Augmented reality (AR) is considered an emerging technology and is expected to have a significant influence in education in the next two to three years (NMC Horizon Project Shortlist, 2012). As smart phones and computers with video cameras become more commonplace, this hybrid reality concept can be an effective way to reach learners of all ages.

We were privileged to have a guest speaker in class who has utilized AR in marketing. He shared how interactive experiences can motivate consumers to respond positively by layering virtual images or videos over real world environments. By using a smartphone’s camera, GPS location, compass, AR app, and a browser, you can receive information (text and/or graphics) that is layered upon the image captured by the camera. This augments the real world environment.

Students who may be studying architectural history could contrast and compare the past and present conditions of a building or area with an AR app designed specifically for that purpose. Visiting a historical site is helpful, however, adding textual content and historical images could add to the learning experience. With imagination and creativity, a fulfilling learning experience can be delivered using AR. This is only the beginning of a new learning era!!        

Reference:
NMC Horizon Project Shortlist: 2012 Higher Education Edition. Retrieved from http://horizon.wiki.nmc.org/file/view/2012-Horizon.HE-Shortlist.pdf

The movie Iron Man does an excellent job of illustrating the benefits of gesture-based computing (GBC), particularly from an engineering perspective. This week’s assignment challenged us to imagine and describe, in approximately 250 words, a learning scenario which utilizes this very concept. I teamed up with a cohort colleague, Ross Uedoi, and we discussed various benefits in educational contexts. In fact, we agreed that architectural engineering could benefit significantly from GBC.

We imagined college students in an architectural engineering program and working in teams using problem-based learning (PBL) to analyze historical and current data to forecast, plan, and design future development in a rapidly growing city. GBC in a 3D learning environment would provide an immersive and collaborative real-world scenario for the students to simulate their projects by literally demonstrating past, present, and future city plans with overlays. This mixed-reality learning environment enables intuitive, innovate, and creative ideas to be examined and tested.

How would you use GBC in an educational context?  

We are working in groups to chart a tsunami evacuation route using Google Maps. The route includes the home of a group member who lives in a tsunami evacuation zone. As a group, we collaborated on a Google map while learning how to geotag photos of the route, upload images to our Google map, and to add descriptions for each point added to our route.

I find it interesting that, collectively, our group agreed that this important task was not as simple as we thought it would be, LOL! During the process, we were challenged with trouble shooting how to upload the geotagged images from a Verizon smart phone versus an iPhone to our Google map. After two group meetings which included great collaboration, we have a few more tasks to complete. Overall, this assignment is not only important for our safety, it has been a valuable learning experience relevant to emerging technologies.

I look forward to completing the assignment and viewing other group results.