AR has surged in popularity in recent years, and for good reason. However, while a multitude of commercial platforms for developing AR applications already exist, very few are free-to-use and only a small percentage of those have been developed for educational purposes.
ARTutor is an Augmented Reality Educational Platform developed by the Advanced Educational Technologies and Mobile Applications (AETMA) Research Lab of the Computing Science Department of the International Hellenic University. It consists of a Web Platform for creating the augmented reality experience while the Mobile Application is used to view the experience in the mobile device. An advanced tool, AR Experience Editor, for creating complex augmentations in the 3D world was added in the latest version ARTutor 4.
With ARTutor, you can add digital content to traditional educational books and other texts, which assists both teachers and students’ independent studies.
Here are just a few of the benefits of using ARTutor to printed material to life:
– Boost learner engagement and emotional connectivity.
– Equip teachers with limited IT skills the tools they need to develop AR books and create highly immersive educational activities and experiences.
– Improve learner comprehension and knowledge retention.
– Remove accessibility roadblocks by implementing a single mobile application with enhanced digital content.
– Promote independent, self-paced distance learning.
– Empowers remote learners by giving them the opportunity to act as content creators in the education environment.
Thanks to its simplicity, ARTutor can be used by any educator, regardless of their tech know-how or level of programming skills. It can be applied in any domain, from mathematics and history to the arts and philosophy. Another standout benefit is that this versatile platform supports all levels of education, whether it’s at the Primary, Secondary or University level.
The ARTutor platform is available for download, free of charge, via Google Play and the IOS App Store. The main aim is to help educators and students develop technology enhanced educational material and improve educational performances and experiences on a global scale. It embraces the UNESCO initiative “Education for All”, in its effort to break down the socioeconomic or cultural barriers which prevent access to high-end educational technologies and to tech-enhanced learning, as a whole.