Augmented & Virtual Reality in Education – Tools, Benefits, and Applications

Imagine yourself in the streets of ancient Rome, practicing a frog surgery, or exploring the whole solar system while sitting in your class. That’s all is possible with the help of integration of Augmented & Virtual Reality in education for effective online learning.

Education is no longer confined to textbooks and whiteboards because of the integration of technology into education. The fictional science is no longer a myth, but it’s happening right now in schools and universities around the world.

Ok! Your engagement showcases your interest in AR and VR. So, I’ve compiled a guide for AR and VR in education to help EduLize readers understand things easily!

Augmented Reality is a modified form of technology that superimposes a digital character into the real-world around the user (you). For example, Snapchat filters and Augmented Reality (AR) games provide an immersive visual experience that looks like a superimposition in the real world.

On the other hand, Virtual Reality is a modified form of computerized three-dimensional (3d) synthetic virtual experience. Virtual tours and unreal graphics used to train new professionals are the most common, trending examples of virtual reality in education.

Although how they are integrated into the educational environment is a little bit different:

AR in education involves superimposing visuals, interactive elements, and digital information to enhance the learning experience of students and teachers.

This form of technology helps them imagine and experience the abstract concepts through visualization to explore complex scenarios in education.

VR in education also provides visualization of abstract concepts to help students understand complex scenarios by creating a virtual environment.

This form of technology provides opportunities to collaborate, learning personlaized, and visit to places which students and teachers can’t access.

Here are some of the best AR and VR tools for online learning to increase the learning experience.

• Use Google Cardboard Viewer to Experience

Firstly, I would like to kickstart the best AR and VR tools for online learning list with Google Expeditions. This tool provides you with AR and VR capabilities and features to enhance your learning experiences, especially for teachers.

You can take your students on a virtual field tour where a person may not survive for a second. For instance, outer space, Mount Everest, and even your nearby construction site, like a museum or other historical sites.

• Use Google Cardboard Viewer to Experience

Tour Creator is also a Google creation that allows you to make a 360-degree tour of a site. Furthermore, these virtual tours include audio, visualization: images and videos, and description, to help you understand even a short detail.

This platform offers some pre-made tour templates that are fully functional for users, or you can create your own tour. Create your own tour from scratch and enjoy the 360-view of your dream place, like experiencing the environment on Mars.

Adobe Aero is an AR design tool for students and teachers to create printables for interactive learning without coding activities. You don’t need to learn coding or 3d design experience to create, view, and share AR designs with your fellows.

This tool works on the text-to-3d model, which allows you to import 2d or 3d designs with audio assets. After adding some behaviors and motions to the design, you can share this with your students to assess their progress.

• Doesn’t Require VR Headsets

Basically, Nearpod is a learning management technology driven tool that allows teachers to manage their school work on the platform. Although it has stepped in to the VR realm to provide users with opportunities to experience a virtual environment in classrooms.

This feature is designed for teachers, especially so that they can use it to incorporate virtual elements to enhance their students’ engagement. Further, this feature discloses the distance learning and keeps students engaged in learning activities.

Lastly, World Brush is an Augmented Reality technology-powered tool that allows you to paint on the world around you. You can use your iPhone or iPad to augmentally paint your surroundings and satisfy your inner little artist 🎨.

You, as a teacher or a parent, can draw shapes for kids in the augmented space to stimulate their creativity. In this way, they can learn more comprehensively, and their knowledge retention will also be increased throughout the process.

Here are some of the benefits of Augmented and Virtual Reality in education for both teachers and students.

The most considerable benefit of AR and VR in education is that they improve students’ knowledge retention throughout the process.

When they experience everything visually, then they will learn everything comprehensively, which stimulates their brains to learn and remember everything.

AR and VR play a vital role in enhancing students’ engagement as they create an immersive, engaging, and personalized study environment.

Such a study environment enhances the students’ engagement while offering them opportunities to learn complex concepts through a deeper understanding visually.

Students’ collaboration will be strengthened while AR and VR provide them with an immersive and shared virtual experience, allowing them to collaborate.

They can work together on a project to make the most out of such advanced technology forms while using problem-solving skills.

AR and VR in education cultivate a sense of immersive and personal virtual environment, which sparks imagination within a student.

Such sparks stimulate students’ brains 🧠 to story-telling and world-building that needs creativity and such technologies are providing so.

Lastly, however, it’s not the only benefit of AR and VR, but it plays an important role in students’ gaming lives.

As AR and VR are evolving, the gamification methods for everyone have now started to be applied in education.

Here are some practical applications of AR and VR in education that are in use right now.

AR and VR have made things easier for teachers to teach abstract objects, in the context of a classroom, to their students.

Like bringing a tornado to the classroom and making a virtual representation of an Elephant for anatomy are examples of bringing science concepts to life.

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in education have contributed a lot to the medical department, as transforming traditional healthcare learning into online experiences.

Froggipedia is one of the best examples I could include because it provides a virtual frog dissection instead of a real one.

The days have gone when you pack bags for a tour to a museum or can’t get permissions from home. AR and VR made everything virtual and easy.

Google Expeditions offers you to make a virtual trip to Alaska or maybe outer space to learn about different solar systems.

AR and VR in education have made things easier for students, including professional learners, when they need training programs.

Educational software companies like Mondly provide immersive and engaging language learning experiences by using AR and VR techniques.

When it comes to astrology, AR and VR cover the department with full dedication to provide students with enhanced learning experiences.

Like the Skyview Lite application, which integrates Augmented Reality (AR) to offer an immersive visualization of the universe.

AR and VR in education have contributed a lot, and people are expecting more from these technologies.

Further, the more they are being integrated into the educational department, the more people are willing to have.

There is no offense that their future is promising, but how? It’s the question that keeps me awake all night and day in research.

The days have become faster because of the faster evolution process due to technology, which gives me hope of experiencing more from such technologies 🔜 .

Consequently, in the dark, Kristen Tamm came a year before to help me understand the concepts on YouTube. You can also give it a watch below!