The educational landscape is shifting. Augmented reality is gaining traction as a way to engage students, and its impact on learning can be summarised by the Confucius quotation: “Tell me and I will forget; Show me and I may remember; Involve me and I will understand”. A user’s real, visible environment is the predominant element, with extra information intended to augment the actual environment a user sees on an ad hoc basis, rather than fully replacing it. As a result, the capacity for immersion with AR is lower than that offered by virtual and mixed realities. Nonetheless, it is likely more useful than Virtual reality (VR) in many professional contexts as being totally isolated from one’s environment is generally not the desired outcome for professional informatics tools and interfaces. Moreover, according to the Commissions Digital Transformation Monitor report, the market for both VR and AR is immature, with high potential. Currently, the vast majority of users experience AR using a smartphone or a tablet. AR with its much-reduced hardware requirements and intuitive usability (i.e. the user can still see the world around him/her) remains a more practical tool in a professional context from a technical standpoint. Furthermore, AR experimentation relies on custom, tailor-made software designed to work with a company’s physical environment and integrate with its existing systems. FANTASIA project aims at developing an educational package for the teaching of some basic scientific concepts & skills. It will be in such a form that it can be easily used by anyone regardless whether they are teachers, parents or guardians and regardless of their training. It can be used independently in class or at home, with the support of an adult. The educational material will be implemented in science classrooms as well as at homes and science centers, in participating EU countries and evaluated in regards to its educational objectives. Finally, the impact of the project on the target groups, as well as potential impact on individuals and organisations outside the partnership will be also evaluated. Content: The basic subjects which will be addressed are the concept of the spherical earth, as a planet moving around itself & the sun, the concept of the sun, the phenomenon of the change of the day/night cycle & the explanation of floating & sinking of solid objects in the water. Moreover the students will learn how to apply the scientific method in order to evaluate their beliefs concerning the above phenomena. The educational package will include: a) A fairy tale describing the adventures of a young illiterate person who starts a trip around the earth in order to explain what seems to be a “mystery” to him/her, namely the explanation of the day/night cycle. During this trip s/he will have to solve scientific problems by conducting observations & experiments using simple materials & having discussions with people who he/she will meet during his/her trip. Thus, step by step he/she will discover the answers to the questions concerning some laws of nature. The fairy tale will be in written form with illustrations & accompanied by a recorded form with soundtrack & sound effects. b) Scenarios for the educational use of the fairy tale with detailed descriptions of educational activities that children will be asked to perform with the assistance of the educators/guardians. Most of the proposed activities have been already evaluated in real science class environments during research projects. They are based on a theoretical framework with great impact in the research in cognitive psychology & science education. c) A discussion of the difficulties that students have in learning the specific concepts, a simplified description of the theoretical framework underlying the proposed educational activities and a discussion of the aim of the proposed educational activities. Therefore, educators & adults will be able to help the students overcome these obstacles. d) A description of a set of drama & music kinetic activities connected to the story to make the process of learning amusing & new knowledge which otherwise would have been emotionally indifferent will become emotionally stable & enduring. e) Augmented reality 3D content that has not yet become a reality in many scientific domains and it will facilitate effective and efficient use of digital content through the open source availability. The educational material will be suitable for use by students ranging in age from 5- 12 years. The results of the evaluation & of the impact effects of the implementation of the educational package in EU countries will provide an indication whether this will be suitable for students in other countries as well and in different languages.
The aim of the project was to develop and assess the impact of an open-source AR educational package for teaching basic scientific concepts & skills (spherical earth, planet movement and the day/night cycle and floating & sinking of solid objects in the water), through the application of scientific knowledge and critical thinking. In principle, the project aimed to achieve the following objectives: -Obj. 1: Ethically aligned students' interaction with AR for concepts in science; -Obj. 2: Increase critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills to explore science concepts; -Obj. 3: Create an AR open-source educational repository (AR OER) with AR educational content as best practice in education; -Obj. 4: Utilise current digital tools (mobile phones and tablets) to engage with XR education at primary schools; -Obj. 5: Engage students, teachers and parents with emerging technologies for education; -Obj. 6: Provide an AR application accessible to be used independently in class or at home, with the support of an adult. -Obj. 7: Assess in a standardised form the impact of the project on the target groups, as well as potential impact on individuals and organisations outside the partnership through a dissemination strategy
There is general agreement in science education that by the time children go to school they will have acquired considerable knowledge about the physical world. This prior knowledge often comes to contradiction to the factual scientific ideas. The project addressed the main following needs based on those identified at the “European Ideas for better learn” European Commission report : • Supporting distance learning through an AR learning methodology and mobile application for science subject; • Transform education in primary schools where children exercise in their own pace, keeping them engaged, with a positive feedback loop between instruction and application; • Enable the learning experience to be more memorable, increasing the overall information retention; • Apply the theory of constructivism, which states that learning is not a passive learning process but rather an active process of constructing a storyline between facts and logic; • Enable student inclusion and equality through the provision of the emerging technology and application; • Advance the exposure of the teachers through the realisation of the AR technology and what it can offer at primary school students through an open-source digital repository and application.