gee that wall is interesting...

creating curiosity and problem solving skills using augmented reality in the classroom 

Get I read it but don't get it

In early 2015 I attended a PD focussing on Middle Years readers run by Kate Barletta. I left with so many new ideas and notes I did not want to loose focus of over the course of the year as I empowered readers. Coupled with Kate's PD was my reading of Chris Tovani's I read it but don't get it - a quick read for Middle years teachers about her journey teaching reluctant, disengaged readers. 

Click on an image above to enlarge and scan using Aurasma

Samples of aura links 

I started with a rough list of strategies and ideas that readers could use to help them become more effective, engaged readers. But I didn't just want to make a list of these and hand them out - nor was I content to post them on my class Edmodo. I wanted students to be active in their processing whilst reading - to be able to get an idea, activity, strategy or prompt to help them as they read. To be curious enough to find out more when they needed to at the point then needed to. I also wanted learners to be empowered to interact with resources and to make independent choices about what help they needed regardless of their current capacity - fostering their metacognitive skills as well! And for all this to happen I need to think creatively and make something they wanted to interact with! 

Introducing Augmented Reality

I started by categorising my ideas into 6 things good readers at ENPS do and made each topic a feature on a Piktochart. I then had to print this and it will go up on the walls of my physical learning space - as well as going onto my Edmodo!  Then using the App Aurasma (free) I created auras - items that when scanned come to life. For every topic I created a link to an engaging, high quality visual stimulus ranging from - 

Piktocharts (free) - infographics designed online
Prezi (free)- viewable summary of connected ideas 
Popplet App (free) - created colour coded mind maps linking ideas

This empowers students to interact with their classroom space, to help select what they wish to refine and improve on, to identify and solve their own problem, to help establish what might be their next reading learning goal, to access support ideas and strategies when ever they need and allows for multiple entry and exit points for different learners. All this whilst supporting literacy development - wow! An added bonus is this interactivity gave students who needed a break whilst reading a still-engaged-with-the-task way to stretch their legs and refocus. 

Get Aurasma

Get popplet

Explore Piktochart

Explore prezi

About half this stuff worked! 

I realised a lot about how I learn through completing this task -  a task which I still see as being in progress.

To start with I made Keynote slides with each topic on it. The Keynote slides I made were too clean, you need complexity to activate the auras! So then I created the infographic version you see above to give the imagery more complexity.  

Partway through I discovered you could make auras using the laptop version of the App found here www.studio.aurasma.com To be honest I found this much easier. Not only did I have greater ability to match images, I also could add greater levels of interactivity such as adding links and actions once tapped or once loaded.  I had to turn off auto enlarge as if you scan an image that you don't want to view you had to close the App to get back to the scanner view. 

I also discovered the images need to be very high res to be read. To get around this I made the images enlarge if you tapped them. That way even if the App picked up multiple auras on it's scan, students could pick which information set to view. You can only access these settings in the laptop version. I am still working on exporting high res images for all the links.   

Linking to Prezi is tricky - but not impossible! For now I have placed another Popplet in the pace of the Prezi. It is possible to link to Prezi using the Aurasma Studio actions button and adding an action which links the overlap to a URL when double tapped etc. 

There was hours of trial and error learning that took place with this, but  I found this highly engaging and interesting as it was a great way to discover what can be done with AR.  One thing that took me such a long time to work out was why when scanned my stimulus using the App it would not work! To view Auras (even those that are public) you need to follow the creator! Simple yet so frustrating when you don't know this!  To avoid this happening to my peers I designed a quick 1 page summary of how to get Aurasma-ing in my classroom! 

What next? 

I'm looking for new ideas to create interactive wall displays with, with a focus on essential skills and knowledge and providing the capacity for self-directed learning.  I am also keen to look at linking not just images to trigger points, but videos, interviews  that students have created. We could also explore the school as a self guided Aurasma tour using pop up videos and files etc relevant to areas visited in the school.