Augmented Reality In eLearning: Making eLearning More Accessible

Augmented reality (AR) is expanding and affecting nearly every industry, including e-learning. It’s one of the most important trends in eLearning content development and is here to stay. 

In short, augmented reality is 25% digital reality and 75% existing reality, and there are three ways that it is changing the world of e-learning. 

No Extra Tools Are Needed

One major application of augmented reality in eLearning is creating a learning environment where students and teachers don’t need any materials. Students no longer have to bring notebooks or textbooks. For hands-on classes like science labs, you don’t even need to provide equipment like beakers, scales, or liquids.

The only thing your students need for e-learning in AR is their smartphone or other device and the VR headset. 

Accessible Learning 

Augmented reality in eLearning makes it more accessible. And this is true for every type of accessibility whether it’s learning from anywhere, personalized learning, interactive learning, and more.

To start, anyone can learn anything, no matter the location or circumstances. As long as they have access to the e-learning course and the AR, they can start learning. 

But AR doesn’t just make learning accessible to anyone anywhere in the world. It allows for personalized learning that fits the learning styles of each learner. With AR, there are many more options and methods for learning. 

Traditionally, students would have a book and maybe a lecture in audio or video formats. But with AR, the possibilities expand. You can do more interactive learning or stick to those traditional options. Simply put, AR lets you adjust e-learning to work for all types of learners, all levels of knowledge, and other crucial factors that sets individual learners apart. 

Immediate Visualization 

Another amazing facet of AR is that it lets learners immediately visualize whatever they are learning. This helps with lesson recall and instant application. 

For example, imagine a science lesson involving an experiment. With AR, students can immediately see the process and results of their experiment. There is no need to wait for the experiment to run, which can prove incredibly useful in the case of experiments that normally run for hours. 

Even if the experiment would have shown its results immediately, AR still gives e-learning an advantage. That’s because you can easily and immediately transition from lectures to hands-on experiments or visualizations. This ties back into the accessibility of e-learning, as you can enjoy traditional lectures and hands-on experiences one after another.

Conclusion

Augmented reality in eLearning provides an innovative approach to teaching and learning information. It eliminates the need for additional tools, from textbooks to notebooks to lab equipment. It also makes learning accessible to various learners, wherever they are and whatever learning style they have. With AR, it’s easy to adapt the lesson to fit someone’s learning style, whether hands-on or video-based. Finally, AR lets students immediately visualize their e-learning lessons. This can mean a lecture followed by a virtual hands-on experience. You can even take it to the next level without having to wait for experiments to run in science classes, as AR completes them instantly.