Development of design principles to author AR in education based on teacher’s perspectives

Abstract

Augmented Reality (AR) has a positive impact on students’ motivation and cognitive performance on varied age levels and different contexts. However, its use is still far from widespread in education. One of the reasons mentioned in the literature is the lack of AR authoring tools thought from the educational perspective. This work investigates what features are important for AR authoring in education. We aimed to identify how teachers would like to create AR experiences based on their pedagogic needs through Design Based Research (DBR) with the participation of an interdisciplinary team to investigate and propose design principles for AR educational authoring. Our study was carried out in 4 steps: (1) analysis of practical AR problems by researchers and practitioners in collaboration, (2) development of solutions informed by existing design principles and technological innovations from step 1, (3) iterative cycles of testing and refinement of solutions identified in practice, and (4) reflection to produce design principles for AR teaching authorship. In step 1, we performed the literature research and interviewed 15 teachers who used technology, 7 teachers and 2 coordinators who used AR, along with a survey with 106 teachers from varied contexts. Based on the initial results, we defined a “case study” focused on language learning for children and teenagers. Step 2 consisted of a series of iterative sessions with an interdisciplinary group to map the problems, sketch possible solutions and decide the one to be prototyped and tested. In step 3, an AR tool, Virtual Playground, which allows the creation of augmented storytelling collaboratively, as well as its authoring tool, Virtual Playground Creator, have been conceived, prototyped and tested with users through a series of interactions and two iterative cycles of testing and refinement of solutions. The first and second rounds of tests were carried out with 5 and 6 English teachers with previous AR experience, respectively. We also analyzed AR authoring tools that do not require programming. Most of them lack important features for teachers, specifically pedagogical ones. Finally, in step 4, through reflection about the results obtained, we developed design principles and enhanced the solution implementation. The main result of this study is 11 design principles identified and divided into three aspects: infrastructure, augmented reality, and pedagogy. These principles were validated during the tests. The design principles proposed were evaluated positively by teachers. An in depth discussion of the context and application of those principles was provided. The AR authoring tool prototype was based on seven of the identified design principles and presents the following characteristics: it is flexible and enabled teachers to author different lesson plans as well as to work with diverse skills and competences.