Empowering Knowledge With Virtual and Augmented Reality

Recent global advancements in ICT technologies have motivated our research to assess the impact of Virtual and Augmented Reality on teaching and learning. In particular, we conducted a rigorous study on the effects on learning by subjecting classes of students to an experience of these emerging technologies and measuring their feelings before and after the experiment through questionnaires. We carried out the research involving three high schools and a total of 162 students aged between 15 and 20. During the meetings, we made available two applications that we developed. The first is a Virtual Reality environment that enables the user to explore a room in which the system spawns three-dimensional objects defined by the teacher. The objects may represent mathematical functions, physics simulations, scenes relating to historical re-enactments, etc. The second is an Augmented Reality smartphone application that allows three-dimensional figures to be observed via the smartphone screen by framing a marker printed on paper. Both applications are realised with free software, trying to minimise the technical requirements for their operation and guaranteeing reliability and usability. The work concludes by analysing the results obtained and comparing the effectiveness of the two technologies tested. Results of tests conducted in three Italian schools show that Augmented Reality is seen as a useful tool in education by about 94.43%. Importantly, the use of these technologies requires an inclusive design that involves all students, regardless of their level of familiarity with the technology. The overall analysis reveals that both technologies performed well, and students value them for their intuitiveness and level of immersion. The in presence experience is more effective for using immersive applications fostered by student collaboration.