1. Augmented & Hybrid Reality
Affordances for 21C Learning
Cathleen Galas
July 2014
Viewpoints Research Institute

2. Augmented Reality
"an environment that includes both virtual
reality and real-world elements. For instance,
an AR user might wear translucent goggles;
through these, he could see the real world, as
well as computer-generated images projected
on top of that world.”
– Ronald Azuma, Research Leader, Nokia Research
• http://www.cs.unc.edu/~azuma/ARpresence.pdf

3. Reality-Virtuality Continuum
• Reality-Virtuality Continuum CC BY 3.0
• By Paul Milgram and Fumio Kishino in 1994
Reality-Virtuality Continuum

4. ARIS (AR) Education Examples
• Middle school students walk the University of Wisconsin-Madison
campus using mobile phones to view footage of Vietnam war
protests that occurred in the same locations.
• Albuquerque students are using the ARIS engine to practice Spanish
language skills by talking with real people and virtual characters
while visiting a local neighborhood.
• The Smithsonian has expressed interest in building an interactive
narrative to help kids relate to artifacts in the collection.
• DOW DAY
•arisgames.org, www.newlearninginstitute.org/digital-media-
programs/community-based-programs/aris-platform-debuts-placework-studio-
program-rolls-out

5. DOW DAY VIRTUALLY PLACES YOU IN 1967, ON THE CAMPUS OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN – MADISON, WHEN THE STUDENTS BEGAN A
PROTEST AGAINST THE DOW CHEMICAL CORPORATION FOR MAKING NAPALM
FOR THE WAR. YOU TAKE THE ROLE OF A NEWS REPORTER AND INVESTIGATE
THE DIFFERENT INTERESTS AND PERSPECTIVES OF STUDENTS, POLICE AND
DOW EMPLOYEES.

6. Layar AR
Experience history, art, how things looked
15 years ago

7. Augmented Reality Games
• Mobile phone technology
• Location based using GPS
• Immersive narrative
• Often requires solving location-based
assignments

8. Hybrid Reality Games
• Uses mobile and location-aware interfaces
• Bridges physical and digital spaces
• Transforms city spaces into the gameboard
• Multiuser and therefore collaborative
• De Souza e Silva, A., Delacruz, G.C., “Hybrid Reality Games Reframed”, Games and
Culture, Volume 1, Number 3, 2006.
http://gac.sagepub.com/content/1/3/231.abstract

9. Situated Learning
Learning that takes place in the same
authentic context as it is applied.
Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger (1991) Situated Learning. Legitimate peripheral
participation, Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.
http://maglmill.wordpress.com/2011/07/14/jean-laves-situated-learning-theory/

10. Sociocultural Learning Theory
Framework to analyze HRGs
Learners construct meaning while
participating in social contexts
Lave & Wenger, 1991
Vygotsky, 1978

11. Situated Learning in
computer-simulated environments
Virtual worlds and immersive simulations are
designed to create a compelling, collaborative,
and participatory experience for the user.
Situated learning theory posits that all learning
takes place within a specific context and the
quality of the learning is a result of interactions
among the people, places, objects, processes,
and culture within and relative to that context.
Dawley, L., & Dede. C. (in press). Situated learning in virtual worlds and immersive simulations. In J.M. Spector, M.D Merrill, J. Elen, & M.J. Bishop (Eds.), The
Handbook of Research for Educational Communications and Technology(4th ed.). New York: Springer.

12. Foundations
“..immersive technologies align well with
situated and constructivist learning theory
(Vygotsky, 1978), as these position the
learner within an imaginary or real-world
context (i.e., simulated physical
environment)…”
• Dawley, L., & Dede. C. (in press). Situated learning in virtual worlds and
immersive simulations. In J.M. Spector, M.D Merrill, J. Elen, & M.J. Bishop
(Eds.), The Handbook of Research for Educational Communications and
Technology(4th ed.). New York: Springer.

13. Virtual worlds can be used to
create learning spaces that are
applicable to almost all disciplines,
subjects, or areas of study.
(Johnson, Levine, & Smith, 2007)
Situating Learning in VW

14. Virtual Worlds as
Community of Practice (CoP)
• Groups that share similar goals and interests
and therefore employ common practices
• Work with the same tools
• Express themselves in a common language
• Have potential to support mastery of new
knowledge
(Wenger, 1998)

15. CoP Learning Model, Yukawa, J., 2012. http://www.jyukawa.com/main/cop

16. WHYVILLE
http://www.whyville.net/smmk/nice

17. WHYVILLE
• Simulated virtual epidemic
• Offers an authentic context within which to
become familiar with the need for and
practice of empirical experimentation
• Personal relevance for today’s youth: virtual
worlds have become their new meeting place.

