SOUND & VISION

The lesson on “Sound and vision” required the whole class to get involved in a range of different activities related to the use of videos in language teaching. However, I have already created a video for the Language Teaching and Technology module:

Thus, I decided to explore the potential benefits of Augmented Reality (AR) and how it can be linked to videos or other types of media.

Videos in ELT

The use of videos in English teaching dated back to the 1980s with limited availability at the time (MacKnight 1983). After a few decades, the implication for videos in ELT has moved from being “glorified audio” (Goldstein 2017: 24) to being associated with more interactive tasks and greater authenticity in the classrooms. Goldstein (2017: 27) has identified some current trends in the ELT field. Firstly, teachers may now use videos with little to no script or voice-over to emphasise the visual aspects. This type of videos can be used for lower-level classes in which some students might not understand the script and thus fail to follow the lesson. Secondly, instead of being a separate task, videos now often act as a “stimulus” to enhance interest and motivation at the beginning of a lesson. Thirdly, while the “after viewing” stage used to be the longest section in a lesson with videos, some teachers have tried to re-examine this structure to better engage students. For example, Keddie (2017) used the “Videotelling” technique to activate learner’s thinking process by expanding the “before viewing” stage of a video lesson. Next, in relation to the last point, videos are being used to teach students critical thinking skills through the task of debating on or evaluating the opinions raised in videos. Lastly, the main purpose of using videos in a language classroom can now be on providing information instead of focusing only on linguistic content.

However, despite the above changes, I think the impact of videos on students will mostly remain the same if teachers are still the people who have control over the choice of learning materials. For example, if students in a class only have the option to watch one clip during a lesson on a projected screen, they may lose interest because the clip might be suitable for some students but irrelevant to others; in addition, some may find the audio to be too difficult to listen only once while others can get the information from the first try. This issue can be solved by students choosing or creating their own visual content. However, Goldstein (2017: 29) pointed out that this kind of task can be very “time-consuming” and only applicable to homework in a “flipped” classroom. Therefore, I believe a more flexible approach to using videos in classrooms is needed and AR seems to be the answer. Nevertheless, because any new piece of technology comes with its own advantages and disadvantages, I will look into more detail of how AR can help improve the learning experience in a language lessons and what kind of issues should teachers expect.

What is AR?

Augmented Reality (AR) is a part of the Virtuality Continuum, which “represent stages or layers of digital content integrated into the real world” (Hawkinson et al. 2017: 30):

Milgram & Kashino’s (1994) reality-virtuality continuum

As demonstrated in the graph, AR contains more elements of the real world than Virtual Reality (VR). A notable example of the application of AR is the game Pokemon Go, in which players have to step into a real environment and use their smartphones to interact with augmented game characters:

However, the type of AR used in this game is only one of the ways people can apply this technology. According to the Godwin-Jones (2016), Pokemon Go uses a location-based technology for its AR, which means the program utilises data collected from a user’s device (usually based on its GPS) to trigger actions in the game. Other applications which also make use of geo-located data include Layar:

It should be noted that Layar now provides another option for triggering AR:

This type of AR uses “markers” – images which are coded to trigger certain tasks through an AR software. The app Aurasma is also applying AR technology in this style:

Because the choice of AR software will depend on users’ purpose, the next part of this post will look at how AR has been used in education in general and in language teaching in particular.

AR in education

Hawkinson et al. (2017: 30) stated that AR technologies have become more and more popular in education, including the teaching of science (Cheng & Tsai 2013) and even humanities and arts (Bacca et al. 2014). Combining AR with learning can help students improve their “understanding of content”, “memory retention”, “task performance”, “collaboration” and “motivation” (Radu 2014, in Hawkinson 2017) – all of which are favourable conditions for success in a classroom. Possible explanations for this positive change include the “wow” factor – the novelty in the classroom which brings about students’ excitement – and the more active role of students in using AR.

