ELI Web Seminar, April 14, 2008 1:00 p.m. ET (12:00 p.m. CT, 11:00 a.m. MT, 10:00 a.m. PT); runs one hour

Augmented Reality: New Strategies in Location-Based Mobile Learning Games and Simulations

Special Guest

Judy Perry
Research Associate, Teacher Education Program
MIT

Judy Perry is research manager of the MIT Scheller Teacher Education Program. For the past four years, she has overseen the design, development, and research for several games and simulations projects for handheld devices, including location-based augmented reality projects (http://education.mit.edu/drupal/ar) and participatory simulations (http://education.mit.edu/drupal/myworld) like Palmagotchi.

Before becoming a researcher at MIT, Perry’s work included television and web production as well as content development for educational toys. Her research interests include designing and evaluating the use of games and simulations within both formal (K–16 schools) and informal educational settings (including museums, zoos, and nature centers with learners of all ages) to improve players' content knowledge and social, collaborative and cognitive skill development. She holds a BA in American studies from Yale University and an EdM in technology in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Summary

Julie Little, Interim Director of the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, will moderate this web seminar with Judy Perry, who will discuss augmented reality (AR) experiences and ongoing research into how these immersive environments might offer new student-centered learning opportunities.

AR experiences combine virtual overlays of information onto real-world locations. These interactive experiences equip users with location sensing devices (for example, Windows Mobile PDAs with GPS), providing players with location-specific data, narrative, and rich media. As players move around a real-world location, their devices allow them to interview virtual game characters, collect virtual data, and consider the interrelationships between their real-world location and the virtual information provided.

In this seminar, Perry will provide an overview of recent work in AR by the MIT Scheller Teacher Education Program (MIT STEP), which has been conducting research on using AR simulations for educational purposes with the aim of better understanding how these experiences might offer new learning opportunities. AR games have the potential not only to engage players with specific content but also to provide opportunities to develop 21st-century skills such as collaboration, communication, and critical thinking. The MIT STEP lab is also developing AR authoring toolkits that will allow AR game designers to create their own location-based games.

Additional Resources

• MIT’s Handheld Augmented Reality Simulations website
• Eric Klopfer and Judy Perry, "Thinking Outside the Classroom: Two Mobile Simulation Approaches to Enhance Student Learning" (scroll down).
• The New Media Consortium and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, 2008 Horizon Report
• Chris Dede, "Planning for Neomillennial Learning Styles."
• YouTube video, "Augmented Reality Encyclopedia."
• ELI’s 7 Things You Should Know About Augmented Reality