Augmented Reality for Education with Aurasma

Aurasma is a technology company that lets you create augmented reality (AR) artifacts that display additional content when viewed through their application.

Auras are created through Aurasma studio, which is free to use on their website. First you select the trigger image, then you upload images, videos, or 3D animations that overlay when viewed with the Aurasma app. The Aurasma app is available for both iOS or Android.

I've created several examples for this blog that you can view with Aurasma. To view the examples, you need to install the Aurasma app and then follow my account.

1. Go to the 'Discover Auras' search box in Aurasma app
2. Type in the account name: mrbarranco
3. Press 'follow'. My public Auras will now be available to your device.

Examples 1 & 2:

In my English class, to generate interest in a book we are reading, I like to share trailers of the movie versions. Movies can also be used for contrast and compare assignments after the book has been read. In the first two examples, I used Aurasma to add AR effects to posters that play the movie trailer when viewed with Aurasma.

Sample Objective: After viewing the AR-enhanced film advertisements, students will compare and contrast the videos with elements of the novel.

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Click to enlarge image

Example #3:

Teachers can also use this technology to provide additional instructions or examples to students. In this example, I made the entire worksheet a trigger image. Students are being asked to annotate a passage from the novel. When you use Aurasma to view the worksheet, you can see examples of annotations.

Sample objective: After reading a passage from Chapter 1 of Of Mice And Men, students will annotate the text with thoughts and ideas they have while reading. 

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Example #4:

In the next example, using the blank police report form, students are asked to write a police report about an incident that takes place in the novel. 

Sample objective: After reading Of Mice And Men, students will create a police report based off an incident that occurred in the novel. 

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Viewing the blank template with Aurasma lets students see an example of a completed police report.

Notice how I included the Aurasma "A" logo on the document itself to indicate that it contains AR content to be viewed with the Aurasma app.

This software opens up a range of possibilities. Teachers can encourage students to use Aurasma to get additional help on their assignment by overlaying videos or images that enhance learning. The segmenting principle of multimedia design says that learners perform better when they are able to learn at their own pace. Using Aurasma, students can access the augmented content when they are ready for it.

Resources for creating educational videos

My focus this week is on creating educational videos for use in the classroom. 

I explored the following resources to find one I could use to create a series of short videos about literary devices for my high school English class. 

Create animated videos:

Adobe Spark Video is free graphic and video production program from Adobe.

Animaker is an easy-to-use animation program for creating videos.

Creaza Cartoonist lets students create comic strip style videos.

GoAnimate is another option for creating animated movies. It is easy enough for middle school and high school students to use for projects.

Create slideshow and whiteboard videos:

Explain Everything A paid application that works for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and Chrome, lets you create interactive whiteboard videos. (30 day free trial available)

Stupeflix and Sharalike are two online applications that let you create slideshow videos by adding pictures and music.

Create videos by screencasting your screen:

There are many different applications for capturing what's on your screen and making a video out of it. Visit the screencasting resources page at Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything for a breakdown of what options are available for each technology platform.

Screencast-o-matic is a popular screen recording program that works on Windows or Mac.

Video editing tools:

WeVideo A robust digital video creation and editing tool with features for use in schools

YouTube's Video Editor offers video editing tools

VoiceThread lets you create rich, multimedia presentation videos. 

I created the following video using Explain Everything entirely from my Android-based mobile phone:

When making the video, I tried to adhere to the multimedia design principles I discussed in a previous post.  My original script included a segment about anthropomorphism and how it differs from personification, but then I remembered the coherence principle says that unnecessary material should be excluded rather than included. I also tried to apply the spatial contiguity principle that says that graphics and text should be in close proximity to each other. 

Overall, the process of creating a video, even on my mobile device, was not extremely difficult. One thing I like about creating videos for use in the classroom is that once the video has been created, it can be reused forever (as long as the concepts and ideas remain current.)