Press release from Rumson School District
Google has recently introduced a new pioneer program titled Google Expeditions AR. Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user’s view of the real world, providing a 3D image for which the student may examine and study.
The Deane-Porter Elementary School STEM teachers, Liz Waters and Mark Panas, recently formed a partnership with the Google Expeditions AR pilot program to help bring this opportunity to Rumson, New Jersey.
Through the Deane-Porter STEM-Makerspace program, all 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade elementary students participated in this event on November 16th. A Google Expedition team member, Emily Legowski, came to work with the STEM teachers and classes to show how AR can bring images into the classroom and present objects that could not otherwise be examined in the 3D form, such as a shark. “By literally superimposing three dimensional objects into the classroom through a tablet device, augmented reality can spark students’ imagination,” says Mark Panas.
“It helps immerse them in learning. We can take them on field trips to see 3D views of real life objects in ways we could only have dreamed of just a few years ago,” added Liz Waters. At Deane-Porter, 1st grade classes studied fish, students in 2nd grade examined dinosaurs, and
third grade classes explored the planets through close up three dimensional navigation. The STEM teachers guided the tours with a tablet device as helpful facts were presented on their screen. Meanwhile the students saw the items described through the tablet viewers in a 3D form.
