As part of this exciting new journey, we are proud to share an interview with Elinor Ädling, the Project Manager of Natur & Kultur. Elinor discusses the importance of using AR in educational content and her experience using Ludenso Studio in this new launch.
The new school year is upon us, and come fall, the efforts behind the ongoing collaborative effort between Natur & Kultur and Ludenso, which has been ongoing for months behind the scenes, will finally be revealed. The project involves the development and launch of the publisher’s already popular natural science workbook for students, PULS NO 5 – now enriched with AR elements. A large part of the content in PULS NO 5 revolves around the organs in the body.
Elinor Ädling is very excited to share this project with educators and students. She says of the effort:
“Together with Ludenso, we have selected and created 3D images that complement the workbook where students work independently. We believe that students at this age need a task for each image so that they pause and reflect instead of quickly moving on to the next one.”
In addition to providing students with new ways of learning, the project empowers teachers to get involved with the new technology in a manner that’s clear and concise.
“On the teacher's web page, we will provide instructions on how to log in to Ludenso, as well as a worksheet with questions for each image that students can work on,” said Ädling. "With this, we hope that both students and teachers recognize AR as a tool they can easily understand and interact with, one that empowers learning and teaching."
Whenever educators are faced with the challenge of presenting abstract or difficult to grasp concepts and ideas to students, AR can enrich the learning experience and help students go beyond the text – not only through interactive 3D elements, but also auditory content, videos, quizzes, etc.
“When I discovered AR for the first time, I got really excited and found it fascinating,” says Ädling. “I showed it to my husband and children at home, and they also thought it was amazingly cool that you could look inside the organs. That aspect of being able to see what's happening inside the body from the outside, being able to rotate and zoom in – it was something entirely new, and it felt like it was really missing in the world of education”
With this new project between Natur & Kultur and Ludenso, we’re able to bring this important interactive element into the classroom.
Making the students understand and learn with more ease is paramount. If we create AR content that deepens the students’ understanding as well as empowers teachers to make the topics more tangible to their students, AR can be applied to materials in subjects other than the natural sciences.
Undoubtedly, AR content ought to complement the textual information provided in the physical book. But the text alone in many cases does not represent the optimal manner of bringing the topic closer to students. Similarly, 2D images also present a limited scope of understanding. AR introduces a more realistic, intuitive approach to learning, while at the same time maintaining the credibility of original teaching material.
Through the incorporation of 3D images that students can manipulate by rotating and zooming, we enhance the 2D images found in books. By doing so, students can engage in an interactive and captivating learning approach. For instance, they can place a beating heart on a classmate's shirt, allowing them to explore the inner workings of the human body.
“AR technology allows us to give students a better sense of depth and distance and creates a more realistic visual experience for them. They gain a deeper understanding of how, for example, the muscles of the heart move with each heartbeat or how the movements of celestial bodies create phenomena like a solar eclipse on Earth,” says Ädling.
At the same time AR empowers teachers with the tools of explaining difficult concepts with more ease and precision. In our conversation, Ädling brings up an example
“I thought about how many times as a teacher you might have struggled with marbles, a globe, and a flashlight, trying to explain why a solar eclipse occurs and what happens to celestial bodies. And then, with Ludenso’s help, we were able to create the animation where it actually moves and students could watch and see what happens. It felt so perfect because I know that teachers will find it very helpful to be able to see it in this way.”
When embarking on their AR adventure, Natur & Kultur set up a test class that was to experiment with AR in a lesson. The students were provided with a worksheet containing specific tasks related to each 3D image. Their level of engagement was high, and they described the lesson as enjoyable and inspiring. It was observed that certain 3D images required additional explanations regarding what they depicted and the actions that could be performed with them. As a result, the worksheet was further refined based on the feedback received from the test class.
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As an author, Ädling was compelled to find out how much of a challenge working with AR and Ludenso Studio would be for her. She discovered the process intuitive and natural, noting that a high degree of technical literacy was not needed to understand how the app worked. She shares her thoughts about the experience:
“Working with Ludenso Studio has been smooth from day one. The app is very user-friendly. It was very easy for me to add and find 3D images in the library.”
Ädling was particularly happy with the high degree of responsiveness and involvement of the Ludenso team during the process, noting that Ludenso quickly develops further based on feedback.
“You are very receptive and interested in making Ludenso Studio more user-friendly,” she said, adding that working with the company has also opened opportunities for professional development. “Working with your company has had us attending interesting seminars and conversations, like the recent trip to Oslo for The Future of Textbooks Summit. I’m really looking forward to enhancing our books this fall with Ludenso!”
Excellent, just head to our Request Demo page, fill out the form, and we'll set up a 20-minute call to demo the technology for you, and discuss collaboration opportunities. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!
