Abstract
The gap between the use of mobile devices inside and outside school can lead to students' disengagement with learning activities in formal education. To fill this gap, educators can take advantage of mobile devices' dissemination to give students access to educational Augmented reality (AR) systems. However, this type of exploration is relatively new, and researchers are still studying AR's advantages and challenges in education. In that line, the EduPARK project is developing an interactive AR mobile application to support geocaching activities in outdoor environments, thus creating situated learning opportunities. It is to be explored by students and teachers from basic to higher education, but also by the public. The project follows a design-based research methodology, with several cycles of AR application development, user testing and evaluation. This manuscript is a work-in-progress report of the EduPARK project's options regarding the AR content and triggers, and points out some future directions. The EduPARK's option was to use image-based AR, with marker-based tracking, to display mainly botanical content. In a first implementation experience, 74 pupils (aged 9–10 and 13–14) from two schools tested a beta version of the application and AR markers in an urban park. Some technical issues, related to the markers' recognition, were observed and registered by both pupils and monitors, leading to the revision of the markers' purposes, structure, and content. Examples of refined AR markers and content are presented and discussed in this manuscript. Future work will include developing markerless tracking for this application in the selected urban park. Additionally, a proposal for the installation of the refined markers will be presented to the Park's management entity and the fully developed application will be freely offered to the public, promoting the autonomous exploration of this resource. This work is useful for teachers and both educational technology developers and researchers, as an example of how to successfully develop image-based AR for outdoor settings.
Highlights
In technology-driven societies, there is often a gap between the use of mobile devices inside and outside school
Image-based Augmented reality (AR) can use marker-based tracking, requiring 2D labels, or markerless tracking, which uses the recognition of real environment images
Each learning guide leads the player or group of players through a different and predefined path in the Park. This manuscript is a work-in-progress report of the EduPARK project’s options to date regarding the AR features of the app under development, the markers developed as AR triggers
Summary
In technology-driven societies, there is often a gap between the use of mobile devices inside and outside school This gap can lead to students’ disengagement with learning activities in formal education, impacting negatively their academic success [1]. The precision errors in GPS can be problematic and cause frustration to users [10] Considering both the advantages and the challenges of AR technologies, in educational settings, the EduPARK project aims to create original, attractive and effective strategies for interdisciplinary learning in Science Education. This manuscript is a work-in-progress report of the EduPARK project’s options to date regarding the AR features of the app under development, the markers developed as AR triggers. The literature in the area of mobile AR justified the option of theoretically framing the project under situated, authentic and socio-constructivism learning theories
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