in and out, and turning it in different directions so that no detail is missed. Whereas a book shows just one vision of a building, Augmented Reality brings it to life and adds it to reality.

Another example of a subject that can be studied using AR is science. As we know, one of the main interactive subjects at school is science, with experiments in chemistry requiring pupils to wear lab coats, gloves and goggles. And in science and technology, with the dissection of animals and the use of microscopes to examine and analyse certain parts. With the AR, there's no more need to buy frogs, for example, or gowns, gloves, or all the equipment used for chemical experiments such as test tubes, and so on. All that equipment disappears, making way for a tablet or smartphone.

Anatomy of a frog using Augmented Reality.

AR representations are highly comprehensible for students and explanations are provided. For science students in primary and secondary education, AR will accelerate their understanding thanks to an immersive representation.

Students analyse the planets using Augmented Reality.

Augmented Reality continues to develop and take its place in various fields thanks to its immersive representations offering a differential and powerful experience. AR is very popular in the educational sector because it is so easy to understand and memorise. What's more, many manufacturers are already using it to train their new employees - an effective and intuitive way of learning.