Don't confuse Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. Have a quick look at this video to understand the difference.
Video retrieved from www.youtube.com
Let's begin with a quick overview of what 'Augmented Reality' (AR) can provide us with in classrooms.
AR blends real and virtual aspects through removing a part of the real environment to create a diminished reality. It is great to use in classrooms due to its highly interactive nature and it applies to the auditory and haptic senses of students.
Positives
Enhances perception of the real world
Enhances interaction with the real world
Enhances entertainment
Improves physical task performance
Diverse in providing students with educational games
High potential for productivity in real world tasks
Increases content understanding
Improves collaboration
Increases student motivation
Negatives
Tunnel vision, in terms of attention
Usability difficulties
Ineffective classroom integration
Learner differences (Radu, 2014).
Utilising AR via ZapWorks
ZapWorks allows students to construct, personalise and create their own AR by choosing a 'tracking image' and overlaying the image with background sounds, web links, interactive texts, videos, and much more. Each tracking image is paired with a unique QR code which allows access to whatever has been created. Use mine below as an example - scan the QR code and use Fig.1. to track the image.
Unique QR code:
Figure 1: AR Trigger Image (cc: by Angelina Cho)
How can I use ZapWorks in the classroom?
ZapWorks can be used across many subjects to produce a wide range of fun, interactive and educational creations. Take History as an example. Students can pick an image to display a map of Captain Cook's expedition to Australia. By overlaying relevant information to this topic, students can access a variety of particulars such as the date of, people involved in, what was seen and found during the expedition.
Positives and Negatives
ZapWorks allows educators to come up with a plethora of activities or tasks which provides a unique and immersive experience for students as they engage in the novelty of AR. On one hand, it is one of the ideal softwares out there which foster creativity through providing students with a sense of ownership in their learning process (Alam & Gleason, 2022). It also enables students to lend themselves to multimodal learning by touching on auditory and haptic senses. As mentioned earlier in the pros and cons of AR, it increases motivation, comprehension, collaboration and entertainment while students manipulate the wide variety of forms in digital media.
On the other hand, ZapWorks could also create a disturbance in learning as it has the potential to fabricate classroom distractions. This may be the case if students aren't provided with carefully designed tasks, and appropriate guidance for utilising the software. Additionally, ZapWorks includes a cost for its usage which can limit the accessibility of the tool - for schools who do not have much financial freedom.
A note to all the teachers who plan to use ZapWorks in the classroom: Carefully consider the above pros and cons and create a way in which the software can be used to its potential, and implemented in classrooms in a positive way.
References
Alam, M. I., & Gleason, B. (2022). Teacher Candidates' Opinions about Augmented Reality as a Supplemental Educational Tool. Retrieved from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/220945/.
Billinghurst, M. (n.d.). Augmented Reality in Education. Augmented Reality in Education . Retrieved April 10, 2023, from https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/4810740/ar_edu- libre.pdf
Radu, I. (2014). Augmented Reality in Education: a Meta-Review and Cross-Media Analysis. Retrieved April 10, 2023, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00779-013- 0747-y.
Reeves, L. E., Bolton, E., Bulpitt, M., Scott, A., Tomey, I., Gates, M., & Baldock, R. A. (2021). Use of augmented reality (AR) to aid Bioscience Education and enrich student experience. Research in Learning Technology, 29, 2–3. https://doi.org/10.25304/rlt.v29.2572
Hi Angelina,
Another great post. The writing is really clear and engaging.
I know you were limited by word count, but what are some ways that we could help design lessons that don't leave students distracted? What are your opinions about the best way to keep students engaged and on-task?
I think part of the solution is pitching tasks where students have choice and control over their creative work, but I'm sure this is only part of it!
Sam D - 12.4.23
Hi Angelina,
I really enjoyed reading your blog post on ZapWorks. You clearly state the positive and negative aspects for the tool. Is it accessed through an app or is it available as a download on a laptop? With the impending mobile phone ban across NSW schools, it would potentially be a good idea to address this. Other than that, I can not think of any other suggestions for you post. Thanks for the informative read!
Lee Gardner (12/04/23)
Hi Angelina,
Your post is really easy to read and you explained everything really well. ZapWorks sounds like a really interesting AR program, however, a requirement to scan a QR code would be a phone or tablet which not all students would have access too, so maybe adding that as a disadvantage would be useful to note. Otherwise, you outline both advantages and disadvantages really well and I like the interactive feature of the post too. Great job!
Sarah Hattam
Hello Angelina,
I think the structure of your blog is amazing! Very easy to read and straight to the point. I like how you added a youtube video and an example of a QR code to demonstrate what you are talking about. I appreciate the advice on how to implement ZapWorks in the classroom as well as the positives and negatives and will be taking this into consideration as a future educator.
Dyala Chahab - 11/4/2023
Hi Angelina,
This blog about ZapWorks was really easy to read and straight forward. I really like your example of how it can be used in the classroom and the extra added touch with the QR code made me try the tool myself and I'm considering implementing into some of my future lessons.
I think you are absolutely correct that we have to be careful on how we implement it and to take specific consideration into who our students are.
Thank you for a good blog.
Pia Malmberg (11/04/23)