Teachers Toolkit Blog

Augmented Reality – Aurasma

Classroom Management· Technology

Despite my age and many years in teaching, it’s important to me not to become complacent.  
I thrive on the next challenge and love to explore everything new in teaching.  A wonderful network of bloggers has kept me right up to date with what’s new and interesting and Pinterest has become a valuable resource!
  
Usually, if I don’t know something I google it, especially in the area of technology.  I try not to be scared of it because, although I remember my first internet experience vividly and was overwhelmed, it is, for our little ones, a completely natural and commonplace experience.
Recently I have become interested in Augmented Reality, courtesy of  Tools for Teachers by Laurah Laurah had made a resource using the Aurasma app and had written about it – it piqued my interest and I just had to explore further!

What is Augmented Reality?  This video explains it better than I can!
So, the question is – how do we use this technology in our classrooms?  
From {edutopia}:

Classroom Applications

Another app, Aurasma, allows users to engage in and create Augmented Reality experiences of their own. Educators and (more importantly) students can use this open source tool to essentially bring their learning to life. We’ve seen Aurasma used several different ways in the classroom.
  • Homework Mini-Lessons: When students scan a page of their homework, the page reveals a video of their teacher helping them solve a problem.
  • Faculty Photo Wall: Set up a display of faculty photos near the school entrance. Visitors can scan the image of any instructor and see that figure come to life, telling more about him- or herself.
  • Book Reviews: Students record themselves giving a brief review of a novel that they just finished, and then attach that “aura” (assigned digital information) to a book. Afterward, anyone can scan the cover of the book and instantly access the review.
  • Parent Involvement: Record parents giving brief words of encouragement to their child, and attach a trigger image to every child’s desk. Anytime students need to hear encouraging words from their parent, they can scan the image on their desk for virtual inspiration.
  • Yearbooks: From tributes to video profiles, from sports highlights to skits and concert footage, the ways that AR can enhance a school yearbook are limitless.
  • Word Walls: Students can record themselves providing the definitions to different vocabulary words on a word wall. Afterward, anyone can use the Aurasma app to make a peer pop up on screen, telling them the definition and using the word in a sentence.
  • Lab Safety: Put triggers (images that activate media when scanned by an AR-enabled device) all around a science laboratory so that when students scan them, they can quickly learn the different safety procedures and protocols for the lab equipment.
  • Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) Sign Language Flashcards: With AR, flashcards of vocabulary words can contain a video overlay that shows how to sign a word or phrase.
{Aurasma} is a free app which can be downloaded to your ipad, iphone, android device or iphone.  Once you have it installed, you can scan any image that has an aura embedded in it.  Laurah has a fabulous resource, ‘The Life Cycle of a Butterfly’ which can be downloaded {here}.

Scanning and enjoying a near real experience is the easy part, but I also wanted to try making a quick aura myself.  I used this video to help me:
To get the full experience, you should really download Laurah’s fabulous resource!
I made a quick aura for the purpose of this blog post, it is by no means perfect, but I wanted to provide you with a quick demonstration, so you could see it working.  To view this aura, you must have the app installed on your mobile device.  For the auras to appear, you must first follow this channel – this can only be done on your mobile device:  http://auras.ma/s/dyl7U
Once this step is completed, all you have to do is open the app and scan the image below!  A video will appear for you to enjoy in ‘real-life’.

Please excuse the quality of video and the lack of sound – I have yet to perfect that bit! Of course, many of us just don’t have the time to create these resources, but you can find auras that have already been created by others who use the app. You just have to follow their channel to access the auras. Hopefully, some pioneers (like Laurah!) will begin to create resources which will be available in TpT stores!

So, give it a go and let me know what you think! Thanks so much to Laurah J from Tools for Teachers for bringing this amazing app to my attention!

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Comments

  2. Jacqueline Harbison says

    This is amazing! This year my school has been focusing on professional development in the area of technology and the last in-service and the next one, focuses on apps to use in the classroom… now I will have something really neat to share with my co-workers! Thanks so much for sharing!

    Jacqueline
    I is for Inspire

  4. Teachers Toolkit says

    Hi Jacqueline! Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting! I, too, am very excited about the possibilities of this technology. I definitely have more research to do! Credit must go to Laurah from Tools For Teachers for bringing it to my attention! 🙂 I hope your co-workers love it as much as you do. Have fun! 🙂