18. Whyville Research Findings
• Connected play in Whyville affects identity, social
interactions, science, and design. (Kafai and Fields 2013)
• Social immersion drove inquiry-based learning regarding
the spread of WhyPox. (Kafai et al 2007)
• Students worked collaboratively, thought critically about
disease spread, gathered data, made hypotheses, worked
outside school, posed and research deep questions, took
responsibility for their own learning, and were productive
Whyville citizens. (Galas 2006)
• The study provided a qualitative result regarding student
use of biological vs. pre-biological explanations of disease
spread (N+45, p+.001) (Neaulight, Kafai, Kao, Foley & Galas
2006)

19. RIVER CITY
http://rivercity.activeworlds.com/rivercityproject/prior_research/grant_02.html

20. RIVER CITY
•Students interact with over fifty digital objects from the
Smithsonian's collection, and use "data collection
stations" to provide detailed information about water
samples at various spots in the world.
•Students collaboratively investigate a virtual "world"
consisting of a city with a river running through it,
different forms of terrain that influence water runoff,
houses, industries, and institutions such as a hospital and
a university.
• http://rivercity.activeworlds.com/rivercityproject/prior_research/grant_02.html

21. River City Research Findings
• MUVE design (allowing many users to access
the virtual world) was motivating for all
students, ability to engage in inquiry in an
authentic setting was powerful for students.
(Dieterle & Clarke In Press)
• Greater improvement in inquiry skills and
science content than the control group.
(Ketelhut, Dede, Clarke, &Nelson 2006)
• Students engaged in scientific inquiry and
developed skills in virtual communication and
expression. (Galas & Ketelhut 2006)

22. QUEST ATLANTIS

23. QUEST ATLANTIS
QA allows students to travel to various virtual
spaces and carry out educational activities known
as quests.
Each quest is a curricular task designed to be
entertaining and yet educational in nature. In order
to complete these quests, students have to
complete real world activities that are socially and
academically meaningful.
All quests involve both content area findings and
personal reflection by the student.
http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet24/tay.html

24. QUEST ATLANTIS Research Findings
QA socially responsible design elements
• Advances a social commitment
• Connections to standards
• Online, metagame strategy
• Employs 3-d Technologies
• Focus on engaging girls
• Flexibly adaptive curriculum
• Multidisciplinary focus
• Targets building connections
(Barbab, Thomas, Dodge, Carteaux, & Tuzun 2005)

25. Augmented Reality
SITUATES
Content
in Physical Spaces
to make it more meaningful

26. MITAR Games
The MIT Teacher Education Program, in
conjunction with The Education Arcade, has
been working on creating "Augmented Reality"
simulations to engage people in simulation
games that combine real world experiences with
additional information supplied to them by
handheld computers.
http://education.mit.edu/projects/mitar-games

27. Environmental Detectives
MITAR Game
• Outdoor game
• Players using GPS guided handheld computers
try to uncover the source of a toxic spill
• Players interview virtual characters and
conduct large scale simulated environmental
measurements
and analyze data.

28. MITAR Research Findings
• AR engages secondary and university
students in large scale environmental
engineering studies.
• AR provides an authentic mode of
scientific investigation.
• http://education.mit.edu/category/blog-tags/augmented-reality

29. HR bridges digital and physical:
SITUATES
context in physical space
Affordance: may make learning
more meaningful

30. Information is
DISTRIBUTED
in HRGs by connecting content
•Physical local spaces
•Digital spaces
•Student’s prior knowledge

31. Distributed Learning Communities:
Virtual Playgrounds
• Knowledge is distributed, not centralized
• Physical local spaces
•Digital spaces
•Student’s prior knowledge

32. HRGs are
SITUATED
&
DISTRIBUTED

33. Assumed AR Affordances
for Education
• Rich contextual learning space
• Student control of learning
• Opportunities for authentic learning
• Multiple learning styles
• Engagement power
• Makes learning visible
• Each learner own discovery path
• Training without real consequences (safety)
• De Souza e Silva, A., Delacruz, G.C., “Hybrid Reality Games Reframed”, Games and Culture,
Volume 1, Number 3, 2006. http://gac.sagepub.com/content/1/3/231.abstract

34. Hybrid Reality
Learning Affordances BEYOND AR
• Makes the physical location more relevant to the task
• Bridging of physical and digital spaces
• Fosters collaboration by making it CRUCIAL to the tasks
at hand
• Forces players to look at familiar spaces from an
unfamiliar perspective
• Looks at classroom content from a different viewpoint
using social, experiential and situated learning
• De Souza e Silva, A., Delacruz, G.C., “Hybrid Reality Games Reframed”, Games and Culture, Volume
1, Number 3, 2006. http://gac.sagepub.com/content/1/3/231.abstract