Implementation of ‘The birds are singing!’ (SOI-PT-11)
Summary
I implemented this learning scenario, in a 7th-grade class, with the participation of 18 students, aged between 12 and 14 years. The activity had a duration of 2 periods of 50 minutes (time predicted by the author of the LS-90 minutes). Previously, the teacher had presented Europeana portal and explained how to search the information, demonstrating and sharing the benefits of the Europeana project. Next, the platform in which the Augmented Reality experience would be developed was presented. I used the ROAR platform for this activity.
How was the learning scenario implemented?
The next step was a presentation and a demonstration about the Europeana concepts and resources as well the Creative Commons Licences. Next, I presented and demonstrated the application of the Augmented Reality (AR) ROAR. I provided the link to the application ROAR and an explanation on how it works and can be used. The presentation used can be found by clicking here (this took 20 minutes of the class total period of time, 50 minutes):
The next step was the formation of working groups. We decided to form 2 groups of 5 students and 2 groups of 4 students. The students started by installing the App on mobile devices. Next, they registered on the platform. The teacher followed the work helping the students in the process of group organization and online registration. This part of the activity took around 15 minutes.
After it the students explored the Europeana resources looking for images and sounds. The teacher worked on a support approach to the all process oriented the students on their work.
Experiencing Augmented Reality in the classroom
The links to the ROAR application as well to Europeana and also some guidelines to find resources were provided in the document mentioned above. This document was provided to the students.
In the second period of classes (a period with 50 minutes) in the first 30 minutes, the students developed the examples in groups following the guidelines provided. The teacher supported the work of the groups and supporting the usage of the software application.
The teacher received, from the students, the examples created so they could be presented to the class. It also was used to create a Kahoot activity. During the last 20 minutes, the groups shared and presented the examples to the colleagues and voted in the Kahoot platform.
The following are the examples made with the ROAR program:
Please use the Microsoft Edge Browser or IE, to access the ROAR examples. The Firefox browser may not work properly.
Note that because we are using the free account of ROAR are only allowed 20 visualizations per month.
Click here to visualize Kahoot created during this activity.
Note all the resources used in the development of this work are licensed under CC BY or CC BY-NC-ND
The outcomes and the “assessment”- choice of students
Conclusion and reflexion
The students enjoyed the experience and were very curious about the AR application. Only a few technical difficulties at the beginning caused some confusion, but they were easily overcome and, after the results began to appear, the students began to get more excited about the process.
After the activity, the teacher uploaded the works to Kahoot, and the students had the opportunity to choose the one they like the most. They also had the chance to express their opinions about the work developed.
Would be interesting to have more time for the students’ research and besides trying the Europeana resources also include other resources such as some sounds and images from their homeland.
So, it could begin with an image of a country from Europeana, if possible, then some more personalized image from the homeland. Next a study trip on the countryside to record some sounds from the birds and make some drawings. Finally join all in the AR application, including the image of the bird from Europeana or some other content on the topic.
The application HP Reveal could be another possibility for this LS development.
The aims of the lesson have been fulfilled. Indeed, the group was very pleased with this learning scenario, the participation was very good, and the students demonstrated interest concerning the usage of AR in the classroom.
It also helped the teacher to feel more comfortable exploring the Europeana Collections in the classroom and the AR applications to future developments. This LS example is a beautiful, creative and inspiring resource on how to integrate Europeana on the classroom.
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The featured image used to illustrate this article belongs to the public domain. Click here to find it.