Augmented Reality Resource - Blog Post #9

Image: The logo for the Metaverse program. The logo has a stylized letter "M" in round shapes and the word "metaverse" in a regular font. The background is bright pink and the text is white. 

The Metaverse is an augmented reality (AR) platform that creates exciting possibilities for curriculum and lesson development in the classroom. It is free and can be used on a personal device such as iPhones or iPads. With Metaverse, users can create scavenger hunts using QR codes, quizzes, stories, tours, trivia, and more. To use Metaverse, users first create an account on the Metaverse website then start creating various augmented reality experiences. To create an experience, users design individual screens and link them together. This could be linked series of questions together to create a quiz or linking different parts of a story to create an interactive storyboard. The platform has a wonderful YouTube channel called Metaverse AR Platform with tons of great tutorial and how-to videos to explore. The channel has step-by-step instructions and explanations of how to use the program, and it is very user friendly and extensive. After a users creates an experience, it can be published and shared using a QR code or link. The experiences can be accessed by students using the Metaverse app on their devices. 

Image: A screenshot from the Metaverse website showing an example of how the AR experience looks. This experience shows an an AR astronaut in a board room with a conference table and TV. There is text at the top of the image that reads "Tap to replay audio" and text at the bottom that says "start game."

The Metaverse website also contains a blog specifically for educators with ideas of how to use AR in the classroom. This blog has great ideas and examples of how teachers have incorporated AR into their classes for every subject. Another great thing about Metaverse is that you can use other users' experiences if they have published them on the site. These experiences can either be used as is or edited it to fit in with an educator's classroom and students. 

In the blog from the Metaverse website, there is a wonderful article called "Create Magic in Your Classroom" by GoMeta Inc. (2017) that details ways AR can be used for various subjects. For example, a history classes could use Metaverse AR system to create interactive museum exhibits or create a trivia game to test knowledge. Another option is to create an AR Breakout/Escape Room game centered around a historical event or time period. Students would have to use their history knowledge to play through the game. Scavenger hunts are one use of Metaverse that could be used in every subject. Educators can set up QR codes for students to find across the classroom, school, or city. A scavenger hunt would be a great way to us AR in the library where students are on the hunt for certain books or materials. The QR codes could be clues or puzzles to solve around a specific topic. Trivia using Metaverse could also be a great way to test student comprehension of a book, story, or topic. Another way Metaverse could be used in all subjects is by incorporating QR codes into traditional print assignments. English teacher can use Metaverse to have their students create interactive stories. Educators could also use AR to incorporate interactive components into projects like science fair posters or book presentations. Instead of the images being on the poster, the student has QR codes that the other students and teachers use to access their project that incorporates AR components. This both makes the project more dynamic and and could allow for greater creativity. This is a great way of hooking students into a project and developing their digital literacy skills. 

There are so many possibilities for how to use this versatile resource. And it is incredibly accessible because it is free and there are video tutorials on how to use every aspect of the program. This would be a great tool to use to introduce AR to educators and students without having to invest in expensive or confusing equipment. All of these AR experiences and ideas are examples of using this technology to create "enhanced delivery of information" and further foster "the multiple means by which the student can become proficient in the basic information literacy skills" (Massis, 2015, p. 798). The Metaverse AR tool has the flexibility to bring these information literacy and digital literacy skills to every subject, and with so many ideas and experiences already created for use, educators can bring AR to their classrooms with ease. 

References: 

GoMeta Inc. (2017, October 19). Create magic in your classroom. MetaverseApp. https://medium.com/metaverseapp/you-can-create-magic-in-the-classroom-951d068f365c

Massis, B. (2015, August 13). Using virtual and augmented reality in the library. New Library World, 116(11/12), 796-799. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/NLW-08-2015-0054