What Is Augmented Reality in Education and How to Use It?

As many other industries worldwide, the education sector joined the recent trend of digitization and was not exempt from adopting cutting-edge technological tools. Using devices and dedicated education software, this sector changed its traditional teaching model and adopted a remote scheme, reinventing schooling forms at all educational levels.

Though, in this panorama of reinvention and redefinition of experiences, which use emerging technologies as main allies, what is the role that augmented reality plays in this new educational scenery?

Before the pandemic, mobile devices were already a fundamental part of the education sector.

Most children and young people found in these gadgets the perfect allies to carry out research and tasks, leaving behind libraries and the consultation of physical bibliographic materials.

In fact, data from the Pew Research Center reports that in 2019 about 96% of people aged 18 to 29 had a smartphone. It is not difficult to imagine that these figures have grown significantly during the two years of pandemic lockdown, when educational institutions formally adopted the use of mobile devices as part of their teaching schemes.

About the metaverse and a virtual world

Although the term was created years ago and taken up by science fiction movies, the metaverse gained strength in 2021 from the announcement of the Meta company, the new phase of the technology firm formerly called Facebook, who pronounced its total commitment to the creation of a completely new virtual world, where reality is conceived through virtual/three-dimensional interactions and using tech edge devices.

This proposal surely took many of us by surprise, but it is not difficult to imagine when we consider that it is based on Virtual and Augmented Reality devices, the real keys to living in this new digital scenario.

This announcement alone was enough to strengthen the adoption of these two technologies in all sectors in the short and long term. In this regard, Statista points out that the global market for Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality reached $30.7 billion USD in 2021 and will grow up to $300 billion by 2024.

The above are more than encouraging concepts and figures. It is a completely new approach where the use of technology goes further and promises to build a new reality from smart devices to create new environments and a world with better intellectual capabilities.

In this scenario, Augmented Reality assumes a leading role thanks to the ability that technological devices offer to make possible the generation of this virtual world and the interaction within it. Using mobile phones, cameras, webcams, tablets, glasses, among others, this technology promises to transform a physical context into a totally digital one.

With these devices already revolutionizing the entertainment industry, the educational sector did not take long to adopt them as enablers of a new reality, where Augmented Reality becomes its great ally to move towards a stage of modernization and technological innovation thanks to the relevance of use of intelligent artifacts to be carried out regardless of time and place.

Augmented Reality in education: today and future expectations

Due to its highly traditional background, it is a bit difficult to imagine the education sector in a process of technological reinvention, but there is no option.

Although it is based on other technologies such as Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality has made it possible to break these paradigms to create digital spaces through screens and projections to merge a real space with a virtual one.

• No more having to leave home. The students found in the Virtual Reality devices the solution to learn in another way than just seeing and listening to the teacher. These gadgets have represented a great opportunity to develop complex experiences and skills by being immersed in a virtual classroom.

• Welcome interactive classes. For educators, regular online classes are over. Thanks to devices adapted with Augmented Reality platforms, it is possible to carry out interactive and personalized activities that improve the learning process, which is why it is considered one of the most effective today.

• Presentations will never be the same again. Due to Augmented Reality, it is possible to make exhibitions under the concept of Multi Experience and carry out realistic movements in a virtual space, as well as enable the participation of other attendees in the "learning classrooms”.

• Redefining learning and teaching. The way of learning and sharing knowledge has changed forever and goes beyond consulting a book or taking notes in a physical notebook. The teaching applications developed under the AR make possible the interaction of the student by all the edges of the content and the information of value, creating more enriching educational experiences and enhancing the learning process, no matter how difficult they may seem.

• A new way of assimilating education. Technological disruption always comes at the right time. In the case of education, it is evident that digitization highlighted the need for a change in traditional teaching models. In this sense, Augmented Reality provides new approaches and perspectives to teach through technological resources that offer endless possibilities for both teachers and students.

Creating immersive educational experiences is the future, and it's happening right now. This is why at Icalia Labs we are highly committed to the educational sector and we strengthen our desire to create platforms and software to make teaching a new experience.

Through solutions aimed at the education sector, we build effective communication vessels between the best academic practices and technological tools that guarantee educational quality and improve teaching models.

Our extensive experience and knowledge in education allows us to offer functional technological solutions and build software that adapts to any educational level and moves towards a digital, interactive and virtualized learning model.

Do you want to know more? Contact us and leave it in our hands. We are ready to take you beyond your expectations so that you can face these new technologies through the best digital tools.