The results showed that AR-technology experience was beneficial especially for the pupils, who otherwise belong to the lowest achieving school success group. They were reaching up the gap with other students while learning science. On the other hand, the students with the high-performance school success gained more challenge and quality for the learning outcomes. Augmented Reality (AR) differs from Virtual reality (VR): VR is totally virtual and illusion, but AR creates mixed reality by adding visual elements into real, physical environment around us. This research group from the University of Helsinki has been doing research related to informal learning and Augmented Reality for more than a decade now. Now, only after the Pokémon phenomenon this AR-technolgoy has become known by wider audiences. However, many experts don’t consider the Pokémon technology as AR-solution, but as the recent Scientific American calls it as “location-based entertainment.”
Source: Augmented reality advances learning especially in informal science education context — ScienceDaily
Could the “Hawthorne Effect” been at work here? In other words, did the act of participating in the experiment influence the children? The press release does not say if this was considered in the experiment.
