Augmented reality snags a coveted spot in classrooms

Increased accessibility, applications mean augmented reality is no longer a pipe dream

augmented-reality
Courtesy of The Teaching Palette.

A student holds a tablet in front of a series of famous paintings. On each painting, something comes to life–sounds, animation, or a pop-up fact linking the painting to historical events.

The scene is reminiscent of a Harry Potter movie, but this isn’t magic. This is augmented reality–which, due in part to an increase in access to mobile devices and augmented reality apps, is becoming increasingly common in K-12 classrooms.

Augmented reality uses technology to blend the real world with interactive and enhanced content. When a student uses an augmented reality application while looking through a mobile device such as a tablet, the student will experience an overlay of interactive elements that enhance the “normal” scene. For instance, using an augmented reality app while hovering a tablet in front of a historical landmark could call up videos of important historical reenactments, important facts, or more.…Read More

Six technologies that soon could be in your classrooms

The fourth annual K-12 Horizon report lists six technologies likely to appear in schools in the next five years.

Looking into educational technology’s crystal ball for the fourth time, the annual Horizon Report for K-12 education has listed six emerging technologies that schools are likely to adopt in the near future.

Some of the technologies, like mobile tech, might seem like no-brainers—but will students be immersed in augmented reality within five years ? According to the report, even the most future-proofed classrooms ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

The report, produced by the New Media Consortium (NMC), the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), and the International Society for Technology in Education, uses a qualitative research process designed and conducted by NMC that engages an international body of experts in education, technology, and business around a set of research questions designed to expose major ed-tech trends and challenges and to identify emerging technologies with a strong likelihood of adoption in pre-college education.…Read More

Augmented reality takes hold in classrooms

Augmented reality overlays digital images and information on real world settings.
Augmented reality overlays digital images and information on real-world settings.

A small but growing number of schools across the nation are turning classroom lessons into engaging experiences with augmented reality (AR), a technology that overlays digital information on top of real-world surroundings as viewed through a smart phone or other handheld, GPS-enabled device.

Proponents of the technology in education say augmented reality differs from virtual reality in that while virtual reality aims to replace a person’s perception of the world with an artificial world, augmented reality enhances a person’s perception of his or her surroundings.

The Augmented Reality Development Lab (ARDL), from virtual reality developer Digital Tech Frontier, lets users display relevant information at the appropriate time and location during an AR experience, which results in virtual 3-D objects appearing in the real world.…Read More

Report details coming trends in campus technology

Typing on a laptop could be outdated in four or five years, according to ed-tech projections.
Typing on a laptop could be outdated in four or five years, according to ed-tech projections.

Open scholarly content will become more commonplace in higher education in the next year as online universities and textbook companies organize and harness the internet’s mass of educational material, according to a report that predicts campus technology advances within the next five years.

The 2010 Horizon Report, released this week by education technology advocacy group EDUCAUSE and the New Media Consortium, describes technological changes that will have the greatest impact on college students and faculty.

The seventh annual report’s short-term prediction focuses on open content—a trend buoyed by MIT’s Open Courseware Initiative and the Open Knowledge Foundation, among others.…Read More

‘Augmented reality’ quickly becoming real

Augmented reality is catching on in education
Augmented reality is catching on among software developers.

You’re walking down the street, looking for a good place to eat off-campus. You hold up your cell phone and use it like the viewfinder on a camera, so the screen shows what’s in front of you. But it also shows things you couldn’t see before: Brightly colored markers indicating nearby restaurants and bars.

Turn a corner, and the markers reflect the new scene. Click a marker for a restaurant, and you can see customer reviews and price information. Decide you’d rather be sightseeing? The indicators are easily changed to give information about the buildings you’re passing.

This computer-enhanced view of the world is not just available to cyborgs in science-fiction movies. Increasingly, it can be found on cell phones, for free or on the cheap, through programs that provide “augmented reality.”…Read More