I found this app a long time ago but it was really buggy and I didn’t have the patience at the time to use it. It now works better than it used to and although it does not work through our wireless network it will work through a smartphone hotspot. I have put it across the student iPads as it has the potential to be used by students if a teacher wants to use their phones hotspot for students to create ‘auras’ in the app. Note: an internet connection is only needed to create the ‘aura’ and trigger, once completed it needs no connection if the video is on the iPad/iPhone being used.
I decided to try it out with my 9/10 PE class who are doing volleyball this term. To make it easy I used my school iPad, my personal iPad and my iPhone so students had 3 devices to use in the hall during lessons. We have been using it this week and I think it has helped students to understand the serving skill (our focus this week) and given them a point of reference they can go back to without me having to be alongside a student helping them out. This keeps certain students engaged in a task while I can work with other groups in other areas of the hall. I can see potential for this app in any subject area – imagine a student poster with images that when an iPad is held up to them turn into videos created by students elaborating on the content of the poster.
To understand what it is that I have been talking about watch this video it demonstrates how I have used it with my volleyball unit.
The next video is from Aurasma and gives a more detailed look at how the app works.
hey Nick, I’ve used it in this way with senior physics students. It works fantastically and really increases the level of engagement and content retention. I haven’t used it for a while because of the buggy/laggy interface and the setup/prep time involved; it really pays to do it with big units or hard to grasp skills.
Hi Steve, thanks for the comment. It does have a few bugs, I had to wipe the app completely at one stage and reinstall to make it work but since then it has been working. It was easier to work on at home on my personal devices for this volleyball unit. I will at some stage get students to create their own posters (probably 7/8 Health Sun Smart unit). They can use my phone for a connection. This method is not great as it only allows the one iPad to link with the poster seeing we will not be creating channels. Still should be good though, kids can make their own videos in iMovie and link them to their posters. Again thanks for the comment, nice to know that people are not just reading this but willing to share as well.