Blog Four: Constructing creative reading experiences with Augmented Reality

Augmented reality involves live manipulation of the environment by digital technologies (Carmigniani & Furht, 2011). Zapworks is a program that students can use to design augmentations to their environment or a specific object (Seely et al., 2022). Educators can employ this technology to construct creative reading experiences by having students use the Image Tracking scene to make visual additions to texts to convey their understanding of text.

There is an array of literature surrounding how to use popular digital technologies to compose texts in the English syllabus; however, the fusion between the ‘real’ and ‘digital’ world in augmented reality promotes creative means of representing comprehension of texts. This approach encourages students to find unique means of representing their understanding of a prescribed text and offers an engaging activity that promotes students’ enthusiasm and, therefore, their attention and retention (Cooper, 1990; Sweller et al., 2010; Lavie et al., 2004).

For example, in stage three, students engage with reading comprehension and analysis of ideas in literature in learning outcomes EN3-UARL-01 and EN3-RECOM-01 (NESA, 2012). In a comprehension activity, students take a photo of their book page and use Zapworks to launch a QR code trigger. These are combined using Canva, which is a free and accessible editing program, to create a target image with the QR code in the bottom left corner of the page. Teachers will print each students’ QR code for them to use Blue-Tack to temporarily stick the code to the bottom left of the page. Students then use Zapworks to create digital augmentations to the book page with online images. The final products are unique representations of students’ perceptions of the plot, setting and characters on one text’s page.

This technology is theoretically valuable for promoting creative thinking about comprehension; however, it requires a paid subscription and only has a short free-trial. Furthermore, the rotation and translation tool is complicated for novel digital learners and risks frustration. These pedagogical issues are difficult to address and mean that the program is most accessible in classrooms with the funding for the program and students who are digitally literate or enthusiastic about using new digital technologies creatively (Casey & Bruce, 2011).

References

Carmigniani, J., & Furht, B. (2011). Augmented reality: an overview. Handbook of augmented

reality, 3-46.

Casey, L., & Bruce, B. C. (2011). The practice profile of inquiry: Connecting digital literacy

and pedagogy. E-learning and Digital Media, 8(1), 76-85.

Cooper, G. (1990). Cognitive load theory as an aid for instructional design. Australasian

Journal of Educational Technology, 6(2).

English K-10 syllabus : NSW syllabus for the Australian curriculum. (2012). Board of Studies

NSW.

Lavie, N., Hirst, A., De Fockert, J. W., & Viding, E. (2004). Load theory of selective attention

and cognitive control. Journal of experimental psychology: General, 133(3), 339.

Seely, B. J., Creasy, A., & Doll, H. (2022, February). ZapWorks (Augmented Reality)

Workshop. In Fablearn. org.

Van Gog, T., Paas, F., & Sweller, J. (2010). Cognitive load theory: Advances in research on

worked examples, animations, and cognitive load measurement. Educational Psychology Review, 22, 375-378.