Augmented Reality, Gaming, and
Simulation in Education
By
Michelle Arbogast
Gaming,
simulation, and virtual reality were once terms only thought of in the aspect
of personal entertainment. Today, these
experiences are fast becoming infused in all aspects of our everyday world,
including the classroom and our overall educational experience. To research this genre of educational tools,
three articles were chosen for summary and evaluation.
First,
the main points of each individual article will be reviewed, followed by a
synthesis of the articles as a whole. Finally,
the synthesized information will be applied to Internet-based applications in
education using augmented reality, gaming, and simulation tools.
Article Summaries
Article One: Augmented Reality Trends in Education: A Systematic Review of Research and
Applications
The
first article reviewed is on the subject of Augmented Reality (AR) by Jorge Bacca,
Silvia Baldiris, Ramon Fabregat, Sabine Graf, and Kinshuk. The focus of the article is the current and
future research of AR in the educational setting and its benefits and
limitations. AR is defined by the
authors as follows: “an AR system allows for combining or ‘supplementing’ real
world objects with virtual objects or superimposed information,” and “AR
supplements reality, rather than completely replacing it” (Bacca, Baldiris, Fabergat, Graf, & Kinshuk,
2014, pp. 133-134) .
Bacca,
et al. (2014) evaluated current research of over 155 studies on AR and found
that although AR overall was gaining momentum in research, very little was
being conducted in the areas of education and teacher training. In fact, most often AR technology was only
present in the sciences due to AR’s particular benefits in laboratory settings,
and also in the Humanities due to the applications in language training and
cultural diversity. The consensus of the studies determined more information
and research was needed to fully understand the impact AR can have on an
educational setting. One area in
particular is the area of instructional design and how one incorporates IR into
the classroom to take advantage of the benefits while minimizing the
challenges.
The
research noted several advantages to using AR including the fact AR is not
limited to one sensory stimuli. Hearing,
smell, touch, as well as sight are all involved in the AR realm. In addition, AR learning environments versus
non-AR learning environments were found to show enhanced learning through
increased content understanding, and long-term memory retention. Incorporating AR into the classroom allowed
the user a real-world experience enhancing collaboration, motivation, and also
facilitated learning language associations and spatial structure. Supported by contextual and vision-haptic
visualization foundations, AR is supported by three main educational
theories: a) Multimedia learning theory;
b) Experiential learning theory; c) Animate vision theory (Bacca, et al., 2014).
Not
all of the studies of AR were positive.
In several studies, Bacca, et al. (2014) found AR to have unique
challenges including: attention tunneling, usability difficulties and
ineffective integration into the classroom.
Issues with maintaining the superimposed images and the technology
overall were also noted as “limitations.”
Advancements in the AR technology are needed to create interactive 3D
content in a user-friendly application.
The studies showed that AR currently resides more frequently in Bachelor’s
degree training at the higher education level, and has some exposure to the
primary and lower secondary education levels.
Although
support and enthusiasm for AR has grown rapidly over the past few years, Bacca
et al. (2014) propose more research is needed, especially longitudinal
research, to explore the AR concept with regard to special needs, diversity,
higher education applications, and the impact to student learning and
motivation. With this research, AR has the potential to expand to all levels of
education, and all subject levels.
Article Two: Multi-User Virtual Environments Fostering
Collaboration in Formal Education
The
second article reviewed is authored by Nocoletta Di Blas and Paolo Paolini and
centers on a large case study conducted from 2002 to 2009. The case involved over 9,000 students (ages
12-18) from multiple countries collaborating on a program designed to test the
impact on collaboration using Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) and the
corresponding data developed (Di Blas & Paolini, 2014) .
Participants
in the study were asked to engage in online gaming programs in which the
instructional design was such that success was determined by the level of
collaboration and cooperation. Benefits
of the highly collaborative and interactive gaming situations elicited enhanced
language and technical skills, along with changes in attitudes and cultural
awareness. The authors list three main
reasons triggering cooperation:
“external compensation, building relationships, and sharing and
enriching the activities the participants are involved in” (Di Blas & Paolini, 2014, p. 55) . In addition, computer-supported cooperative
learning (CSCL) such as the program designed in the case study has roots in
three major theories: constructivism
(peer related learning), sociocultural theory (learning by participation), and
situated cognition theory (the teacher as tutor) (Di Blas & Paolini, 2014) .
Article Three: Dewey and Video Games: From Education Through Occupations To
Education Through Simulations
With regard to the fascination video
games hold for children, author David Waddington pulls a quote from B.F.
Skinner who wrote “what would teachers not give to see their students applying
themselves with the same eagerness?” (Waddington, 2015, p. 1) . This simple quote represents the overall tone
of the article that video games promote educational success by reinforcing the
educational instruction programmed within.
