Augmented Reality with Arloon

Arloon is an augmented reality company that produces apps for teachers and students. Augmented reality, according to Goerner, is "unlike virtual reality, which offers users a 360-degree view of a rendered scene, augmented reality superimposes an image, video, or other digital overlay onto a view of the real world in real time" (2016). The Arloon apps, which are typically $2.99 each, provide three-dimensional visuals to help students to understand complex or abstract concepts such as geometry or chemistry. The apps are available in the App Store on iOS devices or through Google Play. One of the easiest ways to access the apps is to go to Arloon's website. The website links to the App Store and Google Play in the middle on the home page.

Arloon has a YouTube channel with videos demonstrating each app. These videos can be useful in persuading teachers to use the apps or in showing students how to use them. The video below demonstrates the geometry app, which includes interactive models, formulas and other aspects of each shape.

Students can use Arloon apps by holding their devices up to specific stimuli. For example, students can use the anatomy app, as shown in the photo below, to see a realistic illustration of how anatomy works. 

Screenshot from the "Arloon in the Classroom-Teacher Testimonials" video.

Teachers can integrate Arloon into their curriculum by using the apps instead of two-dimensional photos or illustrations. The apps are particularly useful for topics that students sometimes have trouble wrapping their minds around. Arloon can also provide a source of differentiation for teachers; students who learn more effectively through visual learning or hands-on experiences.

The following video demonstrates how to use Arloon's Augmented Reality Card as well as the Click and Play function. Each of these activities can be integrated into lessons in order to provide student with three-dimensional models of the subjects they are studying. For example, student can use the Augmented Reality Card combined with the Arloon Anatomy app to see a three-dimensional image of different organs. They can click on these organs to identify them. This activity would work well in a classroom in which each student has access to a tablet or similar device.

Arloon is a relatively inexpensive option for introducing students to augmented reality. The apps are relatively simple to operate and do not have too many features that distract from the content. As mentioned earlier, Arloon is particularly effective in schools and classrooms that have a 1:1 student:device ratio. However, even if each student does not have access to a device, the apps can be useful as demonstrations or as one station among many in a hands-on lesson.

Reference:

GOERNER, P. (2016). Augmented Reality. What’s Next? School Library Journal, 62(9), 19–20. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=117871035&site=ehost-live

Makerspaces

Makerspaces are becoming increasingly an popular part of school library services. From cardboard to 3D printers, makerspaces can consist of just about anything that students can use to create. I recently found an article on the Room 241 blog, sponsored by the University of Concordia-Portland, that helped me to think of a makerspace as a realistic addition to my future school library. This blog post identifies the unique opportunities that students have in makerspaces. The author writes of makerspaces: "no matter the size or amount of equipment, they need only foster curiosity, discovery and learning." This is important to remember when starting a makerspace in a library; it does not matter what kinds of tools and equipment you provide as long as your students feel supported and encouraged in their "making." As this piece from the Digital Shift mentions, makerspaces make libraries places of creation instead of simply places of consumption.

The Room 241 blog post provides specific steps for school librarians to follow when creating a makerspace. These steps are: study up and network, bring the outside world in, start a design challenge practice and get creative with the curriculum. This sequence is important because it begins with getting buy-in from teachers, administrators and other school librarians in your professional network. Then, you "bring the outside world in" by turning to the community for materials and support. Next, a design challenge such as asking students to design a game or providing them with set materials and seeing what they can make out of those materials. This step generates interest from the students and nurtures the relationship between them and the library. If this relationship is already strong by the time you "get creative with the curriculum," then working in the makerspace does not feel like just another content-heavy assignment to students. Even when they are working on projects aligned with the standards in their classes, they will approach it the way they approached the earlier design challenges.

Before reading this blog post, I had not considered the steps necessary to set up a makerspace in a school library. I had just imagined setting up a makerspace, planning some lessons around it and hoping that students used it. The carefully planned steps in this blog post set the makerspace up to succeed by building out from educators to the community and students.