ThinqStudio

LAPTOP | LUNCH | LEARN

This 3-hour workshop provides a hands-on introduction to Augmented Reality (AR)-a form of digital media that augments a live view of material environments with computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, and images.

AR is an emerging technology that offers many exciting possibilities for educators, writers, artists, and community activists. Teachers in various disciplines have begun using AR to deliver site-specific content that facilitates experiential learning in public settings relevant to their curricula. For example, professors of architecture use AR to conduct classes in the shadows of the buildings their students are studying; rather than projecting slides in a classroom, the teacher embeds their pedagogical materials onto the architectural site. Similar opportunities for highly contextualized, mobile learning may be developed to serve the pedagogical aims of many academic subjects, from environmental biology and cultural geography to urban sociology and public history. After surveying recent AR projects, participants will brainstorm and prototype some ways in which they might devise an AR lesson to enhance teaching and learning in one of their existing courses.

This workshop is designed for individuals who are familiar with basic mobile technology but have never worked with augmented reality. Individuals who want to use and/or teach AR as a critical media practice will find this workshop especially useful.

By the end of the workshop you will be able to
o Define AR and imagine the critical and pedagogical implications of this emergent technology
o Create simple but meaningful AR objects
o Understand the basic features of AR platforms such as Aurasma
o Test, view and document your work on location using a mobile device.
Participants are encouraged (though not required) to bring a laptop and a smartphone.