Application of Augmented Reality in University Educational Practices

This article we analyze the pedagogical practices carried out by students when developing an application with Augmented Reality technology to raise awareness about environmental problems that occur in the southeast region of Mexico, specifically in the State of Chiapas. The research is based epistemologically on the assumptions of the Sociocultural Constructivism paradigm and is contextualized in a Mexican public higher education institution. To proceed with the reality that circumscribes the study, a methodological model guided by the principles of Research- Action is designed, through participant observation, interview, focus group and content analysis, as information gathering techniques. Likewise, through the triangulation of these data collection sources, the analytical treatment of the information is carried out. The main findings point out that the integration of emerging technologies - such as Augmented Reality - to the educational process favors and motivates students' learning and simultaneously allows them to develop a series of digital competencies related to information management, ability to produce academic texts, the capacity for verbal argumentation, the ability to analyze and synthesize digital information, virtual collaborative work, autonomous learning and communication.