How is augmented reality different from virtual reality?
Augmented reality is a reality with an imaginative and immersive world. It includes the object in the real world, unlike virtual reality. In virtual reality, users wear different gadgets to experience virtual reality. With augmented reality, users can view the same experience in the real world just with their smartphones. Nowadays, every industry is trying to include AR in action. Augmented reality in the classroom is not far from reality. Teachers and students get involved in activities so much that they forget learning through the lectures.
Education and the augmented reality
Earlier in the education system, small children used to understand concepts through stories. Teachers used to relate the story with the concepts to make them understand simple to complex ideas. Slowly students used to understand and then develop a curiosity for the next topic. Teachers usually avoid just the lecture method of teaching. They try to involve students as much as possible.
But what if this storytelling process can be made more interactive and knowledgeable? Well, this is possible with augmented reality in the classroom. Using this, students can create imaginative scenarios in their minds, and the teacher can develop their curriculum accordingly. It will not only enhance the storytelling process but also fuels the learning process.
If students are taught well, they then score well. Many students fail to solve minor problems in exams. It occurs due to weak basic education. Students mug up the concepts without understanding them. Teachers these days can’t help situations where students are more students, and the focus on one student becomes impossible. Therefore, students should participate voluntarily to learn things. But through the lecture method, students tend to be distracted as they can’t listen for a longer period without any interest. To generate this interest, institutes should adopt augmented reality in the classroom.
When should institutes inculcate this technolgy?
Pre-primary education in the world is more of colours and learning from nature. Therefore, augmented reality in the classroom will not hinder the natural environment. Additionally, it will display the concepts in the real world, making it more of a reality.
We see a lot of graduates not choosing their field of study. Do you know why? The reason is simple. Their concepts were not clear, which didn’t generate any interest. That later led to taking up jobs in call centres and sales. While these jobs are not bad, they don’t match their qualifications. The education system should and must promote balanced education that can land the students in their respective fields. For that, things have to be made more practical rather than theoretical.
We see, in schools and colleges, students tend to get least involved in a practical session. It is not because they lack interest. The fundamental explanation is the absence of hardware. Most students just see the types of machinery and imagine themselves doing it. Isn’t it like a joke? How can learning be promoted without acknowledging the fact that it will go in vain without practicals?
PlugXR understands these problems and has come up with multiple solutions. One of them is augmented reality in the classroom.
This concept will help students imagine better, get their hands dirty with experiments and finally understand what the concept is.
Most importantly, students from the 8th standard practice science & technology daily. In their textbooks, the experiments are written, and the students perform them. Some students, out of curiosity, perform it, but most of them just ignore it because written material is like a lecture. With AR technology, textbooks can be made interactive. If they see the experiment occurring in front of them in the textbook, they will be surprised and be keen to perform those themselves.
The most important task of a teacher is not just to give knowledge but to present it in a form that a child can understand. If he thinks that the teacher is speaking Greek and Latin, then what will he gain from that lecture?
Therefore, teachers should plan the curriculum with simple and interesting tricks. One such trick is inculcating augmented reality in the classroom.
Many students lack confidence while speaking. They think that speaking is a skill that only a few people can master. While it is a skill, if the education system doesn’t help you achieve it, what will? Most of the English language classes teach grammar. Each one of us must know basic grammar. But what is the use of grammar if we don’t practice and implement it in our lives? In institutes, lecturers should inculcate interactive sessions where students can interact with native English speakers. While this task is also a challenge, augmented reality in the classroom will ease out the process. It is such an interactive technology that every child will only gain an advantage from it.
The situation of graduates without AR technology!
Coming to our graduates, most of them are unemployed or underskilled. It occurs due to a lack of proper labs. Consider a medical student in a government medical college. It is a fact that types of equipment are lesser. Though it is the fault of the government, we can’t blame the government all the time. We are so much equipped with technology that utilising it will solve most of our problems. The institutes might not have the budget to buy the different equipment or assistants to train the students. The solution is augmented reality in the classroom. AR technology will curb the need for heavy pieces of equipment by displaying all the parts and machinery. It will portray the working of the equipment, helping students gain more and more from it.
In areas of medical operations, students learn by practising it on the dead body. But before that, they have to understand the location of the bones, nerves and various other medical information. While this is available in textbooks, and we see medical students always immersed in them, this technology will change this scenario. It will help in the healthy learning process.
Where can institutes find this technology?
Institutes should visit www.plugxr.com . This website will help them understand the importance of augmented reality in the classroom. As we grow globally in technology, the education system should adopt new methods of teaching for the betterment of students and our future generation.
