Posted: February 21st, 2013 | Author: Malik Hussain | Filed under: Assignment 2 | No Comments »
Human body is a most fascinating and fantastic machinery in existence, consisting of numerous powerful organs and systems at work throughout, in synchronicity and mutual support. From the pumping of the heart to supply blood, to taking in and processing oxygen, to creating acids to decompose food particles extracting nourishment, it’s just fascinating! But the human body is also very complex, which makes learning about it with any significant success a big challenge for many learners. This can lead them to have less than optimum learning experience with minimum engagement and motivation and dismal learning outcomes as a result.
How can we better connect learners with learning of human anatomical systems (e.g. muscular, skeletal, circulatory)? What type of learning environment design and technology can deeply engage them?
I feel an immersive and simulative design can play a significant role to address these questions: Providing learners with human body simulations (virtual cadavers, AR overlays) of high fidelity multi-sensory experience with “manipulatables”, where learners can immersively experience parts of virtual human body and interact with it to study as if they were real (e.g. “holding” the virtual heart and feel it pumping, “moving” it a little to the side to assess what’s behind it, “deep zoom” from organ to cell to sub-atomic levels via multi-touch). Although Krevelen and Poelman paper mentions direct manipulations of objects as a current challenge in AR (pg. 8), it is nonetheless one of the most exciting areas for deeper AR impact. Of course, all this technology needs to be implemented with the application of an encircling theoretical framework in cognitive science with evidence of learning outcomes based on how people learn. Combining how people learn with the power of AR technology is just mind-blowing!
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