By now, most of us have heard of and probably scanned a QR code with our smartphone. Companies use QR codes to connect consumers to websites and product promotions. Teachers use them to give students easy ways to gather information and see homework assignments. It’s pretty neat to think that so much data can be crammed into a bunch of black ink in the shape of a box.
This idea of scanning to connect to information is reaching a whole new level through the increasingly popular application “Aurasma.”
Aurasma allows users to create augmented reality versions—Auras—of standard images and objects. For example, with Aurasma’s viewfinder (which uses the camera function on a smartphone or tablet) students could focus on an image of a world map that has been turned into an Aura. Interactive content will appear on their device screens, layered on top of the map image. Students can then click and swipe to access other pictures, text, audio, or video that have been linked to the image, or Aura.
And it’s not difficult to get started with Aurasma. You can create simple Auras with links to sites and videos in as little as a couple minutes. There are only a few things you will need:
- A smartphone or tablet with the Aurasma app installed. (It’s free!)
- An account with http://studio.aurasma.com to create Auras of your own.
- The desire to try something new and innovative for your classroom.
Check out tutorials on creating Auras and browse aurasma.com to find public Auras and see how they work.
There really aren’t too many downfalls to using Aurasma, but there are some things to be aware of. First unless you are paying for your auras, you can’t make them public to everyone. This can be good and bad. On the one hand, you can keep your Auras between you and your students and really control who sees them. On the other hand, students do have to have an Aurasma account and follow you to make this happen. Second, in some cases, Auras can be temperamental—requiring you to position the viewfinder precisely in order to get the Aura started.
But these few limitations shouldn’t keep you from exploring Aurasma and its possibilities for bringing new dimension to your lessons.