Learn from our resident expert, Lyndsey Stuttard, about how our students are using the latest augmented reality (AR) educational programmes
In these uncertain times of COVID and distance learning, teachers have been working hard to expand their digital repertoire to continue providing engaging learning experiences for their students. This has required creative thinking outside of the box. Beyond online activities, assessments, and video calls, what other ways could we provide engagement?
Lyndsey Stuttard, ACS Cobham's Apple Distinguished Educator, explores how we're innovating.
This thought began back in the summer of 2020 and has grown in the following months, as teachers began to develop their skills with iPads, as a prominent tool for teaching and learning. But it did not stop there. Teachers have become increasingly confident using their iPad knowledge to develop their own resources, videos, and materials to meet the needs of their students. New to their toolkit has been designing immersive experiences with augmented reality (AR). This has been key to how we engage with our students.
In the past few months, we have seen our staff push themselves to create deeper and more meaningful experiences for their students with the iPad and augmented reality. This has included interactive AR scavenger hunts, where students answer questions and interact with 3D objects that appear virtually, and are made by the teacher, relating to the content covered. All the initiatives are supported by me, as the school's in-house Apple Distinguished Educator, a role which is unique to ACS Cobham.
We have integrated it into our curriculum from Early Childhood onwards. Just before Christmas, we saw the Polar Express train arrive and visit our Early Childhood students, sparking delight and imagination with the belief that what they were experiencing was so real, they could almost touch it.
Our Lower School students embarked upon building AR book museums, and taking video tours highlighting their favourite texts to be shared with others in our community.
In Middle School, our 5th Grade teacher, Leslie Taylor, has truly embraced the opportunities and developed escape room projects which the students have thrown themselves into. Mrs Taylor went above and beyond to design an escape room around the content area of Ancient Mesopotamia, while ensuring that her students were learning, growing with their digital skills, and fully engaging with the materials provided.
Leslie Taylor
Mrs Taylor is now working on future AR escape rooms. Even in lockdown we are still able to develop these projects which enhance our distance learning programme.
With ongoing professional development from Apple Professional Specialists, we are taking steps to ensure that we invest in growing and developing our knowledge and use of iPads in education, and in particular AR. We are truly empowering our teaching staff to see the full potential of technology like AR as being a permanent fixture in the classroom.