When used thoughtfully, augmented reality can engage students in purposeful learning experiences. Sometimes augmented reality apps appear gimmicky at first glance. When connected purposefully to your learning goals, scannable technology can energize a lesson by sparking your students interest and turn their experiences in your classroom into hands-on learning.
The White House Historical Society recently unveiled a special augmented reality app. With this app on your mobile device and dollar bill on a flat surface, students can explore the White House. This app includes audio narration that provides information on the history of the White House, making it a great choice who might struggle to read a piece of text containing the same information.
White House Augmented Reality app
How can you use the White House Augmented Reality app in your classroom? Here are a few ideas for using the White House augmented reality app in your classroom. Depending on your learning goals, you might develop specific questions that connect to what you are teaching around a particular concept within American History or US symbols.
- Ask students what they already know about the White House. You might ask them to share their thinking with a partner.
- Have students record their questions about the White House with a backchannel tool. Learn about backchannels here.
- Introduce this app as a preceding activity for the picture book What To Do About Alice?
- Have students work in small groups to explore this tool on shared devices. Letting them take turns and talk about what they see can elevate student talk and critical thinking.
- After students have explored the app, ask them to share their wonderings with a partner. This might lead to further investigations on a topic students have shown an interest in learning more about.
If you’re a regular reader of ClassTechTips.com you certainly know how much I love #ScannableTech. It’s a great way to give students instant access to materials, curate resources, engage students with hands-in learning and share their own creations.
Share your ideas for using this super cool White House augmented reality app in the comments below!