A great example of using location-based AR in teaching history is shown in this video:

What I found most impressing in this project is the teacher’s dedication to invoke student’s emotions and empathy towards real people and events. I believe emotions are a vital part in the learning process because we are more likely to learn something if we care deeply about it. As claimed by Clare (2017), “we feel, therefore we learn”. However, the traditional classroom often limits students from interacting with real environment and emotional content. Now with the help of AR technology, that goal seems more conceivable than ever. Nonetheless, the above project was highly time-consuming as it required teachers to research the subject, collect necessary media content, and create triggers around a town. Therefore, in other cases where teachers have limited time and resources, it might be more suitable to adopt a simple marker-based AR app:

In this example, we can see that the teachers of different subjects were using the AR app Aurasma to create a more active environment, which encourages higher-level cognitive learning. Here is another example of using Aurasma, this time in language teaching:

Benefits of AR in language teaching

One of the advantages of AR is its usefulness despite the low cost. With AR, students will be given the opportunity to explore a wide range of materials at the same time, even with the limited space of the classroom. Some people might say that in that case, it would be better to VR instead of AR because it can offer a more immersive experience. However, while VR requires a headset, which can be quite expensive, students can gain access to AR via a free app on their smartphones or tablets, which are brought to class nowadays by many students. Even though concerns about the lack of devices or Wifi-connection still exist, the possibilities that AR brings make it definitely worth exploring.

Another benefit of using AR is its potential in supplementing coursebook, such as adding a video or a recording onto an existing photo or text (Pilton 2014). Antonopoulos (2015, 2016) went even further with the combination of AR and coursebook by introducing the concept of a “changeable coursebook”. The author took into consideration the fact that in many teaching contexts, even if textbooks are outdated, it might not be possible for teachers to use a different, more updated version due to the lack of resources. With the help of AR, those teachers can fill in what is missing from the book and update the content as many times as they want without additional financial cost.

In addition, Antonopoulos (2016) also mentioned that because all the preparations of different media content have been done beforehand, the use of technology in class will be “less disruptive” and the lesson “can flow without the intervention of the teacher”. Personally, I agree with this point and believe that it is the most crucial reason for choosing to include AR in the classroom. This is because most of the time technology is adopted in a classroom with devices which are under the teacher’s control – the projector, speakers, or teachers’ computer. Due to the dependence on only a few essential devices, teachers could experience a failed lesson if technical problems arose. With AR, any smart devices in the classroom can be used as a substitute – a student can share his or her phone with another whose phone cannot read AR. Moreover, students will be allowed to work in their own pace, which offers the opportunity for differentiation and individualisation.

My experience with AR

Although AR has the potential to bring about great changes in the classroom, it can still be a steep learning curve for teachers who are not familiar with adopting new technologies. Thus, I decided to find out how the app Aurasma can be used to create AR triggers and what functions are suitable for my own lessons.

First, I downloaded the app and installed it on my smartphone. It was pretty strange at the time seeing the name “HP Reveal”* on the app store but “Aurasma” on the official website. Then, using simple objects in my room as triggers, I created my first few “auras” – the name for a piece of AR including a trigger image and several overlays. Funnily enough, I came across some “risky images” while scanning a random beer bottle and was afraid that students might experience the same situation. Fortunately, one of my classmates explained to me during the in-class session that users can restrict the use of trigger images to only those exist on the teacher’s account. Then, building on the idea that my infographics from the previous session was still in need of more details, I used Aurasma to supplement the poster on process writing:

(Please search and follow the account “KhoiMinhAn” on the Aurasma app to see the auras on this infographic)

I embedded a Youtube video about process writing on the title of the infographics as I expected some students might prefer listening to an audio recording to reading the texts – this can be counted as a way to allow individualisation of learning materials.

Next, an additional table was provided in the space between “Revising” and “Editing” to give further explanation because these two terms can be hard to distinguish for some students.

As I was creating this aura, it occurred to me that some students might choose to scan the first aura while others choose the second one – it is up to the students to pick the information they want or need at a certain time. Thus, the use of AR here allows for differentiation in the classroom. Returning to my question on the fourth blog post “Preparing ingredients” (Adaptation), I was wondering at the time how teachers can expand an exercise for the purpose of differentiation but still manage to adhere to the limited space of a worksheet. Now with the availability of AR, I hope teachers will no longer feel that they are constrained to the the classroom space or textbook pages but instead can freely create what they think is the best for their students.

