Mobile Apps Using Augmented and Virtual Reality

Exploring augmented reality and virtual reality has not been on the top of my interest lists. My ten-year-old daughter is a YouTube fanatic.  She also enjoys Minecraft immensely. There was a recent fundraiser at school which had a prize of VR goggles if you sold enough items.  She was so excited to receive these after we purchased about a million dollars worth of cookie dough and I just couldn't understand her excitement.  Much to her disappointment, the goggles did not function so I did not have an opportunity to share in the experience of virtual reality. Now I understand her excitement and also her disappointment.

This past week we took a look a few very cool mobile applications using AR and VR.  It really gave me as a parent a lesson on how much more fun learning can be with technology.  It was a little reminiscent of the View-Master that I grew up playing with, but a thousand times better.
Some of the AR apps we explored were Anatomy 4D, Seattle Space Needle, Elements4D, Zookazam, and Ikea 3D. With these applications, you use a target to create a 3D or 4D view. What impressed me the most is the incredible learning tools that these apps offer.  They provide an almost real world view that is very exciting and thus increases engagement.  The app that I immediately downloaded was Zookazam.  In a Whiteboard Blog, Bring a Hippo into the classroom with Zookazam there is a great description of the capabilities of the app along with some ideas for classroom use.  Another one of my favorites was Elements 4D.  

This app brings the most basic elements and compounds of the periodic table to life.  I wish we had this in chemistry when I was in high school. For some additional information of using AR for the classroom, you can read Jeff  Dunn's blog How to Use Augmented Reality in education is a great resource. We also took a look at some virtual reality apps which I couldn't believe we were experiencing through a cardboard box thanks to Google Cardboard.  You can be almost anywhere in the world without leaving your class or home.  We used Discovery VR, Google Arts and Culture, Google Expeditions and a Star Wars Rogue One Recon VR movie.  It is incredible what you can experience for little to no money with your smartphone and a piece of cardboard.  

For my second App Smackdown, I presented an app called Scanner Radio. It is relevant to my criminal justice major as a source of information about incidents in my area or major incidents across the country. It allows you to listen to police, fire and air traffic control radios.  You can set favorites for your local police, fire and EMS stations and you can set alerts that notify you when there are a large number of listeners online.  It actually alerted me that many people were listening to a station in Maryland.  It was during a school lockdown and shooting incident.  There were over 8,000 listeners online at the time of the incident. I tuned in and could hear various dispatchers communicating. This application is free but you can pay for some additional upgrades and capabilities. 

For Chapter 4 of Untangling the Web we learned about additional social networking tools for learning. The author discusses TodaysMeet, Skype, Kidblog, Edmodo and Twitter. These apps extend the classroom beyond the school building to engagement around the world.  This chapter was helpful for me as my children use more of these in their classrooms I can be more involved and have a better understanding of each one. As a parent with very little technological knowledge, you can get lost with all of the classroom advancements.