The article focuses on the principles set forth by John Dewey, a
renowned psychologist and educational reformer, who composed the principles of
education through occupation. The basis
of the education through occupation program was to recapture the education and
experiences lost due to the industrialization of America. Where once many goods were completely made
from scratch from home, now were purchased without the experience of the
process put forth to make them. Dewey’s
educational principles, therefore, were to teach students about a process or
system first using the very basic raw materials before progressing to the
modernized system. In this way, Dewey
theorized, the lessons encompassed not only the learning of the process, but an
appreciation of the social implications behind the systems and processes (Waddington, 2015) .
The article provides insight into
the changing nature of general attitudes towards video games in classrooms and
sets out to demonstrate that many of the same goals and principles set forth by
Dewey, such as being an informed and capable citizen, can be found in the use
of video and simulation games. Dewey’s principles
also include self-discipline, cooperation, scientific inquiry, and
understanding how social systems work. Waddington
takes the opportunity in the article to systematically address and debunk
critics concerns regarding the positive aspects of video games in the classroom
using a climate simulation game called Fate
of the World in which students must analyze data and find solutions to
global warming issues.
Waddington
points out that using Fate of the World
as a simulation for global warming could not be recreated by traditional
classroom means. The video game provides an element of social reform and
responsibility along with Dewey’s technological transparency and scientific
inquiry. While solving age-old problems
of lethal mutation toward vocationalism, video and simulation games do pose new
problems and issues to overcome, such as the deliverance quality of experience
and the development of problematic patterns of thinking. Critics argue that the use of simulation
games can “induce callousness,” lead to “an inflexible or mechanical response
pattern,” “promote a slack or careless attitude”, and “promote scatterbrained
habits” (Waddington, 2015, p. 14)
Waddington addresses, debunks, and
at times agrees with some of the negative aspects of video and simulation game
use, but comes to the overall conclusion that video and simulation game play
allow students of all ages, education and skill levels, to enter a complex
societal and technical world impossible to recreate in a traditional classroom
lecture-type setting. Advances in
technology make it possible to design programs that overcome the main obstacles
to education through occupation, and with purposeful focus, can ensure the
concerns of the critics are also addressed.
Summary and Implementation of
Synthesis of Articles’ Ideas
The
principles outlined in each of the three articles are as follows:
1. Gaming, simulation, and VR (and/or
AR) have aspects of fun and enjoyment that appeal to students of all ages,
providing motivation for enhanced educational experiences.
2. All systems provide unique and
complex situations difficult to recreate in the classroom, or with the ability
to deliver more effectively and efficiently.
3. All systems come with a series of
advantages and disadvantages to their implementation and use. However, all of the authors addressed the
concerns and concluded these educational experiences are valuable enough to
overcome, or outweigh, any disadvantages as technology continues to progress.
4. Each article stressed the need for
more research in the gaming, simulation, and augmented reality genres with
respect to educational applications and integration into the classroom.
Applications to Internet-Based Instruction
The
implications of the findings of these three articles is that Internet-Based
instruction is here to stay and systems such as gaming, simulation, and VR (and
AR) have, and continue to become fixtures in the classroom of today. Through the use of gaming, simulation, and
VR, teachers can provide students with lessons or units using multisensory
educational experiences to enhance social skills, problem solving and
scientific inquiry. Subjects once taught
in only book and lecture formats, such as history, and sociology, can now be
augmented and come alive through virtual environments requiring students to
question and explore solutions to problems in a safe, structured-yet-flexible
system. Perhaps walking through a
simulated disaster area can teach students in public health societal lessons
along with health-related analysis. There
are many free or affordable online, Internet-based resources available to
teachers and students to incorporate gaming, simulations, and even VR into a
student-based educational curriculum.
Heading to caution however, these resources should always be used in an
intentional, directed manner by the instructor to avoid the potential pitfalls,
such as complacency, and robotic or mechanical learning. Through additional research into the systems
applications into educational environments, tools and resources can be employed
to solve major obstacles and fully understand the impact of these tools in an
educational environment and fully enhance the well-rounded learning experience.
References
Bacca, J., Baldiris, S., Fabergat, R., Graf, S.,
& Kinshuk. (2014, October). Augmented reality trends in educaton: A
systematic review of research and applications. Retrieved from Journal of
Educational Technology & Society:
http://encore.cl.utoledo.edu:61080/ebsco-w-b/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=e56f0a72-4946-4d90-88b5-2c066384a30a%40sessionmgr113&vid=1&hid=109
Di Blas, N., & Paolini, P. (2014). Multi-user virtual
environments fostering collaboration in formal education. Retrieved from
Journal of Educational Technology & Society:
http://encore.cl.utoledo.edu:61080/ebsco-w-a/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f3b6be86-3575-4944-be3e-b5549dfe4c5f%40sessionmgr4005&vid=1&hid=4109
Waddington, D. I. (2015, February). Dewey and video
games: From educaiton through occupations to education through simulations.
Retrieved from Educational Theory:
http://encore.cl.utoledo.edu:61080/ebsco-w-a/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=ac454577-6288-4551-b4bd-4c24269cdbda%40sessionmgr4001&vid=1&hid=4109
