5 Best Educational Apps using Augmented Reality
Teachers are continuously trying to find new methods to enable their students to visualize what they are teaching.
Whiteboards, overhead projectors and physical objects make some minimal headway to grabbing students attention but some things are nearly impossible to visualise.
How do you demonstrate to kids that two hydrogen particles mix with an oxygen molecule to form water? How can you show kids that all elements can be a liquid, gas or solid, just like water? Augmented reality apps are transforming education by letting kids see things that are impossible to view or recreate in the classroom.
1. Elements 4D
Sure, Nitrogen, Carbon, Oxygen and Hydrogen form to make caffeine, an essential part of every day, but how can you visualise their combination other than by a massive, steaming mug of coffee?
Elements 4D breaks down each interaction and shows you how each of the molecules combines with one another. It’s much more detailed than lines connecting letters and less literal than actual coffee.
Although this app doesn’t seem to be available on the app stores anymore, it is an excellent application for education. Check out their app demo here on Kickstarter.
2. Star Walk
Before AR, the best way to teach kids about astronomy in the middle of the day was to draw a shoddy depiction of a constellation on a board with a marker. Even then, you have to time your teaching to align with the planets for it to really make sense to kids.
Now everything astronomy related is available year round with the Star Walk app. The night sky is visible in the daytime, inside your classroom with the Starwalk app, available for you to download on iOS and Android. Check out the app demo here.
3. Anatomy 4D
Anatomy may not be as impossible for students to envision, but I personally can’t imagine memorizing all 206 bones AND their placement. Skeletal models of the human body are quite an expensive resource.
With AR, students can interact with models of bones and muscles much easier (and for much cheaper!) Anyone can take an in-depth look at muscles and bones on the Anatomy 4D app. Yet another beautiful application of AR, but, sadly, the app is no longer available to be downloaded. However, you can check out the app demo here.
4. DinoPark AR+
If only everything were as fun as learning about dinosaurs, kids would be much more enthusiastic about going to school. Dinosaurs are hard to integrate into lessons and discuss because they are much too difficult to draw on the whiteboard. Teachers often have to resort to books or films to show how dinosaurs may have looked.
Dinosaurs may be difficult to bring into the classroom, but AR makes them slightly more portable. Every kid can see how dinosaurs would have looked in their classroom on the DinoPark AR+ app, available for you to download on iOS. Check out the DinoPark AR+ app demo here.
5. Gamar
Don’t you wish you could incorporate something as exciting as dinosaurs into every lesson? If only dinosaurs had something to do with maths.
With Gamar, you can incorporate quizzes and worksheets with something your students love, whether it be dinosaurs, Minecraft, or the Titanic. Create trails around your classroom that incorporate things your students love with maths… or any other subject! Make your students’ learning fully interactive with puzzles and mini-games.
‘A Gift for Athena’ is an augmented reality mobile game available to play in the British Museum’s Parthenon gallery. This game is popularly used as an in-gallery education session for schoolchildren aged 7 to 11 yrs. The game has a variety of mechanics like hidden object, puzzles and shape matching that enable players to learn about Greek history, religion, mythology and architecture.
You can book a school session on the museum website. The game is available to download via the Gamar app on the iOS and Android app stores.
Do you enjoy any other educational apps which use augmented reality? Share about the app and your experience with us!
