FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – Pupils at the Laura Donovan School had the opportunity to experience and test a prototype of new technology from Google that is intended to enhance their learning.
Staff members and pupils at the K-5 school were recently introduced to an early version of Google Expedition, an augmented reality application currently being developed by Google.
Augmented reality uses a smartphone’s camera to project and place three-dimensional objects and images over real space. The technology has been used in the game Pokémon Go.
Google Expedition is currently not available to the public and school administrators said they were not informed by Google representatives when the application would be released.
After teachers learned how to use the application, students were brought to the gymnasium to experience Google Expedition. The pupils were divided into groups and instructed on how to hold and use the mobile device running the application. A marker placed on the ground notified pupils where the three-dimensional objects would appear.
The objects were related to educational subjects such as the solar system, the ocean floor, natural storms, animals, camouflage, biology, the Earth and the inventions of Leonardo Da Vinci.
“You are pioneers,” technology coordinator Monica Hittinger said to kindergarten and first-grade pupils, noting they were among the first to use Google Expedition.
Objects that appeared before the pupils included the sun and the planets in the solar system, natural forces such as hurricanes and volcanoes, and animals such as snakes, dragonflies, zebras, fish, ducks and a small Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Many of the objects simulated movement, such as a school of fish swimming in a circle and a volcano erupting, and the pupils could get closer to or farther away from the objects depending on where they held their devices.
“The pupils are in control of their learning and what they want to look at,” Hittinger said.
Certain objects had details that could only be seen if the pupils brought their devices closer to them, such as scales on a snake.
Pupils reacted with excitement and enthusiasm to the objects, particularly when the object changed in front of them. A tarantula with moving legs caused many pupils to scream, while other youngsters pretended to “touch” the digital spider.
Principal Jennifer Benbrook said the pupils were applying knowledge they learned in the classroom to the application, citing an example of a pupil who noticed the seismic plates on the Earth object were moving, information the pupil learned in class.
Benbrook said the technology can enhance field trips and suggested that school districts without the resources to travel to other locations could use augmented reality as a substitute.
“Our first-graders are going to the planetarium at Ocean County College, but they also get the solar system in their classroom,” she said.
Benbrook, Hittinger and media/STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) center supervisor Jane Kablaoui all spoke highly of Google Expedition and incorporating augmented reality into classrooms.
“Augmented reality has its place in schools,” Kablaoui said. “It’s the next place educational technology will be going and we are happy to pioneer it.”
“We brought in something we cannot do without this technology,” Hittinger said. “Although it’s not out yet, we can use this as a springboard for other augmented and virtual reality projects.”
“The kids were immersed in the technology and they connected it to their learning,” Benbrook said. “Best of all, it made them excited about learning.”
The technology was praised by teachers who participated in the event and made note of their pupils’ enjoyment of the experience.
“I think [augmented reality] is awesome,” first-grade teacher Julianna Zimmerman said. “It gets [the pupils] excited about learning a new topic and new technology can be used for new units.”
“[Augmented reality] is incredible,” kindergarten teacher Frank Colvin said. “It’s a lot more exciting than a textbook or a movie screen.”
When the teachers asked the pupils if they had fun trying out Google Expedition, the children were quick to announce they did.