A trade-off in learning: Mobile augmented reality for language learning

Abstract

Mobile learning offers great potential for language teachers to support practice beyond the classroom, to encourage anytime-anywhere learning and to facilitate situated learning (Pegrum, forthcoming). Augmented reality (AR) apps are a type of mobile application that allows users to overlay the physical world with digital information, for example by attaching pictures, text and audio or video. These can be added to particular real-world objects and locations and become available for others to use when using an AR app on their phones. Teachers can use activities with AR to encourage learners to practise their language skills outside the classroom and to share information with other learners and the wider community. Some exciting projects and studies have been carried out (Holden & Sykes 2011) but so far the potential of AR for mainstream language education is only just starting to be explored. In this article we describe an activity in which students had to create a mobile tour for visitors to their campus. We detail the way we designed the activity, its instructions and procedures, as well as the technologies used. We then describe how the students went about completing the activity and their reaction to it. From this we draw some practical implications for language teaching and offer some suggestions for other teachers who may wish to use AR or other mobile learning activities with their students.