Innovative edtech company Discovery Education have launched a new no cost iPad app that puts augmented reality (AR) straight into the hands of educators and learners worldwide.
The company, who 20 years ago revolutionised teaching with the first digital service delivering educational content directly to the classrooms, has always been ahead of the curve with implementing cutting edge technology into the classroom.
The new app, Sandbox AR, is now available to download. It empowers students and teachers to create, share, and actually inhabit virtual environments. Users can shape their own world and populate them with any of hundreds of unique objects from history, science, and nature.
Sandbox AR also gives students fresh ways to express themselves and demonstrate their learning through a feature that lets learners capture images or records videos with their own voiceover. There is even a feature available that allows users to scale up and immerse themselves within their own life size virtual environments.
For over 20 years Discovery Education has provided innovative digital learning solutions to educators worldwide, and 2021 marked the start of a new chapter in the company’s history. In 2021, we built on the extensive library of educational videos that educators know and love us for and added new time-saving tools and resources providing all learners with more ways to use our engaging content and dynamic platform every day. Sandbox AR and resources we make available to educators today are just the beginning of what will be a number of powerful new resources Discovery Education plans to provide students and educators in 2022 and beyond – Howard Lewis, Discovery Education’s managing director
Immersive AR technology is able to expand and enhance the learning experience and unlock students’ natural curiosity. By superimposing virtual images and data on a user’s view of the real world, AR can develop clearer visualisation of complex topics and heighten student engagement while improving knowledge retention.
For those new to AR, Sandbox AR includes many pre-built sandboxes exploring diverse subjects such as ancient Egypt, space exploration, Mayan civilization, road construction, and more, with additional sandboxes coming soon.
Discovery Education is also making available several free, pre-built lessons educators can use with the app to familiarize themselves with integrating AR into classroom instruction.
Sandbox AR is available for download here.
You might also like: Sandwell College training students with virtual reality in global study
