In recent weeks, concepts such as the metaverse, a version of the internet that uses virtual and augmented reality to integrate the digital world with the real world, have been on the table.

Digital entertainment has traditionally been seen as an enemy of children's education, distracting from studies and potentially stunting certain skills, such as concentration. However, at St. George's British International School we try to provide a more progressive view and consider how we can use this technology to improve the way we socialise, work and learn. What exactly is augmented reality and how can we use it in education?

Museums, pioneers in the use of augmented reality

Augmented reality is the application of layers of depth to the world around us. One of the educational sectors that is making the most of this technology is that of museums. Centres such as the Sorolla Museum or the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN) already include software that, through the use of a device, adds information to the object being visited. Simply pointing a mobile phone at the element in question is enough to obtain everything from animations to data diagrams on the screen. This implementation has not only increased the interactivity of visitors, which favours learning, but has also had a very good response from young audiences.

If museums are pioneers in augmented reality, why not educational centres? The use of this technology could be very beneficial in increasing motivation in the classroom, favouring the acquisition of knowledge. Moreover, as a trend, students must be prepared to know and handle virtual and augmented reality environments that they will need to use in the future.

Nottopia, a success story

In the summer of 2020, a professor at the University of Nottingham, Gary Burnett, created a virtual module with 100 engineering students, which he called Nottopia. Using the Mozilla Hubs platform, Burnett shaped this kind of virtual island where each student owned an avatar and interacted with the others.

"The goal was to motivate students through 'gamification', making their experience in the virtual world fun and challenging, sort of like a game, and also provide an escape from the stress of the pandemic," he says. "I approached this as a kind of research project, surveying students about their experiences and observing their behaviour in the virtual world. The result: students were more motivated and more inclined to acquire knowledge.

Gamifying' classrooms to promote learning

The concept of 'gamification' refers to introducing fun as a vehicle for learning. Playful experiences, so well assimilated by educators in the Early Childhood Education stages through symbolic play, stories, etc., can also be used at higher levels, adapting to the interests of older students.

An example of this is the G O S C O S experience, designed for young people aged 15 to 18. In it, virtual environments are introduced, for example, created with the popular video game Minecraft to learn mathematics by visualising geometric shapes. Thanks to this, the students showed a lot of interest and motivation. Any field of knowledge, from the arts to science, can be combined with this technology to provide added value to learners. Without too much knowledge, all we need is the right software and the imagination of the educator.

Implementing this technology in the classroom would allow a wide variety of digital environments to be created. In the same way that a teacher, until now, would draw a picture on the blackboard to make his explanation better understood, embracing virtual and augmented reality in the classroom is one more tool of the teacher, providing the tangible to what until then was an abstract explanation.