*Between the time I tried creating my first AR and finishing this post, “Aurasma” has been officially replaced by “HP Reveal”.

Conclusion

While there is still a lack of studies into the use of AR in language teaching (Godwin-Jones 2016), AR technology has shown its usefulness in supporting other types of media in the classroom, such as videos or audio files. With this piece of technology, language lessons are expected to become more interactive and engaging with students in control of what they want to learn and how to learn. Nevertheless, teachers need to consider the possible drawbacks that introducing new technology can bring and also research on how AR can be used most effectively in a language lesson. Personally, the greatest ability of AR that I want to unlock is the use of 3-D model for AR overlays. However, graphic design is still a major obstacle that I need to overcome with time before I can fully apply this function into my teaching. Hopefully, with the help of colleagues and other teachers, I can one day realise its full potential.

References

Antonopoulos, A. (2015). Aurasma—Can ELT textbooks come to life with this app? Level Up Your English. Available: <http://levelupyourenglish.blogspot.jp/2015/02/aurasma.html> [Accessed April 1, 2018].

Antonopoulos, A. (2016) Aurasma—Collaborative jigsaw reading activity. Level Up Your English. Available:<http://levelupyourenglish.blogspot.jp/2016/02/aurasma-collaborative-jigsaw-reading.html> [Accessed April 1, 2018].

Bacca, J., Baldiris, S., Fabregat, R., Graf, S., & Kinshuk (2014) Augmented reality trends in education: A systematic review of research and applications. Educational Technology & Society 17(4): 133–149. Available: <http://www.ifets.info/journals/17_4/9.pdf> [Accessed April 1, 2018].

Cheng, K-H., & Tsai, C-C. (2013). Affordances of augmented reality in science learning: Suggestions for future research. Journal of Science Education and Technology 22(4): 449–462. doi:10.1007/s10956-012-9405-9.

Clare, A. (2017) The power of video. In: Donaghy, K. & Xerri, D. (eds). The Image in English Language Teaching (33-42). Floriana, Malta: ELT Council.

Godwin-Jones, R. (2016) Augmented reality and language learning: From annotated vocabulary to place-based mobile games. Language Learning & Technology 20(3): 9–19. Available:<http://llt.msu.edu/issues/october2016/emerging.pdf> [Accessed April 1, 2018].

Goldstein, B. (2017) A history of video in ELT. In: Donaghy, K. & Xerri, D. (eds). The Image in English Language Teaching (23-32). Floriana, Malta: ELT Council.

Hawkinson, E., Mehran, P. and Alizadeh, M. (2017) Using MAVR to Bring New Dimensions to the Classroom. LANGUAGE TEACHER 41: 31.

Keddie, J. (2017). Videotelling: YouTube stories for the classroom. Edinburgh: Lessonstream Books.

MacKnight, F. (1983). Video and English language teaching in Britain. In J. McGovern (Ed.), Video applications in English language teaching (1-15). Oxford: Pergamon Press. Available: <https://goo.gl/2NNqFc> [Accessed April 1, 2018].

Milgram, P., & Kishino, F. (1994). A taxonomy of mixed reality visual displays. IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Information and Systems E77-D(12): 1321–1329. Available: <https://cs.gmu.edu/~zduric/cs499/Readings/r76JBo-Milgram_IEICE_1994.pdf> [Accessed April 1, 2018].

Pilton, S. (2014). The augmented classroom: Practical ideas for how to use augmented reality in EFL Modern English Teacher. Availabe: <https://issuu.com/nittahaless/docs/modern_english_teacher_july_2014/18> [Accessed April 1, 2018].

Radu, I. (2014). Augmented reality in education: A meta-review and cross-media analysis. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing 18(6): 1533–1543. doi:10.1007/s00779-013-0747-y.